Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it? If only we could actually do something with our acquired knowledge, like...oh, I don’t know...go back in time and help your former self on the day you found out you were pregnant. While there are a zillion times in my past when I'd love to go back and knock some sense into younger me (full disclosure: most of them involve wearing a camisole as outerwear after 9pm), I would especially love the opportunity to try and calm myself the moments after I saw that positive test. I think feeling terrified and overwhelmed and excited, especially at the beginning, is a universal experience. If there’s anyone out there who wasn’t dazed, please show yourself. I want to learn your ways.
In the meantime, I’ve compiled a list of things I would have liked to have heard in my early pregnancy. In the midst of all the excitement and general hoo-ha, there was that little nagging feeling in the back of my mind that reminded me just how long, emotional, and medical the next nine months would be (not to mention the decades of parenthood that would follow). It's daunting. So, here are the basics I would offer my old self now that I can say hello from the other side (of giving birth):