That most Dr's have very little training about lactation therefor should not be your first port of call when you have problems (ring the BF helpline instead). The Dr I saw after I had David told me to express after each feed to drain my breasts which led to severe engorgment, mastitis and eventually an abscess (because the same Dr prescribed AB's proven not to work for mastitis-although this info I only found out many years later).

I didnt get to go to my anenatal classes or breastfeeding classes as DS came 4 weeks early (they were booked the week after he arrived) so i was going blind with a lot of things but one thing i wish i knew about afterwards was my hair falling out! I had long THICK hair that was falling out in about 2 handfuls every day!!! I was freaking out to say the least. Someone told me that DS was taking too much out of me when feeding so i would have to give up BF and FF. I found out that it is VERY NORMAL for it to happen.

And now it was a godsend because i still have my long hair, but its not super thick like it used to be. I love it :-)


Edit for silly spelling mistakes!

I wish someone had told me that sometimes bonding isn't instant and your baby can feel like a stranger sucking the life out of you.

I wish someone told me that 3 year olds are harder than 2 year olds. The 'terrible twos' have nothing on 'threenagers'!! (sorry for those of you yet to get there, but at least now you know so you can mentally prepare lol)

And after birth pains - they get worse with each baby you have :(

And that it IS OK for you baby not to be sleeping through from 6 weeks, no matter what your doctor says, the books say, or your friends say.
I hate that new mums get this pre-conceived notion that their baby should be sleeping all night from X age, and when it doesn't happen they think they are doing a gazillion things wrong. You aren't. Some babes just take a little longer to get there :)

This is a great thread..little scary but good! I'd rather know what I'm in for than go in blind..I think

*That labour can be a very messy affair - you can lose all sorts of blood/discharge all through it (I thought all that came out when you actually gave birth, not whilst contracting ).

*That midwives may give you conflicting information in hospital.

*That when a baby hits around 6 weeks, they suddenly become a lot more awake, can cry a lot more and can be more difficult to settle and keep asleep.

*That getting a baby to sleep is not as easy as some of the books make it out to be.

*That having a baby associate feeding with sleeping is not a bad thing - it won't always be like this! Feeding DS to sleep was a god-send for us for many, many months.

*That feeling like you haven't done anything but looked after a baby all day in those early months is normal.

*That actually being able to get out of your PJ's and into clothes is an achievement!

*That getting out of the house to do something as simple as go on a walk can seem like a huge deal.

*That all the trying, hard, frustrating phases WILL PASS!! It's hard when you are in the thick of it and everything seems so hard and like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, but things do get easier and babies are only tiny babies for such a short time.

That going to the toilet to pee after giving birth will HURT, and will continue doing so for a fair while!!
My sisters told me all about how I should eat fruit to make the first few number 2's easier.
No one thought to mention how much I would dread needing to pee!

That it's normal for a baby to feed regularly (as in all day every day) for the first X amount of time. (I thought my DS1 was the only one on the planet!!)

Loving this thread!

I wish someone had told me about the period like pains in early pregnancy. They are very scary!

Also that pregnancy brain/ baby brain truly does exist.

So true!! Next time I pay a doctor to look after me (which will probably be never) I'll be telling them how it's going to be, not going along with what's most convenient for them. I still get angry when I think of how I just went along with being induced and all the things I didn't want to do, just because I didn't know any better.