mama to mama.

Ever felt like this?

I know I have.  Welcome to "Epic Fail" day.  I've asked the Mamas to offer up their best story of "failure".  I use that term very loosely, as I truly don't think these moms are capable of failure.  I decided on this post after talking with my mom (my parents are visiting!) and reminiscing over that first week with Lu.  

I have SO many epic fail moments:  from Lu pooping into the silverware drawer, to breastfeeding while slowly walking up 8th Ave. covered in sweat, to catching a half-sleeping baby as she casually rolled off the side of our bed.

 Please read on for more "fail" stories from the Mamas! 

______________________________________________________

Kerrie, mom to Aspen (9 wks)

At the hospital they had me breastfeeding around the clock every 2~3 hours....so when I brought Aspen home at 5lbs 10oz I assumed that was still the case, so against my mom and pretty much everyone else's comments of "Don't wake a sleeping baby", I would set my alarm down to the minute and wake her, even if it meant i had to fully undress her to keep her awake. This went on for about a week, when finally in a zombie state I had a chance to read hospital discharge papers that said. ON DEMAND feeding at night
......FAIL!!!!

______________________________________________________

Jessica, mom to Sophia Lynne Kowal (2 months)

 

I have had several epic fails as a new mom and my little Sophie is only 2 months old :).  The one that still makes me laugh is our "first doctor's appointment".  I had been home from the hospital all of three days when Sophia had her first doctor's appointment.  Getting her ready to go out into the world for the first time was a bit more challenging than it should have been due to my recent c-section.  I had just finished nursing her, my husband had the car seat and the cover to keep her warm on the couch and ready to go, I put a fresh diaper on her,  he started the car so it was warm and I got the hospital paperwork.  We strapped her in her new car seat, he helped me into the car and we were off.  As we pulled out of the drive way we gave each other a high-five, proud that we were heading to her first doctor's appointment without a hiccup and we were even going to be on time!

As we went into the patient room with Sophia so that she could be weighed the nurse asked if she had a clean diaper on, just as I replied yes my little lady let one rip!  The nurse giggled and said no problem just strip her down and put a fresh diaper on her.  My husband and I both gave each other an " Oh Shit" expression.  We had forgotten the flippin diaper bag!!!  Here we were as new parents thinking we had done such a great job preparing out little girl for her first outing and we forgot the most important thing.  Needless to say we made the nurse giggle for a second time and she informed us that this was a common mistake for new parents.  I am not sure if that is true or not either way it made us feel a little less idiotic.

___________________________________________________________

 

Leslie, mom to Eloise, 5 months

 

 

 

This is my FB status update from December 16th:

Nothing like a trip to Target to make you feel like an incompetent parent. 
Poop explosion out of the diaper while we are walking into the store (Eloise, not me). Did not check the wipes situation or extra clothing options in the diaper bag before leaving (this will never happen again). Mostly cleaned up with toilet paper and saved the single wet wipe for a final once over, all while attempting to stop the bleeding from my left knuckle which had just cracked open and trying to soothe a screaming baby because the bathroom does not have paper towels, only insanely loud hand dryers. Put slightly soiled clothing back on my baby (ew). Did shopping very quickly (including a new $6 footie pajama and wipes), so quickly that I did not notice that Eloise lost a sock somewhere along the way (Hey, 20 people that I passed in the store, did anyone think to tell me that my baby was only wearing one sock!?). Checked out, back to the bathroom to put new clothes on Eloise, more screaming and hand drying, packing up the diaper bag in a squat with Eloise in her carrier, fell on my butt, got very mean look from other woman in the bathroom.
Never again.
On the plus side, Sentry was a bit crowded, but uneventful.

___________________________________________________________

 

Betsy mother of June Ellen, Evelyn, and Olive

 

My first thought when I heard this topic was of how many times my girls have thrown up in public. Lesson learned. When your child complains about a stomach ache you take them seriously, the first time, and every time. When the tummy bug comes to town it is usually a surprise visit!!

After reminiscing for a few minutes, I started thinking of what my true Parenting Fail was (or is). I'm sure I will have many more....

It has to do with the middle child....and the NUK. You know what I am talking about. Pacifier, binky, num nums, ect. It seems like such a simple thing. Meant to lull a baby to sleep, ease their oral fixations, or earn a parent one or two more minutes before a feeding. My little Evelyn was ADDICTED to her nuk. I was determined to rid her of it at the age of One. Yes- 12 months old. My oldest never took a pacifier (even when we wanted her to). I didn't think it should be that difficult to wean Evelyn. I read about it. All the different techniques- surprisingly there are many. I was also pregnant with our third baby. Ev would be 16 months old when the new baby arrived. In my mind having her rid of the nuk by 12 months would give her a four month window of a nuk free home. At the time I had many reasons for not having two babies both using a nuk. I didn't want them sharing them and spreading germs. Obviously hindsight is 20/20! 7 years later I now realize how ridiculous this was. 

We started the process slowly, taking the nuk away from her for a few hours at a time, eventually keeping it in her bed for nap and bed time. However she would find random nuks all over the house. In the couch, diaper bag, toy box...you get the idea. After Olive was born she did really well....for a while. then I caught her taking one out of Olives mouth one day. I gently took it away from her and told her that big girls don't need nukies anymore. It's for the baby. Then one day the house was abnormally quiet. I went to look for Evelyn. When I found her my heart was broken. She had found the baby's nuk and had fallen asleep under her sister's bed. She was about 18 months old and she was hiding from me. After that I took her to the store and bought her a package of her very own big girl nuks.

It still makes me sad to think of it....but she's 8years old now and completely nuk free :)

__________________________________________________

Sara Amelia, mom to Nathan and Oliver

 

nathan

My biggest mom fail was when Nathan and I had gone to the store (I think I was 8 months pregnant with Oliver: preggo brain) and his shoes got muddy so I sat him in his car seat and took off his shoes to wipe the mud off.... then I forgot to click Nathan into his car seat. We drove all over Sioux Falls with him not buckled in. I felt so badly I cried!! (Again, 8 months pregnant.) Thank God we didn’t get in an accident.

oliver

__________________________________________________________