Thinking of having a baby? Or have one already?

You come home. Excited. Elated. With the little bundle of joy in your arms. You think you are a champ for bringing a human into this world. You secretly pat yourself on the back and celebrate (in your head).

Your sweet angel naps in the car all the way from the hospital to her new home. She naps while your shower, put on some old, comforting pyjamas, get your hair into some order…..

She continues to nap while you get some non- hospital food into your system. In fact YOU have to wake her up, to feed her. She snacks a bit and then nods off again.

Aah! What a sweetheart! Who said motherhood was difficult?

The sun sets. You prepare for a night of rest and recuperation. You deserve it. After all the pregnancy- insomnia and sleep deprivation combined with the parturition exhaustion; you look forward to some desperately needed shut eye.

Just as your badly- conditioned hair hits the ultra- cushy pillow, the angel stirs. You look at her indulgently and smile. Aah! The sweetie- pie!

You gently pat her……

You drift off….

You hear something…

Something that will overwhelm your nights and test your sanity for the next few months of your life.

A shrill, high- pitched wail/ cry…

So you drag yourself up, and move toward the little one.

This will be the first of a hundred fifty thousand times….

As the sleepless nights pile on, your forbearance starts to wear thin. A sane, intelligent woman morphs into a weeping, irritable, mess.

Sleep will start to have a new meaning. Most nights it will be a distant mirage. You shall soon learn to live under conditions of extreme sleep deprivation.

Sleep deprivation has a new standard. The days leading up to your university final exams or your thesis submission date will seem like a party.

But, hold your horses ladies, it’s not all glum and dreary! There are a few upsides to this lamentable turn of events that all new mums have to endure….

Here are 8 of them:-

1. You can sleep in….

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