Monday, June 6, 2011

Working For Me or Against Me?

I have always loved taking care of, playing with, and being around kids even when I was still basically a kid myself. I babysat when I was old enough, I’ve had jobs working with children of all different ages, I’ve even taken college courses in childhood ed. Essentially I have plenty of experience with babies, children and teens. I am wondering now if this is working for me or against me?
I know in certain ways it is working for me. I know how to care for a baby’s basic needs no problem. I can change diapers with my eyes closed. I know about developmental milestones, nutrition, safety, sleep techniques, nature vs nurture etc etc. I’ve taken care of friends babies and children. I have heard all sorts of stories and methods from them and from my working experiences. There is not much that can surprise me.
So what I am wondering is, am I maybe on information overload? With everything in my background I’ve heard of all different contradicting approaches. Plus with modern technology, if there is anything I am not sure about I can just Google it and have 100 different, and most likely contradicting, answers instantly. I sometimes wonder if I am too nonchalant about things. My baby is only 6 weeks old and I feel like she has always been here. I sometimes feel like I am not treating her like a newborn, maybe I am not pampering her enough, being gentle enough, being careful enough with where I have to take her in public. I’ve had two questions so far that I consulted my pediatrician about. The first I asked directly to him and it stumped him. The second I called the office and asked a nurse, who had never been asked that before and so it stumped her. The nurse I am not surprised about, she was young and is probably right out of some nursing program. Are my questions really that complicated or unusual? No. The pediatrician I really like though b/c he was amazing the first week Sadie was born while she was having issues with her bilirubin levels and because he admitted he had never been asked my question before, did research to get me a good answer instead of just trying to pull something out of his ass.  I have decided that I will consult them on medical issues only, take their advice with a grain of salt, and go on my own instincts for everything else. Again this brings me back to wondering if I am being too nonchalant and arrogant. Plus Sadie is an incredibly laid-back baby so she is making this way too easy on me.
I have always known I would be a mom, I am loving every minute of it, I just want to be sure I don’t miss any of it because I am too at ease with my new title of Mommy.
How do/did you feel when you were a first time mom? over prepared, overwhelmed, just right? Where did you go for answers or did you just pretend you knew exactly what you were doing and hoped no one called you on it?

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