7 Things I Wish I Knew Before Having a Baby

I can't believe that Cooper is almost one year old.  Looking back, there are quite a few things that I wish I had done a little differently.  So here are my top 7 things I wish I had done + thought about before my lil' man came into this world:

7) Hire a Cleaning Service
Those first 3 months after Cooper was born, our house really took a back seat to pretty much everything else.  But guess what didn't take a back seat?  My guilt.

My grandma once told me, "The key to a happy marriage, is hiring a house cleaner."

Women are hard wired to feel responsible for a tidy home.  But let's face it, the days of thinking of a house cleaner as a "guilty" luxury are over.  At least in my mind, I think woman work way too hard to continue to wear the house keeper label.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy cleaning and keeping a tidy house to much extent, but those first three months after your baby are born are a BLUR! You need to spend your time more wisely than scrubbing toilets…

So set aside the $$ and hire a house cleaner once every 2 weeks for those first few months.  Take your baby on a walk and return to a sparkling clean home and feel your sanity fall nicely into place.  

6) Organize Fast Food Options

One thing people love to bring you after having a baby?  FOOD!

But the following conversation will inevitably take place:

Sweet Friend: "What can we bring you?"

Exhausted New Mom: "Oh gosh…whatever you think."

Sweet Friend: "Burgers and fries it is!"

Make a list of all the local restaurants (fast food and otherwise) in your area and write down all the healthy order options.  I PROMISE you this will come in handy when friends ask you what they can bring you (Chipotle Burrito Bowl extra veggies no rice chicken!) and when you just want to order deliver (which I can pretty much guarantee will happen quite often and for good reason…you are busy!)

5) Buy Baby Clothes Thoughtfully

So apparently this was common knowledge to every mom but me: 
Don't buy many clothes in the newborn and 0-3 months range.

Cooper was a tall baby and didn't even fit into many of the newborn clothes to begin with!  Save your money and focus more on the 6-12 month and 12-18 month range.  Just invest in a stack of onsies for those first few months…they are amazing and inexpensive.

Read more »