With exactly one month to our baby girl’s due date, I thought it was time to reflect on all the nagging questions, thoughts and worries that have already been keeping me awake at night throughout my third trimester. Some are pretty obvious, some are just silly and borderline narcissistic, some are serious and just plain scary. You may think 50 is quite a lot, but I could probably write around a hundred more.
Some stem from my anxiety and that little voice in my head that thinks everything is going to go wrong and that we are completely unprepared, some have popped into my head through discussions with other first time mums, seasoned parents and reading articles online, and others have randomly drifted into my daydreams when I should probably be concentrating on more important things. Here’s a list of just a few random questions that have been constantly whirling around my head, in no particular order of importance.
- Will she be healthy? 10 fingers? 10 toes?
- Will she have sticky out ears?
- Will I get stretch marks?
- Are stretch marks permanent?
- Will I breastfeed or bottlefeed?
- What exactly is a ‘top and tail’ bowl?
- What do I need to pack in my hospital bag?
- Will she have hair?
- Will she be a blondie?
- What colour of eyes will she have?
- Will she look like the name we’ve chosen for her?
- Will she have any allergies?
- When will her umbilical cord fall off?
- Will she have hair?
- Will she be born before or after her due date?
- Will I have to be induced?
- Will they use that crochet hook thing to break my waters?
- Will I have an epidural?
- Will I be able to have a natural birth?
- What’s gas and air like?
- Who do I want in the delivery room with me?
- Do I want a water birth?
- Will I lose too much blood?
- Where will I be when I go into labour?
- Will there be any complications?
- Will I poop on the delivery table?
- Will I tear? Need stitches?
- Will the dog and cat get jealous of her and resent her?
- Will she be up all night long?
- Will she have any birthmarks?
- How much will she weigh?
- How often do you bathe a newborn baby?
- Does she have enough clothes/toys/toiletries/hats/mittens/socks….???
- Are bumpers safe to tie around her coat?
- Is it safe to swaddle her?
- Will I get the ‘baby blues’?
- How long will I be in hospital for?
- Will she be a daddy’s girl?
- Will she like Disney movies when she’s older
- Will the contraction be as horrific as everyone says they are?
- How long will I be in labour for?
- Will my midwife be nice?
- Do we have enough nappies/bibs/towels…???
- What will my husband be like in the delivery room?
- Will she be a ‘girly’ girl?
- How many times will she be up during the night?
- If I breastfeed how do I know how much milk she’s getting?
- What will her favourite toy be?
- What will I choose for her very first outfit?
- What will her first words be?
As I said, they’re definitely pretty random! Do any of these sound familiar or have I just lost my marbles? To give you some perspective I just asked my husband what questions he has and after a good few minutes of struggling he came up with – “How can I get her into comic books?”. Anyway… I know the answer to some of these but obviously time will tell with the others. I’d love to know all the pesky niggly questions that kept you all up at night so please share below.
