Little Bundles of Joy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody. Thanks for tuning in. I hope everybody's having
a great day. I know, I sure am. I'm excited
about this topic. I have three reasons why I'm excited
about it. It's called my three kids. So we're going
to talk about parenting, and we're going to be specific.
We're going to talk about what to expect when you

(00:21):
bring that little bundle of joy home. So I hope
you get some interesting tidbits about this if you're expecting
parent just once. You know, I've been through it three times.
The first one, I was clueless, got a lot of
advice for a lot of people, and none of it
was nearly enough or most of it really wasn't even

(00:43):
right for our situation. So what can you expect as
you navigate this exciting new chapter in life? Becoming a
parent is one of the most rewarding things you'll ever do,
but let's be real, also one of the most exhausting.
Sleepless nights, rigorous schedules, baby proofing, and car seat installations

(01:07):
all feel overwhelming, but trust me, you will make it through.
Stage by stage. You'll find yourself surprisingly prepared for each
phase of your baby's growth. It really is amazing how
you you you feel yourself, you know, getting past one
stage that you thought you would never get through, and
then you think about the next stage. You think, I'm

(01:28):
not I'm not ready for this, but somehow you're ready.
You just got to You just got to go with
it and it'll all come together. Let's let's dive into
what to expect first time parent, how to prepare your
home and your life, and how to embrace chaos while
cherishing this journey. And make sure you cherish it. Make

(01:48):
sure you take a lot of pictures and videos over
the top, because it have it. The days go super
super slow, the hours go slow, but the months in
the years fly by, they really do, so the early days.

(02:09):
Welcome to the fourth trimester. So the first three months
after your baby is born is often called the fourth trimester,
and it's a period of adjustment for both you and
your baby. Here's what you can expect. Sleepless nights. Babies
don't know the difference between day and night. Expect to
wake up every two to three hours for feedings and

(02:32):
diaper changes, etc. Sleep deprivation is real, so nap when
the baby naps and take shifts if possible. Don't you know,
if you're married, significant other, whatever your situation is, listen
the mother. You don't have to be the one to
get up every single time at night. You know, at

(02:55):
least have one time where whoever's in this with you,
your husband will just say your husband, let him get
up and comfort the baby at least one time a night.
I think that's only fair and it will make it
so much easier for the mother to get to get
so much needed sleep. Feeding schedules, whether you're breastfeeding, formula feeding,

(03:20):
or both, feeding will happen frequently, typically every two to
four hours. Tracking feedings and diapers is a good way
to monitor the baby's health. Bonding time skin to skinned
contact is huge. Soothing sounds, lots of cuddling help you
and your baby build a strong bond. The learning curve.

(03:42):
No matter how many parenting books or how many times
you listen to me, nothing truly prepares you for holding
your newborn for the first time. You'll learn as you go,
and that's okay, and I promise you that will happen.
Babyproof in your home. It's important, so before you know it,

(04:02):
your little one will be crawling, walking, and getting to everything.
So babyproofing is essential to creating a safe environment. Here's
a checklist to get you started. Anchor heavy furniture like
dressers and bookshelves to the wall if possible to prevent tipping.
Cover electrical outlets, use outlet covers to keep tiny fingers safe.

(04:27):
Remove small objects anything small enough to fit into a
toilet paper roll as a choking hazard. So that's a
good rule of thumb. Keep them out of reach. Make sure,
please make sure if you have any of any batteries
and the round batteries, just take them somewhere else because
you don't want those even in your house. Install gates

(04:51):
you use baby gate to the top and bottom of
stairs and block off unsafe areas. So my son, who
who is now eighteen, he was our first and he
started walking at seven months. You know, his body was
walking like crazy, but his mind couldn't keep up, so

(05:14):
he would just walk right off of a cliff if
you let him. I mean that's the truth. So the
gates are you know, no joke. You need to have
the gates and the steps, you know, keep it safe.
Any porches or anything like that, anywhere there's steps or
a way to get out, make sure you have a
gate up, cabinet locks secure cabinets containing cleaning supplies, medications,

(05:37):
or sharp objects. Corner protectors add soft corner protectors to
sharp furniture edges. It sounds kind of silly sometimes, but
I mean, how many times you know, do you or
I'm going to say, have my kids either crawled and
hit their head on the corner of a furniture, a chair,

(05:58):
a dress, or a table, whatever, or of all the
places to fall and they fall onto a sharp edge.
I mean, if you can do that, I would definitely
do that. Test your home for hazards, get down on
your hands and knees to see the world from your
baby's perspective, and that's a good idea. And keep your

(06:19):
floors cleaned, right, I mean, I know that's the last
thing you want to do sometimes, is clean If you
need a cleaning service to come in twice a week,
you know, I have the cleaning service come in. So
car seats safety first. Now, this one threw me. When
I went to pick up my wife and son for
the first time at the hospital. I was there almost

(06:41):
the whole time, but I left to go get some
things and came back and I had not put in
the car seat. It was in the car, but I
hadn't installed it. And here we come out to the car.
You know, the babies crying, you know, Mom's in a wheelchair.
And the next thing I know, I'm getting yelled at
by the nurse because I haven't already done this. I mean,

