Name: Bethany Wilkes
IG: @RNBettyWilkes
Age: 36
Number of kids and ages: 1, 5 years old
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
The most surprising thing about being a first-time mom is how wrong my belief was that everything would come "naturally". I really thought that my baby would run the show and I was just there to fulfill the needs he would express. Turns out, there's a lot more to it than that!
My expectation vs. experience breastfeeding was I thought that breastfeeding would come easily and naturally, and I really didn't take any time to learn about breastfeeding ahead of time. My actual experience was anything but easy or "natural". My son was never able to get a good latch, and despite several lactation specialist visits, we were never able to determine the cause. I ended up exclusively pumping for 6 months, which was a ton of work, and very disheartening at first. Ultimately, I was able to shift my perspective, and instead of grieving what could have been, I appreciate what my body was able to do despite things not looking like what I had expected. Looking back now, I'm proud of all the work I put in to grow my son for the first 6 months of his life.
The best piece of advice about motherhood is expectations almost never match the reality of it, but that doesn't mean it's not the coolest, most amazing thing I've ever done. Flexibility is one of the greatest strengths you can carry in motherhood, because from birth on, almost nothing will go exactly the way you envisioned. Being able to "roll with it", and shift expectations and/or perspective when things don't go according to plan, is one of the best ways I've found to be able to enjoy all the wonderful little moments of motherhood that I could have otherwise missed if I'd been focused on what went "wrong".