Anonymous wrote:You can make lots of excuses to sit on the couch and read, watch tv, etc., withe the excuse that you’re feeding/holding the baby. I binge-watched multiple tv series during my maternity leaves while nursing, and once I figured out how to prop up my kindle so I could read books while holding my babies, read more books for pleasure during those months than at any time before or since.
Anonymous wrote:Eh, it depends. DOn't let anecdotal stories eat at you.
Personally, I'm sorta a low-key, no-fuss type of a person so I can function on little/broken-up sleep and didn't sweat the small stuff (sorta followed all my kids' cues and used common sense), and learn a few life-hacks along the way.
My pregnancies were all textbook and uneventful so the lochia/recovery/soreness was relatively short (never needed a sitz bath, for example) so easy recovery and I didn't really sit around and feel sorry for myself.
I also kept to my normal routine as much as I could - my daily walks, my weekly phone calls with my mom, Pizza Night on Fridays with DH (and subsequent kids as our family expanded), etc.

Anonymous wrote:I thought the newborn stage was awesome. My babies were easy babies and I had tough pregnancies but recovered very quickly after birth so I honestly felt a lot better physically by the time we went home from the hospital than I did while pregnant.
Anonymous wrote:The way they smell. The first time they smile at you. The clumped up little heap of baby that will sleep on your chest. Their portability- they'll sleep anywhere.
Anonymous wrote:They’re basically luggage, so you can go places and do stuff in a way you can’t when they’re older. Except pandemic.