The other day I wrote my first-ever article about parenting. I shared about my ups and downs from the first week. It was a tough article to write because it has been so hard that, to me, it felt like I was complaining. Anyway, in the comments section, I received this hilarious comment from one of my favourite writers, Jessica Wildfire:
That made me laugh hard. I used to think that all babies were ugly (don’t hate me please), but my baby boy Nate changed that perspective for me. I found myself starring at him for extended periods of time and re-checking his photos before going to bed. I think Nate’s a handsome fella. My wife even wants to register him for contests to be on covers of reference guides!
But the truth is, when he got out of his cozy amniotic sac, “handsome” sure wasn’t the first word that came to mind. I was prepared for this reality, but some of you may not realize how unattractive a baby can be coming out. They’re bloody, covered with amniotic fluid, white patches, bruises, dark blue limbs, and for long vaginal births, they might have a cone head.
Phew!
Thankfully, this doesn’t last. In the first hour of birth, they get cleaned up (though not fully). The other “issues” heal with time. Before long, babies start looking like the cuties you’re expecting them to look like.
Nate changes so quickly that 12 days after birth, he already looks different. He’s putting on some weight and growing in all directions. He expresses himself differently and most importantly, he learns new skills that would put any master learner to shame.
I don’t love everything about my baby, but one thing comforts me — there’s hardly anything permanent about him at this stage. Right now he cries a lot. He pees and poops a lot too. When you look at the minimum requirements for pees and poops, he destroys them — that’s the only word I can use to describe it.
And I remember not finding him particularly cute at birth. I changed my mind four days after when I managed to capture good shots of him. I find him cuter every day now.
If there’s something you don’t like about your baby, wait it out. Babies change. Babies adapt. We’re hard on them when we want them to change overnight, but the reality is that they adapt much better than adults.
Give yourself and your baby time to adjust to your new reality. That was and is still is a tough lesson for me to learn.