After giving birth, new moms can expect to be focused on bonding with baby, juggling visits from grandparents and other family members and friends, sending out birth announcements, acclimating themselves to nursing or bottle-feeding, and trying to get a little sleep. Those are the givens. But after welcoming their little one, new moms also realize they'll do best to expect a few embarrassing, cringeworthy, and OMG unexpected moments.
It comes with the new mom territory: living through challenging, ridiculous, maybe even mortifying moments they may or may not have been fully prepped for. Thankfully, these are moments new moms can simply chalk up to the hazing process that is new motherhood. (This too shall pass — promise!)
Ultimately, these are amazing stories to share with other, even newer moms to let them know they're so not alone! Whether they were being thrown into the deep end of breastfeeding in public, peed themselves before regaining post-baby bladder control, or grappled with a diaper explosion in the worst possible place, new moms have been through it all.
Here are 10 times new moms were caught off-guard — but totally handled it like bosses. These now-seasoned mamas asked to remain anonymous — but they might as well be every mom. Been there!
Awkward Breastfeeding Moment
"One of my first times really nursing in public was really awkward. I was at an NHL hockey game, and my daughter was only a week or two old, so we were still figuring out breastfeeding, plus we had these big headphones on her ears to help with the noise. I ended up sitting next to my father-in-law, and he was right there for all my struggles in trying to get her to latch with my boob just hanging out while she fussed. The poor guy didn't know what to do but asked if he could help. It was nice of him to offer, but pretty embarrassing for us both, because I was basically topless squeezed in a seat inches from him, and I was really unsure of my mothering skills still. After a little while though we got the hang of it, and she ended up sleeping through most of the game!"
Epic Airplane Pee
"During the first flight we took with my eldest son, he was an angel and slept the whole time with no issues. While we were waiting an extraordinarily long time to get off the plane, his diaper no longer held up, and he peed all over my lap and leg. Talking epic pee. So, I had to sit with a wet lap for about 20 minutes and walk through the airport covered in urine."
Post-Baby Period Emergency
"The first time I got my period post-pregnancy, I was in the office and caught so off-guard. Making things all the more awkward was the fact that — TMI alert! — the tampon size I had in my desk drawer and another a friend had given me no longer, um, worked, thanks to pushing a baby out a few months prior. Fun times!"
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Those Post-Labor Hemorrhoids, Though
"My hemorrhoids were OMG. When I was in labor, I pushed so hard that I also gave birth to a few oversized hemorrhoids. I couldn't move for over two weeks without pain. It was a very difficult time."
Breast Milk Fountain
"I was feeding my daughter pretty openly in public. My milk started to fountain up, like squirting a foot and all over her, me, the blanket we were sitting in, and my gray shirt. Her face was covered!"
Leaking During Cocktail Hour
"When my eldest son was about 4 months old, I was at a wedding. It was my first really big night out, and I was so excited, because I was able to fit into this gorgeous cocktail dress that I had bought before I got pregnant yet hadn't had a chance to wear. We're at the wedding, having a great time, when I notice that my chest felt really damp. My breast milk had leaked through the dress — despite the fact that I was wearing breast pads. It was horrifying, and we immediately went home."
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Screaming Baby
"One day, I decided to take my twins in a stroller for a long walk. I did not bring a bottle. Twenty minutes from my house, my daughter gets hungry and starts screaming. I turned around and walked back with a screaming baby and people staring at me like I was abusing her. It sucked so hard!"
No Bladder Control at the Park
"I was with my 2-year-old and 2-month-old at the playground. I had to pee. Badly. There was no public place to go. I peed a drop, squeezed the rest back in, raced back to the car carrying both kids, threw them in their car seats, grabbed the frog potty from the trunk — who doesn't travel without a frog potty? — and peed in the front seat. I filled the frog! The really awkward part was finding a place to dump it. My car was parked next to the playground and both kids were screaming. I dumped it on the side of the parking lot in some scraggly grass. I thought no one was looking. It's possible I'm wrong. I zipped out of there quickly after that!"
Peek-a-Boob
"When my son was about 7 months old, we were at a friend's birthday party at a restaurant, and I was starving! I was breastfeeding our son when the food finally came so I picked up a drumstick and devoured it. I was so into the drumstick that I didn't even notice my son had unlatched, and my boob was just hanging out in the restaurant while I was devouring delicious fried chicken!"
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Mile-High Nursing Mom Moment
"I was flying, and at the time, I was breastfeeding my daughter. Cue the completely drenched-level leaking through my shirt! Thankfully, the only person who really acknowledged it on the plane was another mom who shot me 'I totally got you' look. Sigh."
