Things I Wish I Knew Before In The First 3 Months of Motherhood!

I wish I knew these things in the first 3 months of Motherhood!!

The first 3 months is seriously a blur since you literally don't sleep! But I wish I was prepared more of what to expect in the first 3 months! I want to share my experience and what I have learned with y'all! 

1) Applying for EDD 

You need to sign up and make an account first before you give birth.  Once you give birth you will need to confirm and update the date you gave birth! 

Regular vaginal birth you get 6 weeks of disability first that you will use and for a c-section you will get up to 8 weeks!

In California we get Paid Parental Leave which is after you use up your disability time and then you get payments of about 60 to 70 percent of your weekly wages earned 5 to 18 months before your claim start date. You will receive payments by debit card or check — it’s your choice!

I did check since it was easier to just take a picture of my check and deposit it into my account that way. 

Usually they send the mail by check every other week for 14 days. 

2) Breastfeeding IS SOOOO HARD!!

I thought breastfeeding would be easy since it should be so natural but it is seriously one of the hardest things to do! 

First of all my neck hurt like hell since you always have to look down all the time

Second your boobs hurt like crazy since they were always engorged 

Third my boobs kept leaking everywhere which drove me insane

Fourth my boobs make so much milk that the milk shot out and would shoot into my daughters mouth which caused her to choke and cry hysterically.

3) Pumping is SOOOO HARD and a lot of work! 

To pump a good amount for feeding you would need to pump at least 8 times a day for at least 15-20 min every two to three hours.

I pumped every 2-3 hours 8 times a day for at least 20 min each time! 

I literally spend so much time pumping and making milk for my daughter and washing all the bottles and pieces! 

Pumping is literally more work that breastfeeding cause you don't have to wash all the bottles etc and you can just pull out your boob instead of having to heat up the milk when your baby is hungry.

4) DO NOT BUY SO MUCH OF THE SAME SIZE DIAPERS

I thought that I would use the same size diapers for a while.  But that is false cause babies seriously grow so fast! I used premie diapers for two weeks then moved to size one diapers for one month and then size two diapers by month three.  I made the mistake of buying two Costco size one diapers and didn't even use the second box! 

Also good tip you do not know if your baby would be allergic or not like a certain diaper brand so do not buy so much of the same diapers until you know for sure your baby will be ok with it! 

5) DO NOT BUY LOTS OF CUTE BABY CLOTHES

I seriously just put my daughter in onesies all day everyday! No button ones I always go for the double zipper which is so helpful when changing diapers. 

The first three months you barely take your kid out we literally just went to the doctors office and that was it so there was no need to buy her any cute clothes.

6) ALLERGIC REACTION TO MEDICATION HAVING A C-SECTION

No one told me that I would get an allergic reaction to the glue from having a C-Section or when they wipe the area for the C-Section.  NO ONE EVER TALKED ABOUT THIS!! I had a crazy huge rash on my abdomen right above my C-Section and it was so itchy and spread all over my abdomen.  I have been dealing with it for already 4 months already.  

It really affected me and bonding with my daughter cause when I was trying to breastfeed her it would itch my rash and make it super itchy.  So it was another unnecessary thing I did not want to deal with while dealing with breastfeeding my daughter.

Also I got an allergic reaction to the epidural that they gave me for the C-Section.  I was so itchy for three days at the hospital.  My whole body was so itchy and driving me insane and I could barely move my body cause of my C-Section.  

7) DO NOT HAVE PEOPLE COME OVER

Seriously it is so tiring already dealing with a newborn and I know people want to visit and meet your newborn but it is so tiring and hard hosting people.  

I was still in the learning stage of trying to breastfeed or pump with my daughter and then my boobs were always out and I was in my hospital underwear cause of my C-Section and I couldn't wear clothes I always wore a robe so I looked like a hot mess and a half.  

So when people came over they would ruin my schedule and freedom of trying to feed my daughter which was frustrating.  So just let people know your boundaries and to let them know that you are just tired and will see them when YOU are ready! 

8) USING COLD COMPRESS

Everyone kept telling me to use Hot compress for my boob but what really worked was using COLD compress!! I would use two small towels and wet it and put it in the fridge.  Every time I would prepare to feed my daughter I would put the cold towels on my boob until the towels got warm themselves and then I would feed my daughter! This helped so much with engorgement.