unsolicited advice

Recently one of my best friends announced that she and her husband are expecting their first baby. So exciting! They have been waiting so long and now it's finally their turn! So, being the wise mother of 3 that I am (stop laughing), I decided to put together some advice for her.

1. Enjoy being pregnant. Those sweet little kicks and somersaults don't last and are the beginning of you bonding with your baby. Savor it!

2. Start stashing your extra fast-food napkins in your glove box. You never know when (or what) you will have to clean off your kid and his car seat.

3. Pregnancy and breast feeding ruins your boobs. Period. Just go ahead and wrap your head around that now.

4. You don't know what it means to be tired. Sorry to break it you, but all the times in your life that you have thought you were tired will pale in comparison to life with a 4 week old. Go ahead and wrap your head around that too.

5. Be prepared to miss your mom more than you ever imagined. Becoming a mother when you don't have a mother is very difficult. Friends cannot take her place, but they can listen to you cry about it...

6. Invest heavily in products from the Clorox and Lysol companies. But be warned, your house will never really be clean enough. You'll get over it. Babies have survived dirt and germs for generations.

7. You will become far more familiar with poop that you ever thought possible, hence the need for the aforementioned Clorox products.

8. There are a lot of parenting books, but unfortunately none written specifically for your child. Use the bits and pieces from books that you like, trust your instincts and wing it.

9. Make time for yourself. Even if it only means taking 15 minutes to shower, take the time to do something for yourself every day. Read a chapter in a book, watch a TV show, browse the internet, whatever. Maintaining your sense of self as a person and not just a mother is important.

10. Make your husband a priority. As hard as it might be to muster the energy, try and set aside a few minutes for him each day. Ask about things that matter to him, aside from the baby. I promise, you will both benefit. Trust me.