First time mom - my fears and excitements

During my pregnancy I had a lot of fear and excitement about becoming a new mom. Here are some of those things and how they turned out now that I actually experienced them:

Fears-

1. The whole giving birth part- I was nervous about the pain, the intensity, and how it would all turn out. I had a home birth so that meant drugs were not an option for the pain. As it turned out the really intense pain only lasted an hour and a half and I would compare it to the worst migraine I've ever had! So it wasn't half as scary as I imagined. 

2. Breastfeeding- I was fearful of all of the horror stories I had heard about the nipple pain and also about being able to produce enough milk for my baby. As it turned out... The only painful part lasted a couple days and I never got cracked nipples thanks to emu oil! And I started praying early on that God would provide milk for my son and praise The Lord!!! He did and still is! Nursing is awesome and I love it!

3. The long nights of getting up with baby- I am a big sleeper! I can sleep 15 hours a night and be super happy. I get grumpy when I lack sleep and a new mom usually lacks sleep. As it turned out... The first few weeks I napped when my baby napped and then as he got older he began sleeping longer stretches at night. He also sleeps in bed with me so I don't actually have to get up out of bed to feed him. 

4. That I would be bad at it- I didn't know if I would make a good competent mom. I was fearful of doing things right and not knowing what to do. As it turned out..... God really does give us motherly instincts. Raising a newborn baby wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Gods perfect design made it easy!

5. Having a baby would put stress on my marriage- it is sad to think that so many couples end up divorced within a couple of years of having a baby. Even though my husband and I have an amazing relationship and I know divorce isn't even a thought in our minds, I was worried about stress in our marriage. As it turned out... Having a baby brought us even closer than we ever were before! And while our little guy requires a lot of time and energy my husband and I have not gotten unbalanced with the order of things: God, spouse, then children. I think too many times when a new baby comes along it can be easy to put the little one above your spouse or above God. They are just so cute and easy to love but I think this is where problems start because the bible is clear that when you marry you become on flesh with your spouse and i believe The best way that you can love your kids is to love your husband. Children are always looking for and longing for a stable and secure home which is the product of the husband and wife having God at the center and loving each other like Christ loved the church. That security impacts a child deeply! 

Excitement-

1. Gods gift- the bible says that children are a gift from God and that they are a blessing! As it turned out.... It is so true! Having a little baby has been such a joy and blessing and my husband and I are loving every minute of it and so grateful for the gift God gave us. 

2. Seeing my baby light up when seeing mom or dad- I love seeing babies smile so I couldn't wait to see my little one do it! As it turned out... Baby Jase had his first huge smile on day 5 and it continued from there! He is always smiling now and especially when he sees me or my husband and it truly does warm your heart!

3. Cute baby clothes and stuff- baby stuff is so cute and I was so excited to dress my little baby up in super cute outfits and shoes. As it turned out.... Our little guy ended up mostly wearing onesies all the time. They were just so much easier to change diapers on and stuff than the cuter baby outfits. As for shoes... They constantly fell off. So I found that simple was better!

4. My baby getting to have what I did with my grandparents- one of the main reasons I wanted to have a baby right now was because of my grandparents. I had such an amazing relationship with them and I still do and I wanted my baby to experience that. As it turned out... Baby Jase loves my grandparents and my grandpa was the first person to make him laugh out loud!

5. A boy or a girl- my husband and I decided to wait until our baby was born to find out what God blessed us with. I was so excited to find out! As it turned out- mike delivered out baby and when he came out mike said its baby Jase!! It was do cool not knowing until that exact moment!

What were or are your fears and excitements?