The first few weeks of motherhood flew by so quickly. I often hear mothers say "I don't know what I used to do with all my time before the baby" and now I completely understand what they mean. Being a new mother is so full of ups and downs. Some days are spectacular, and some days you just want to hide out in a bomb shelter. But overall, I'm really enjoying the experience. Within a week of Ethan's birth (and before I healed), I had already missed being pregnant and thought about baby #2. Here's a recap (from what I can remember) of the first few months...
Week 1: Looking back, this week was pretty incredible. Well, aside from me being more swollen than I ever was when I was pregnant, and my constant pain "down there," it wasn't so bad. Some how, I thought that I would get way less sleep than I did. Lucky for us, Mike's dad came to help out and took care of all of our needs while we took care of the baby's needs. Nevertheless, it took us a while to figure everything out, like how to do quick diaper changes, how to avoid being peed (or pooed) on, how to get onesies over his head and on his body without breaking a limb. We learned that babies are pretty durable (as demonstrated by all hospital personnel), but yet we were still scared and treated him like glass. Breastfeeding was the sort of pain you can feel going down your legs and to your toes. But by the end of the first week we pretty much figured out that if he was crying, feed him and change him.
Month 1: By the third week or so we figured out that there wasn't anything that my wonderful breast couldn't solve. If he cried, we fed him, and he was happy. He was awake more during the days, and sleeping a bit more at night. But getting him back to bed was still a bit of a challenge.
Currently: Ethan is becoming less and less portable (right on with what I've read in all the books). It used to be that we can take him anywhere anytime, and if he was tired, he would sleep. Not anymore! :( Because of this, we've limited going out to just lunches as dinner tends to coincide with bedtime (according to various books, bedtime should start between 7-9 pm). There's not much I can do during the days either, as his awake time should be no more than 1.5 to 2 hours. As always, some days (as well as nights) are better than others. I'm thankful that I am not a single mother and have someone I can "tag in" when I'm feeling a little sleep deprived or frustrated. I learned in the first few weeks that I need to get enough sleep, otherwise I can't take care of my baby the way I need to. It still holds true now. Ethan needs more and more attention each day. Gone are the days of plopping him down, he needs something to look at and someone to talk to. Finding things to keep a baby entertained for hours during the day is harder than it sounds. We have a lot of one-sided conversations.
More to come!!!
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