Trust Mom's Parenting Instincts

I'm a first-time mom and I learned the hard way that I should always trust my instincts, no matter what anyone else—even my husband—says. Last year when my son was less than a month old, we took him to the doctor's for his checkup and I asked about his persistent gurgling. The doc dismissed my concerns, saying lots of babies had that and that it would take time to go away. Two days later, my son started to get worse. When I told my husband and my in-laws that I thought we should take him to the emergency room, they all looked at me like I was crazy. But I insisted we take him in, and when we did, lo and behold, he had RSV, which is a very serious bronchial illness in babies. He ended up being hospitalized for four days! It tore my heart out, but it made me realize that even though I'd only been a parent for a couple of weeks, I already had a well-developed mother's instinct.

I don't think the same is true for dads. My husband keeps saying, "I have a father's instinct!" Well whatever that is, it's not what I've got. He's been a father for almost a year and he just doesn't know the things that I know. My husband's always accusing me of over-worrying, but he isn't attuned to my son's needs in the same way that I am. I instinctively know when my son is hungry, tired, upset or sick. So now I never second-guess myself—even if my husband disagrees with me.