12 Times I Proved To Be A First-Time Parent

As I type this post right now, we are still in Los Angeles for the BlogHer16 conference, and this is the first time since we got here (on Thursday, August 4th) that I’m touching my computer. Between Southwest Airlines losing my luggage and me working here at the conference, I have been mega busy. Also, the three-hour time difference between L.A. and Baltimore is really messing with me.

Anyway, as you know, I became a parent in October last year, and looking back now, I can count at least 12 times that I was a rookie parent (in no particular order). Read and laugh.

1.  When I purchased the car seat and stroller:

Okay, I take complete responsibility for this one. You know, I have told you many, many times that I have issues making decisions. It doesn’t matter how little the decision is, I need to do research and think and overthink the issue. Sometimes, I overthink it into inaction. If the car seat and stroller did not have to be purchased before Ada Verastic’s birth, I would probably still be online reading reviews and changing my mind. It took me months before I finally settled on the travel system from Eddie Bauer. We love our travel system, but in retrospect, it really was not that serious.

2.  When I bought more receiving blankets:

You may remember that we did not find out Ada Verastic’s gender before we had her, and although we really loved the surprise at the end, part of the disadvantage of not finding out her gender before birth was that we could not buy anything that was gender specific. So, in our baby registry, we had a couple sets of receiving blankets that came in boring neutral colors like gray, yellow, and white. But when Ada Verastic finally arrived, we went crazy and bought more colorful receiving blankets. The problem is that you really do not need so many receiving blankets. How many times will the baby be “received” sef? And they outgrow the receiving blankets fast! I’m now thinking about using them as scarves on my head. Either that or when I have my future sons, they better be prepared to be received in pink receiving blankets.

3.  When I purchased the crib:

I think the crib cost us about four or five hundred dollars, don’t remember the exact cost now. It’s a pretty mahogany crib, and it has storage on the side. The problem is that Ada Verastic does not sleep in it. Well, she sleeps in it a little during the day, but for the most part, the crib is just collecting space. And it took us about six hours to set this bad boy up.

4.  When we packed our hospital bag:

This one is completely on Igwe. I am a professional over-packer, but even this was too much for me. When we packed our hospital bag, Igwe was acting like we were going on vacation with the baby as soon as she came out. He had so many clothes in there for her, and they were all white. He said his baby had to wear white. Don’t ask me why. But although the nurses did not say it, I know they must have seen our full-size luggage and laughed at us. And as you know, Igwe is a Dadzilla.

5.  When she had jaundice:

Ada Verastic has jaundice at birth, and they (doctors and nurses) made us feel like she was about to die in the next second. They kept drawing blood from her tiny feet over and over to check her bilirubin level. Even after her discharge from the hospital, they were calling us. As a matter of fact, on the day of her naming ceremony, they called to tell us that we had to run to the emergency immediately. We didn’t go to the emergency that day because hall had been booked and rice had been cooked. Ah! Naming had to hold. Anyway, we did rush her to the emergency the next day where they took her blood again, only to be told that although her bilirubin level was still high, nothing could be done because it was not high enough to the level that they could do something. So why did they make us rush to the hospital?

6.  When I bought socks and hats:

Again, this is related to Ada Verastic being a girl. Before her birth, we had a few yellow and green hats. But after she was born, we lost our minds buying her pretty hats and socks. I wanted her to have all the colors — and she did. You name it, she had it. My grandma wasn’t helping either because she kept telling us how this baby needed her head covered. So we went crazy. Then we got tired of wearing a hat on her every day because the hats never stayed anyway.

7.  When I bought more nipple cream:

When I had Ada Verastic, the hospital gave me two sample-size nipple creams from Medela. However, in my infinite wisdom – and one week experience as a mom – I decided that I needed more nipple cream (even though I actually had a full-size one at home that was part of my gifts and I was yet to experience any nipple-crack). So, off we went to Target. Igwe, too, agreed with me on this one. The thing, however, is that not every mom needs nipple cream. The cream helps with cracked nipples from all the sucking and pumping, but I never had cracked nipples. Ada Verastic is 9 months now and I haven’t finished even one sample size tube. So maybe I should start rubbing the full-size ones as lotion for my body. I can’t waste it nah!

8.  When I tried to match her bibs to her outfits:

This, too, was all me. Apart from the socks and hats, we also kind of lost it with the bibs. Igwe was just as guilty as me, but he did not try to match the bibs to the outfits. I was so determined to match her bibs to her outfits that there were times I did her laundry just because the bib I wanted was dirty. And if my grandma put on a bib that did not match her outfit, I’d take it off. The problem was that babies use several bibs a day, as you can imagine, so it was very difficult keeping up with the matching charade. No one had to tell me before I respected myself and stopped the madness.

9.  When I thought I did not need help:

Before Ada Verastic came, I thought I didn’t need help. I mean, how hard could it be to take care of a newborn? Even as of when I was still in the hospital with her, I told my grandma that I’d tell her if I needed help. But on the first night home, I quickly came to my senses. Between the pain of the C-Section and Ada Verastic waking up every couple of hours, I realized I must have been as high as a kite when I said I did not need help. The next morning, I called my grandma, and by evening, she arrived. My grandma is the best. I even had a whole post about my grandma.

10.  When someone wanted to kill a cow for the naming ceremony:

Thanks to my voice of reason, this one did not happen. I was too tired to really actively participate in the planning of Ada Verastic’s naming ceremony, but if I had not put my foot down, Igwe would have killed a whole cow for the naming ceremony — and it was on a Tuesday night. Had he killed that cow, we would have forced our guests to each take a cooler of meat home because there was no way they would have finished all that food. And although we did not have a whole cow for the naming ceremony (we killed a goat instead), we still had more food and drinks than we needed. As a matter of fact, we still have sodas at home from the naming ceremony. Imagine that!

11.  When I bought a gazillion headbands and wraps:

Look, baby girls have a lot of pretty things, and those pretty things include headbands and wraps. This one was an addiction. Once I bought the first one, I just couldn’t stop. I wanted all the colors, designs, shapes, and sizes. It got so bad that I started hiding them from Igwe. It was fun while it lasted. These days, I don’t wear them on her anymore because she pulls them off. Sometimes, she even destroys them. Like the picture below.

 

At first it looked great on her head, then she decided to rip it off. Pow! 👊👊👊 😩

A photo posted by Vera Ezimora (@verastic) on May 25, 2016 at 1:20pm PDT

12.  When we rushed Ada Verastic to the hospital for teething:

Last but not least, una remember this story nah! Ada Verastic started teething, which led to a high temperature, and Igwe and I ran to the hospital in the dead of night. A catheter had to be inserted inside her to test for an infection. After all was said and done, it turned out that she was teething. All she needed was Motrin.

In spite of all our rookie moves, I wouldn’t tell any new mom or dad to tone it down. You’re only new parents once, so enjoy it while it lasts. A lot of times, experienced parents give unsolicited advice to new parents. Don’t do this. Don’t buy that. They forget how it was for them when they, too, were new parents. So, if you are a new parent or parent-to-be, don’t feel bad when you realize you have done too much. Enjoy your moment. I’ll keep calling myself a new mom until my confusingly identical twin boys turn 18.

Speaking of the twin boys, don’t be surprised when you see them wrapped in pink receiving blankets and wearing pretty head bows and bands. Someone’s gotta do the work! Although they have not been conceived, I already feel sorry for my confusingly identical twin boys. They’re really in for it.

I’m off to bed. It’s 11:21 PM in Los Angeles, but my body is still on Baltimore time, so it’s 2:21 AM for me. I’ve got a plane to catch soon. Goodnight (or morning).