Mothers' group

Munchkin is stirring, so not sure how much of this post will get written in one go.

Have been to 2 mother's groups in past fortnight or so. An interesting affair, convened by a midwife, in which a large group of mothers sit around in a circle for 2 hours, bubs lying down on a rug on the floor sleeping or their version of playing, or crying and being cuddled, or being fed/burped/jiggled. Most don't make it to the group before baby is 3 weeks of age, and you "graduate" when your baby is 12 weeks.

It's a useful 2 or so hours. The midwife calls for topics at the start of the group, and we discuss them - everything from baby first aid, to sleep requirements, to the use of dummies, to developing your baby's neck muscles by putting them on their tummies 4 times a day. In the group, there are mums that worry about their baby stopping breathing at night, mothers that change their bub's whole outfit at the smallest sign of baby spew (this seems a bit much to me, or am I just a grot?!), mothers that bring along chocolate brownies for all to enjoy (how sweet!!), mothers that have similar problems to me but are further along the track in rectifying them, mothers whose partners aren't very into helping with the baby (not me! phew!) and mothers that are experimenting with new techniques in sleeping and feeding.

Don't know how long it will take me to make friends, but I only have about 8 more weeks to bond with someone and form an ongoing private mother's group, so the pressure is on! A bit of a daunting prospect for a person who sits back and watches for a while before befriending a person. I am sussing out the mothers who have babies around the same age as mine for starters, but it is hard to form an impression of someone in 2 hours. Maybe I'll take the plunge this time and do the organising myself?? It's that, or be relatively isolated in the world of child rearing...