I don't need your stinkin' books!

If there is anything I’ve learned in the past 7 months (really, the past year and a half), its that you can’t rely on books to give you the answers in matters of intuition. What is a matter of intuition? Anything that does not have a straight forward answer. Think about your English classes and how you would answer questions about the meaning of a book. Not straight forward at all! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. There’s always multiple answers and you aren’t usually sure which is the best one. So, you generally use your intuition to choose your answer.
Well, I’m not trying to talk about English today, I’m thinking about matters of babies and parenting. For every book that was printed about parenting, you could have just saved a tree. Now, I did buy the books on pregnancy and parenting because I have always been the type of person that needs confirmation from a plethora of sources before I’m fully convinced of the answer. Of course, looking back after only a few months, I realize that no book contains the answers for my questions. Hell, no doctor can even do that 100%.
Then there’s the internet. If I ever wanted to be scared out of my mind, I’d look my inquiry up on the internet. EVERY SINGLE FRIGHTENED PARENT IS ON THE INTERNET! I go to the internet to see if other parents have experienced similar issues as myself and my baby and all I find are answers about life-threatening illnesses or life-long illnesses. Its refreshing when I finally find a sane and rational parent. Its normal to be worried about your baby, but not everything is a do or die situation!
Really, I try to use the internet to confirm my suspicions. I am starting to feel more comfortable with Bella and I can tell what the problem may be when she begins to feel sick or upset. I am starting to trust my intuition and if I have a problem that I don’t feel comfortable solving on my own, well that’s why we have pediatricians! The books I’ve read have told me nothing but what to GENERALLY expect and that simply does not fit my child and I. It may fit many parents, but if I had to guess, I would say that for every parent that has a typical experience with his or her baby, there are 3 parents that are not having the typical experience.
So read the books if you want, but when push comes to shove, you know your baby better than any book ever will!