I'm a quick learner.

Hello my Awkward Ones,

Since I did call this a guide, I guess I should impart some of the wisdom I have learned since becoming a mommy. For me right now I am learning to be flexible. You have to be able to roll with the punches.

I had my whole pregnancy and birth planned out and the reality did not live up to the hype in my head. Perhaps I was a bit arrogant. I was dreaming of my perfect drug free holistic water birth, at home with a midwife and a doula, and  plentiful milk for breastfeeding my newborn angel. Instead in reality I was bullied by several residents into having my water broke which led to a botched epidural and had to have an emergency C-section and I produced less than a teaspoon of milk. Talk about opposite.

I'm not saying don't have a plan. You need to have a plan, but don't let your plan get in the way of reality. You can drive yourself nuts with what ifs and disappointment. Honestly you don't need anything else to make you nuts postpartum. For a time I was so focused on what I didn't get to experience that I was missing out on what I was actually experiencing. I realize now that everything that comes with having kids is a personal journey and no one's path is exactly the same. No matter what you wish for, with kids you just got to be flexible.