(07:03):
she's yelling at me, and I'm trying to figure out
how that thing goes together. That another I felt very
unprepared right then. And when we got home, I got
yelled at again by my life and probably rightfully so,
because that was on the list and I didn't do it.
So get your car seat installed into your car before
take your baby home from the hospital. Choosing the right

(07:25):
car seat for newborns, you'll need an infant car seat
or a convertible car seat that's rear facing. Make sure
it meets safety standards and fits securely into your car installation,
follow the manufacturing instructions carefully, or visit a certified car
seat technician for help. They exist. Many fire stations or

(07:47):
hospitals offer this service for free. It's not as easy
as you think. Strapping your baby in ensure the harness
is snug with a chess clip or armpit level, at
arm pit level, rear facing. Keep your baby rear facing
as long as possible, at least until age two or

(08:08):
per the car seats height and weight limits. My son
was so tall that we had to get him out
of there a little bit sooner than we wanted to.
And he's also one that got tangled up in the
seat belt so bad that we couldn't get him out.
The more we tried to get him out, the tighter
the seat belt got. We finally had to go get
scissors and cut the seat belt. Crazy. I can't even

(08:30):
explain how that happened. Sleepless nights in a strict schedule.
Sleepless nights the right of passage for every new parent.
Here are some tips to help you survive, and it's
going to be different for every child. Established a consistent
schedule for feeding, naps, and bedtime as soon as possible.

(08:52):
Baby thrives on a routine sleep training. As your baby grows,
you may want to explore sleep training methods encourage longer
structures of sleep. We never could just let let our
babies cry it out. We didn't. We couldn't, and they
all ended up turning out just fine. Take turns if

(09:14):
you have a partner altered date nighttime duties so both
of you can get some rest. We talked about that earlier.
Ask for help. Don't be afraid to lead on family, friends,
or postpartum doula for support. Seriously, your family is going
to want to help you. Let them help, and don't
think that they can't hold your baby or touch your baby,

(09:35):
especially if they've you know, they've obviously had kids or
a bit around kids before. It could be your parents
and they know what they do and you're here, right,
So give them some time and some responsibility so you
get a peace of mind away from your child and
know that your child is well taken care of. But
baby steps with that, I understand how that goes. What

(10:00):
about the joy and rewards of parenting. I mean, you
think this would just be obvious, but let's talk about
it anyway. Parenting isn't all sleepless nights and diaper changes.
It's also filled with moments that will melt your heart.
Things like your baby's first smile, the sound of their laughter,
which I mean we still look at, you know, YouTube

(10:23):
stuff and Instagram stuff. When that baby just starts laughing,
it doesn't matter whose baby it is. When they just
have that laugh. You know, we just love that. Watching
them discover the world one tiny step at a time. Absolutely,
I mean, just the wonder in their eyes. It just
totally amazing. As your baby grows, you'll adapt and rise

(10:46):
to the challenge of each new stage, and believe it
or not, you'll feel surprisingly prepared, even if you don't
think so right now. And I mean I'm thinking about
my own experience. Stages from them not you know, just
crawling to then walking. You don't think you can handle
the to the walking part, even though you want that

(11:06):
to happen. And then the stage where you know, they
go off to preschool for the first time. That came
way too early. In my book, I was not ready
for that, but guess what I was. We all were,
So you're and then as they grow into you know,
preteens and teens, and it's a totally different set of circumstances,

(11:28):
a different set of challenges, and you think there's no
way I can handle this. I'm not going to be
a good parent right now at this stage. Somehow you
find a way to do it, you really do. You
got to trust me on that. Tips for first time parents.
Trust your instinct kind of what we just talked about.
No one knows your baby better than you. Trust yourself

(11:49):
and your decisions. Don't compare everybody. Everybody everybody and every
baby is different. Avoid comparing your child child's milestones to others.
There'll be plenty of time for bragging. Don't hesitate to
ask your pediatrician or other parents for advice, and that's
a must. Take care of yourself, this is a must.

(12:12):
Your well being matters. To make time for your care,
to learn to lean on your support system, and this
is just going to make you a better mom and
better parents. Enjoy the journey. The days can feel long,
kind of like we said earlier, but the years are short.
I mean they really are. Savor the small moments. They

(12:34):
grow up faster than you think. Lots of pictures, lots
of pictures. I'm getting emotional, how about that. So to
all the first time parents out there, You've got this.
It's a journey filled with challenges, but also so much

(12:58):
love and joy. Me remember you're not alone. Reach out
for support, celebrate your wins, celebrate every little victory, and
take it one day at a time. You don't really
have a choice, so take it one time, one day
at time, keep your composure, don't get frustrated, you know,
walk away and take a deep breath if you have to.

(13:22):
So I just want to thank you guys for you know,
for listening to day. I hope that maybe I helped
in some little way. And obviously you can tell that
this was important to me just to talk about this
and talk about my kids, and I can't stress enough.

(13:44):
Trust your instincts day by day and find a way
to just soak it in because it will be gone
before you know it. God bless