Things people told me that I didn't take seriously... #1

So now that I have officially been a mom for over a year I can finally look back on the early days of motherhood with more fondness. I remember the sleepless nights, breastfeeding dramas, and c-section scars but I don't remember just how HARD and daunting I thought the whole mommyhood thing was. The fear and stress I had about caring for a newborn seem more like a distant memory now. I think they call this "mom - nesia" and it must be why people go ahead and get pregnant again at some point. Now, I am not writing this because I am thinking about having another baby (oh no- not yet. Being a mom of a toddler has enough stress and worry of its own for now) but I am writing it because I was thinking about some advice other moms gave me before I had Isabel and feeling kind of reflective. Its funny because before you have your first baby people tell you all kinds of things and you just kind of smile, nod and file it away in the back of your brain. In fact, I have found that some of the "advice" or comments those people made didn't actually make sense or mean anything to me until about14 months later. So this post (and maybe some others to follow) are dedicated to the many things people told me about motherhood that I didn't really take seriously or understand until now.
So enjoy
#1 - "Enjoy your sleep now because you won't ever sleep again".
 I found this "advice" among the most annoying. Really? Like I'm NEVER going to sleep again? Sure. And besides- I am a night owl. I pulled MANY all-nighters in college. I can so handle not sleeping at night. Besides- how do you "enjoy your sleep now"? Am I supposed to go lay in my bed all afternoon in preparation for my baby coming 2 months from now?

I guess this was one of the biggest shocks to  my "new mom" system. The truth is- you WILL sleep again and you will be just fine- you will adjust--- BUT it is true, your sleep will never be the same as it was pre-baby. Your sleep will depend on someone else's schedule and the days of sleeping in are pretty much over. Babies don't care that it is the weekend. And even though I was confident that I could pull an "all-nighter" from past experiences, I didn't realize how hard it would be trying to pull an all-nighter- EVERY NIGHT! Lack of sleep was the hands-down hardest thing for me about being a new mom. (and can still be a problem today!) Luckily, I have a great husband who gets that, and we share the sleepless nights now. This one was the toughest adjustment for me but it also had a lot of benefits. I mean, I can't tell you how much more productive I am now that I go to bed at a normal time and wake up ealry. No sleeping my mornings away anymore. I am never running late for work (actually I am there 1/2 hour early which is a shock to my coworkers) I am awake early enough on the weekends to plan out my day, get my errands run and still have time to do fun things with my family. Really. This one turned out to be true and not so bad!