"Advice I would give to my younger self if I could."

Listen up, pre-kid woman, this is what you need to know.

Hello there, skinny girl.

First off, you look great. You’ll look pretty good eight years from now, too, but for the record, right now you look great.

I just wanted to let you know a few things before you get started on that whole having a baby, and then having three babies, thing:

1. There’s no rush.

If your chest tightens up at the idea of having a baby, then wait a little longer. If your friends are all getting pregnant, so you feel you should, then wait a little longer. It doesn’t hurt to have all your ducks in a row. When it’s time, you’ll both know.

2. Sleep now or forever hold your peace.

Go back to bed and enjoy it. If you have the freedom to sleep in, roll over, have sex before you drink your coffee and then again right after you drink your coffee — do so. Often. Do all these things and enjoy the time you have to go about your day in a leisurely fashion. Don’t rush. You’ll have enough of that later. Live slow and sleep in whenever possible.

3. Book a flight and go on it.

Enjoy Italy, drink wine in France, sing in a pub in England. Wherever you can go, go. Take that trip to Europe. Just do it. You can backpack now and do youth hostels and couch surf with friends, whatever.

You definitely can't travel as easily with a baby and two kids in tow. While you will have more chances to travel when you're older, you'll have to wait 'til your kids are teens and then deal with the worry of whether they are throwing keggers at your house while you're away -- or wait 'til they're all off to college and be the 50-somethings trying to look cool hanging out at a bar in Spain.

Your choice. I say go now.

4. Embrace change.

Remember that water birth you were planning to have? The one where you get a massage and then you have your baby with flower petals, warm water, and candles all around you? Well, you actually end up with three C-sections.

The lesson here? Embrace change, don't try to control what you can't, and thank your lucky stars for being able to have healthy babies. You'll be fine and so will they.

5. You won't regret it at all.

Don't spend any time worrying about having kids. Not even a second. You will be so happy you made those little chickens, flabby belly and all. So enjoy your abs, and enjoy your late Saturday mornings, but know that when life changes (and it will), you will be one of the happiest, most grateful mums on the block.

Congrats (in advance).

From,
The Older, Wiser, (Flabbier) You... and your kids

What advice would you give your younger self? I'd love to hear it in the comments.

This article originally appeared on winthekids.com, A Marketing Mom's Solution to Parenting.

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