WOW, being a parent seems scary as shit.
I’m writing this while staying with a girlfriend of mine and her husband who have a newborn.
Turns out you can’t do ANYTHING AT ALL WHILE YOU ARE BREASTFEEDING. Like literally not a damn thing??
My bestie is beside herself almost every single day. The baby is constantly hungry, sleeps for3 hours a night (not all at once) if they’re lucky, and NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AFTER ALL THE TIME. It’s psychotic!!!!
You start to understand why sleep deprivation is a form of torture.
I simply don’t know how single parents do it.
But it also made me think about the financial impacts of having a newborn. Not just the clothes, diapers, wipes, dummies, prams, car seats, and rockers. The food, the new clothes, the post-partum pads, and the furniture. I was reading this article from news.com that estimated $5222 as the first year and pregnancy costs. But there’s more to it than that.
Let’s talk about the other hidden costs.
The washing machine goes 6 times a day. The dryer is on. The heaters are on all night to try and keep the baby warm. The white noisemachine. The ad hoc grocery shops because you’ve got about 3 brain cells left. The primary carer being home and not having access to extra shifts, overtime–if they even have a job that comes with maternity leave. If there is a partner and they work, they feel guilty for staying home and earning less and guilty for leaving the primary carer’s home.
If the birth-giving parent has a cesarean, they can’t drive for 6 weeks!!
The baby is a tiny little miracle, and I WORSHIP her. But WOOO BOY what a time.
The parents are also so sleep-deprived that they can’t even think about money, budgeting, or anything other than surviving really.
No real guidance on this one today, just sending all my love to the new parents out there.
I bought a sleeping course that was recommended by two of my cousins for my bestie, you can find it here. It made a huge difference to my bestie, once she could muster the energy to watch it!