To all my July mamas

For me, every month has got better so far ❤️ I found newborn stage very difficult with lack of sleep and recovery. It would go - month 1: 4/10 due to baby blues and sleep deprivation Month 2: 5/10 slightly more sleep but baby still cried a lot Month 3: 7/10 baby smiling much more and me responding to cues much better Month 4: 8/10 baby less clingy and more alert. Only reason month 4 is not 10/10 is because I have no idea what’s in store. Also I’m looking forward to him playing with things more.

I feel like the first month was just a blur of sleep deprivation 😅 I’m missing the newborn cuddles though, my baby girl still sleeps in my arms after a feed but I miss her just being content lying on my chest, she gets whingy if I try to cuddle her for too long now 😭 x

I feel like the opposite of Rosie 😂 Month 1 - 10/10 baby slept 20 odd hours a day, needed cuddles for 24 hours a day, tiny, cute -Heaven! Month 2 - 8/10 still sleepy and cuddly but more awake time meant more tears Month 3 - 6/10 jabs turned us into a monster and haven't stopped screaming since Month 4- 4/10 (so far) starting to cut teeth plus jabs, plus regression it's my least favourite time! 😂 Months 4-6 and 12-18 are by far my least favourite ages of children, I'm just hoping this baby has a slightly better 12-18m time because his 4-6 has definitely been worse than his brother and his brothers 12-18m I thought was going to kill me! 🤯

Month 1 was good because we were in the newborn bubble and she slept a lot. Month 2 was the hardest because had my toddler home from nursery and trying to entertain him with a baby was trying sometimes. Month 3 was better because we were starting to get into the swing of routine. Month 4 has been the best as the routine is pretty solid and her little character is shining through, she’s more active and alert and already know her own mind.

Month 1 was the hardest cus she would cry and wouldn’t go to sleep at the start of the night but other than that it gets easier when they start doing stuff and it’s more fun! Newborns don’t do anything so you just get thousands of photos of sleepy newborns 😂 she’s nearly 4 months and she’s getting better with her crying between 7-8 , she watches the programmes I watch deffo does happy noises and movements when eastenders is on 😂 she loves the lights on strictly so it’s getting more fun now she’s doing things, I’ve got a nearly 7 year old so I had no newborn bubble, it was just basically adding her in when we came home from hospital to our life! Holiday when she was 3 weeks old, all fun and games over here 😂😂 I think tho I’ve just been lucky, the only thing that’s been harder is her teeth , my son didn’t suffer with that so I think I’m getting twice as bad from her to make up for it! Still no routine, I’ve learnt from my son to go with it cus once you get a routine it’s gonna change!!

0-4 weeks - 2/10 - felt completely clueless even though I thought I knew what to expect, I was wrong 🤣. Took time to understand cries. Cried myself plenty 🙈. There were times of pure awe 🥰, then more times of fussing. 5-8 weeks - 5/10 - started understanding cries, had moments were everything came together perfectly only to be turned upside down next day 🤣 9-12 weeks - 7/10 - Definitely more understanding. He was more aware of surrounding. Calmed down in fussiness. 13-16 weeks (today) - 8/10 - possibly going through sleep regression but apart from that everything going smoother.