Things never go the way you expect them to. That’s both the joy and frustration in life. I’m finding as I get older that I don’t mind, though. It’s the surprises that tickle me the most, the things you don’t see coming ~ Michael Stuhlbarg

Doesn’t this boy look all kinds of surprised? I think it was the flash that shook him :). Also, see how I just slapped moisturiser onto my hair and called it a day before even rubbing it in? That’s one of the main reasons I big chopped. I simply did not have time or patience for my hair. The postpartum shedding was just the final straw.

I had a really good grasp on the fact that having a baby would change my life but somehow, postpartum life surprised me even more than I ever imagined. I mean big surprises, small surprises, medium surprises, odd-shaped surprises, odd-feeling surprises, surprise surprises….just endless surprises.

I thought I would share some of the little surprise surprises that caught me off guard:

• Eating Fish

Pre-baby me hated fish. I hated everything about it. The smell, the taste, the look, the texture, you name it. I wanted nothing to do with fish. I have a mild allergy to seafood but I strongly suspect it’s psychosomatic. My mum tried to make me eat fish because “a child must eat what they are given” right? It was either I ate the fish or going to bed hungry. I went to bed hungry. Then it was either I ate the fish or I would get a hiding. I chose the hiding. That’s how much I hated fish. I even hated the smell and taste of the omega pre-natal vitamins. Imagine my surprise when post-partum developed a defined taste for fish. Granted I still can’t stomach most kinds of fish so I only eat hake and tilapia but that is a huge leap. Huge. The first time my husband and I went out and I ordered fish, he was so confused he couldn’t enjoy his meal. He couldn’t believe it was me eating fish on purpose… neither could I.

• My hips are wider

Turns out when the pelvis opens up in preparation for childbirth, it doesn’t necessarily go back to place after. Consequently, my postpartum body, despite weighing the same as my pre-baby body, has entirely different proportions. It’s curvier. It will take some getting used to and an adjustment to clothing styles and shapes that used to complement my figure. They really don’t anymore.

• Change of style preferences

Speaking of changing style, I noticed another change. Pre-baby me hardly wore accessories. My shoes were always my statement piece. At most, I would wear a subtle pair of earrings. As soon as I got pregnant, I feel like I turned into a magpie :D. Suddenly all things big and shiny started to appeal to me. I started buying clothes with bold print and buying more and more statement necklaces and earrings. I thought that would pass once baby came. It didn’t. The magpie lives on 😀

• Green Thumb

Finally, I have always had a green thumb but the last time I used it was when I was a teen and my mum would make me plant her pumpkin seeds because, according to her theory, if I planted them, the plants yielded more leaves and pumpkins. Post-baby, my interest in plants is burning afresh. I have turned what was a brown patch of lawn outside my house into a green carpet. I have even started buying and potting plants inside the house. Maybe it’s a form of nesting.

These are some of the unexpected little things having a baby changed for me. What little changes surprised you?