Being a first time parent is a lot to contend with sleepless nights, nappy changes, feeding and getting to know this teeny tiny person who is now calling the shots! But after a few weeks, you’ll soon begin to find your feet and soon enough the time will come when you have to take a few hours off and enjoy some adult fun!
The thoughts of this brings more than a few mixed emotions.
Anxiety
Expect to feel terribly anxious to the point where you might want to throw up. New mums tend to think that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and the thoughts of your baby crying with you not there to comfort your him, fills you with dread.
It is completely natural to feel this way but at one point you will have to leave your baby. Our advice is to take it in baby steps and stay local. This will at least give you peace of mind, knowing you’re still close to your baby and you can be home in minutes if anything does go wrong.
Exhaustion
You probably won’t realise how tired you actually are until the thought of actually having to get ready and look like your pre-pregnancy self hits you like a lighting bolt. More than likely you would much rather catch some uninterrupted sleep, then get dressed up and go out BUT it’s just as important to get some me time. Trust us, once you are out and enjoying a nice meal or maybe a trip to the cinema with your partner or friends, you will feel just as rejuvenated as you would with some extra shut eye.
Over protective
This is where you begin to sound and look very like your mother! You repeat instructions like a mad woman and speak to your unfortunate sitter like a five-year-old. Calm down, we’re sure you have chosen this person because you trust him/her with your life and therefore your baby’s life.
Awkward
Its been so long since you’ve had a night out, you actually feel a little awkward around your partner. It feels a little weird not being fixated on how many times baby pooed or your baby’s sleep patterns, that you forget what you actually talked about before!
Yes, this happens and it’s also why it is so important to have a night out and remember all those things that you loved about one another before your baby was born and celebrate the glue that now holds you together.
Panic
So your two hours in and you think you deserve a medal but the suspense is killing you, and your mind is wracked with thoughts that something must be wrong if the babysitter hasn’t at least text to let you know everything is okay. You get up, go to the ‘bathroom’ to secretly call and check everything is okay, if this puts your mind at ease – go for it!
Elated happiness
This is the only word you will use to describe when you get home to see your baby just as happy as when you left a few hours earlier and when you pick your baby up and get that all too familiar smell, it will be the most beautiful thing you’ll have ever smelled.
Go on, go out, get a break and get home!
maternity & infant
Originally posted 2015-11-25 15:32:57.