It’s impossible to know exactly how being a parent feels until you become one. Everyone in your life will give you countless pieces of advice (some of which you will definitely want to ignore), but it’s ultimately up to you and your partner to decide how you want to raise your children.
The whole experience of becoming a parent can be daunting from the start, especially the idea of giving birth for moms. And while it’s expected for this to be intense and painful, there are still some things that moms wish they had been warned about beforehand. To help others feel more prepared and less alone, mothers on Threads have been discussing all of the unexpected experiences and side effects that occurred after giving birth. We’ve compiled a list of their replies below, so be sure to upvote the ones that nobody prepared you for either!
#1
That the second the baby latches on to eat you get so incredibly thirsty that you feel like you just crossed the Sahara.
9points
#2
How loud babies are in their sleep and how tough it is to be the only one awake in the middle of the night.
8points
#3
It doesn’t matter if you have a v**inal birth or a c-section, there is still an open wound the size of a dinner plate inside your uterus that needs to heal.
8points
#4
The shaking/shivering afterward was absolutely WILD.
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8points
#5
No one tells you how terrifying it is to take a newborn baby home without any instructions or supervision. And the fear of going to sleep. I was terrified to go to sleep, for fear that something would happen to the baby while I was sleeping.
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6points
#7
Postpartum blues. Standing in the bedroom sobbing uncontrollably saying to my husband, “what have we DONE!!!!” I was so overwhelmed.
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6points
#8
Standing in the shower in my hospital room with blood clots the size of a small animal escaping my body, pretty sure no one mentioned that part.
6points
#9
Driving for the first time with a baby was terrifying.
5points
#10
That 19 years after the fact, you still remember telling the anesthesiologist that you love him.
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5points
#11
That one week after having twins and you are stealing a moment alone, sitting on your front porch, the old man nextdoor will ask you, "When are you gonna have that baby?"
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5points
#13
Breastfeeding is painful in those first few weeks (I’m on baby 4), the afterbirth cramps hurt worse the more kids you’ve had, the sweats/chills post partum because of hormone drop off, how lonely you can feel in the overnight hours, it’s ok to ask for help, trust your instincts and go for the second opinion.
5points
#14
No one warned me that Hyperemesis Gravidarum was a thing I was MISERABLE my entire pregnancy, literally starving and dehydrated and yet people were telling me how “lucky” I was that I was losing weight instead of gaining it.
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5points
#15
Probably an unpopular opinion but: actual birth being easier than contractions.
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5points
#16
How hard the first two months are. You are completely, utterly exhausted!!!! All you wanna do is sleep take a good shower and have some peace and lots of quiet! Beware you’re not getting that!
5points
#17
That when you let your baby latch the sucking starts to contract your uterus, which is extremely painful the same day you just had labor contractions. It’s the same pain.
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5points
#18
Not childbirth but pregnancy in general, that you could lose teeth during pregnancy! I lost a tooth during each of my pregnancies.
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5points
#19
The contractions AFTER birth when your uterus is shrinking back to normal size. And how nursing INCREASES these cramps. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME. I thought after the placenta was out I was home free.
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5points
#20
That all of my hair would fall out and then grow back in making me look bald and then insane.
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5points