Today I am honoured to have figur8, my BFF, marathon runner, marketing whiz, prolific writer, and a wonderful mother whom I admire and respect very much, write a guest blog entry for Strange Machines. figur8 is Mom to a bouncy baby boy Gavin who is now 2 months old.

Mephala has asked me to write on her blog about my experience of being a new Mum. I’m very honoured by this request because as a new Mum, I’m seldom asked to share my experience. In fact, most of the time everyone is too busy telling me how I should be looking after my baby and all the things I'm doing wrong to even listen to a word I have to say.

So here's what I've learned as a New Mum:

1. Every Tom, Dick, or Harry and their dogs know more than I do about how to look after my baby and what's best for him (even if some of them have never looked after a baby let alone had one).

2. Every little mark on the baby from rashes to a scratch is my fault (never mind the fact that it is common for babies to have skin problems especially during their first few months after birth and the babies with flawless skin that we see in magazines are all wearing make-up).

3. When I've got the baby blues, the hubby thinks I'm no longer capable of making rationale decisions because I cry all the time (even though I can still think clearly despite being in tears).

4. If I thought looking after a baby was hard, it was because I hadn't yet had the experience of looking after a sick baby. Nothing is more heartbreaking than when my baby is sick.

5. The "no milk" syndrome is a misconception created in the minds of my relatives. They believe that having sufficient milk to feed a baby is something that some women are blessed with and others are just unlucky that they need to use formula. They also believe that you have to eat certain foods to ensure a good supply of milk. Well, these are all untrue. The fastest way to kill my milk supply is to get stressed and reduce the number of times my baby goes on the breast.

6. They've also told me that if I don't eat specific things, the quality of my milk will be deficient in some way. This is also untrue. The only way my milk supply can be affected is for me to be severely malnourished, which is hardly possible when I live where food is just a stone's throw away.

7. Babies need water even if they are breastfeeding. This is another fallacy because breast milk is divided into two types - the foremilk (which is mostly water and the means by which the baby stays hydrated) and the hindmilk (the fatty part which helps to fill baby up when he's hungry). Additionally, contrary to popular belief, you don't need to give babies water when they hiccup.

8. You've got to switch to formula or supplement with formula as the baby gets older. (I can't even fathom why anyone would want to switch from a superior feed to a lesser one if they could still choose to give the better choice).

9. Baby poop should thicken after a while. If it remains runny, it means baby is upset by the food Mummy ate. (The person who told me this seems to forget that she supplemented her babies with formula which would naturally cause the baby's poop to be thicker than a fully breastfed baby).

10. If I carry my baby too much, I will spoil him (even though he's only a month old).

11. Sleep becomes a precious commodity and to get even four hours straight is nothing short of a miracle.

12. Parenting is tougher than any race, hike, or climb I have ever participated in.

13. Spare clothes are essential wherever I go with baby, and I don't mean just for baby. Mummy needs spare clothes, too, unless she wants to walk around with baby's milk all over her.

14. Babies are one mean eating, sleeping, pooing machine. I never thought someone so little could excrete so much poo!

15. The smartest purchase we have made is the Baby Bjorn carrier. Baby falls asleep in it so quickly and easily and it gives me the opportunity to go shopping without abandon.

16. These books have been my bibles and quick guides to parenting:

On breastfeeding - The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

On general information - Complete Baby & Child Care

For weeding out useless "old wives tales" - Asian Parenting

On sleep and colic - The Happiest Baby on the Block

17. The new boss in my life is my son.

18. Most of all, I have learned that life is never ever the same again, and the most precious feeling I have ever experienced is when I am carrying my son against my chest. People may tell me not to carry my son too much or I'll suffer the consequences, but heck! He's just a baby. When he's all grown up, he will no longer want me to carry him this way again so I sure as heck am going to enjoy carrying him as much as I can while he still wants me to.

I have also learned that better than anyone else's advice is what rings true with my heart and my own instincts. I am a mother now and it has changed me for the better in more ways than I could ever have imagined.

Technorati: motherhood, what I learnt as a new mother