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Potential parents will feel a range of emotion before the baby is born. They will feel excited, apprehensive, nervous, impatient, unsure. They will be looking forward to the event but will be unsure of what to expect. The nursery may be ready but, do they really know how much their priorities will change?

One of the first things that someone said to me prior to having the baby was `You will never have a hot cup of tea again!`. I can remember thinking `how silly` until endless cups of cold tea later......

First of all, when the baby is born, for most people there will be an overwhelming surge of love. The desire to protect that baby is very strong. It is easy to become possesive almost. The baby is not a parcel to be passed around endless relatives. It is your precious baby. From then on you realise, life will never be the same again.

Getting back to the cold cups of tea. Most people take for granted the opportunity sit down and have a tea or coffee as a natural break during the day. When the baby is `comfort feeding` yet again it is very difficult to drink that tea. In fact, is there even time to make one? You may be lucky enough to have a friend to come around and make one for you. They can`t drink it for you though. As soon as you put the baby down, it cries. The friend just isn`t the same. They only want you.

You may always have looked forward to a lie in at the weekend after working all week. Not only will lie ins be a thing of the past, it will also be doubtful how much sleep you will actually manage during the night. Babies can certainly interfere with your sleep pattern.

All of your friends are up until the early hours on a Saturday night. You would be with them, but because of the new baby, you are unable to go out. Never mind, you can still think of them when you are up until the early hours with the new baby who cannot sleep.

All of this no longer matters though. Cold cups of tea, so what? As long as you are getting adequate nutrition it is alright. You may feel tired after being awake for half the night, but the lie in no longer seems important. You have a beautiful baby that you can`t wait to spend time with. Why waste time in bed? As for going out every week, taking ages getting ready and spending lots of money. This almost seems pointless.

Babies take up a lot of time but they educate the parents into using quality time. Weekends will be spent very differently, time out with the family to child orientated places. These can be so much fun and so more important than going to the pub. When the parents do have a night out, it will be enjoyed as something different. Hours can be spent clothes shopping, for the baby. It is so much more enjoyable to buy them baby clothes and toys than it is to buy clothes for yourself.

The thing about having a baby, life changes dramatically, but for the better. You may not be able to go out much, but there are more enjoyable things at home. In fact, social situations change. Parents tend to make friends with parents. This does not mean losing touch with your old friends, it just means acquiring lots of new friends. Before having a baby, the focus is on yourself. It does not necessarily mean that you are selfish, it just means that you only have to think about what you are doing that day. Having a baby changes this, you will no longer be central in your thoughts, the baby will.

Learn more about this author, Lucy Collins.
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