i am terrified!

[shadow_slayer]

Don't get me wrong, this is what I've always wanted. I'm adopting a baby (due in may). But I am terrified, what do I do? This will be my first and only child, I feel like I have no clue. I have a million dumb questions.. how do you change a diaper? When do I feed my baby? When, what, where, and how? Any suggestions on a book with all these dumb questions?

[shadow_slayer]

Thank you forthe wonderful suggestions... I'm so excited I can't sit still... lol.

[shadow_slayer]

Thank you from the wonderful suggestions... I'm so excited I can't sit still... lol.

[foo803]

I didn't really have any baby experience before I had my first and was nervous too.

Classes and books are a good suggestion, but for me all that stuff went out the window when my son was actually here.

It's amazing how fast you pick up on things when you are dealing with a newborn baby 24/7. They have to be changed, fed, comforted, etc so many times a day that you really get to know what to do. It's like baby boot camp.

Also, every child is different and it takes most parents a period of time to connect and get to know their baby's individual needs/cries.

[lilbit_17]

I bought a book off amazon called heading home with your newborn "from birth to reality" it is extremely helpful and will answer all your questions :) I highly recommend it!

[mommybear0710]

Oops you already said that sometimes it's hard to focus with 2 munchkins running around.

[mommybear0710]

Most hospitals also have a parenting class you might want to look into it. Good luck

[steph_ut]

I have a 3 year old and loved Dr Sears "The Baby Book". He is very pro-breast-feeding and spends some time on pregnancy, but I found it most useful as a resource for baby care when we first had her (kept it on my nightstand and referred to it regularly for a good year after her birth). I had been around very few children enough to know all those good things like how to change diapers, how much time to expect them to sleep, etc so I felt it was very useful. He is also very pro-baby wearing, etc - advice I found useful even if the standards were maybe a bit high for me sometimes.

You may also want to check with your local hospital or women's center - in addition to birth classes, ours offered baby care classes that gave some rudimentary tips on soothing, bathing, etc and a discussion session addressing how life a couple changes with the addition of a child. Their role is to help expectant mothers and I would imagine that they would welcome any new mother to be.

Congratulations! Please feel free to ask any questions you have and share stories - we're all going to be mommies to a newborn this spring!