New Year, New Life - A Month Into Mommyhood
1) Breast Feeding - I had heard stories from friends how their milk was just overflowing and leaking all the time so I prepared ahead of time with breast pads, clothes & bras for nursing, a pump, a support pillow etc STILL NOT HAPPENING FOR ME! I lost so much blood my milk just didn't want to come in right away. I'm taking Fenugreek supplements and drinking a tea that's supposed to help increase my supply, but these cups just don't over-floweth. The lactation consultant had said I should be pumping every 3 hours, but when I would pump I'd only get 1oz total for both sides 20min each. And then I started feeling under the weather, like I'm fighting a cold, and with the fatigue I just couldn't keep up. I still have a little bit of milk at least so I'm continuing with the supplements and trying to get the baby to latch for awhile each day. But I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself because...
2) Baby Growth - hasn't been an issue on formula! Our little one left the hospital at 4lbs 12oz, and at his pediatrician appointment at 3 weeks he weighed in at 6lbs, 12oz. She told us usually at 3 weeks they get back slightly above their birth weight. Well since his birth weight was 5lbs 1oz, he is well above that goal. At 5 weeks I'm sure he is over 8lbs now. The size 1 diapers are a little big on him still but he's finally able to wear some of the 0-3month size baby clothes - which is great because we didn't have many newborn size items. This little guy has a ravenous appetite though! I take the night shift with him and there's times when he'll want to be fed every hour, up to 4oz at a time! Which leads me to.....
3) Fave items so far as a mom - Leachco Cuddle-U Nursing Pillow and The First Years Night Cravings Bottle Warmer and Cooler. Being up all night with the baby isn't easy! Sometimes in the morning when Stephen wakes up to take over for awhile, I can barely lift my arms any more! But these two items have made things a lot easier. This particular nursing pillow has a velcro strap you can use to safely strap baby in like a little seat. So I use it at times to prop him on for bottle feedings, or I put him over it on his tummy for burpings or tummy-time. And this bottle warmer is awesome because it also has a cooler with a ice pack, so before we go to bed I put it next to my side of the bed with a couple of bottles in it and we are set for the night. No stumbling back and forth to the kitchen in the dark; I just pour the pre-measured water vile into the warmer and steam heat a bottle in just a couple of minutes before the whimpers even have a chance to turn into full blown squawks.
4) Co-sleeping - with the frequency that this little guy wants to eat, I don't have much of a choice. I know its kind of a controversy in America, and all the medical advice goes against it, but co-sleeping is actually quite prevalent in many cultures around the world even now. I've heard, and I believe, the endorphins and Oxytocin produced from the skin-to-skin time has significant health benefits for the infant and helps them to be more secure and confident. You just have to be super super safe with your baby because hubbies don't have the same instincts as moms do and aren't as conscious of what they do in their sleep. I believe it now that moms literally sleep with one eye open. I barely sleep during the night but I hold my baby on my chest in a way that I can guard him from Stephen's movements and see his nose and mouth so I know he can still breathe. I treasure these precious moments because I know they'll be gone before I know it....
5) Post-partum recovery - still my biggest frustration so far. I wrote before that I had problems with my back but it turns out it wasn't dislocation or slipped disc or anything like that. I actually tore the cartilage in my pelvis that connect the pelvic bone and muscles, resulting in something called Pelvic Girdle Pain. I probably did this towards the end of my second trimester getting up and down off the floor and trying to move around heavy objects. I had no idea something like this could happen! I knew your ligaments and joints loosen a bit to prepare for delivery, so I thought after birth things would start to pop back into place. But when I was still experiencing lower back, hip, and pelvic pain a month after birth, I went in to see my primary care doctor and after a physical exam of the area she explained what was going on (after yowling when she touched my pelvic bone I didn't need xrays or mri...) This probably contributed to my extreme pain during labor and I'm just praying the labor didn't make the tear even worse. And unfortunately, ,there's not much you can do to treat the injury. I just have to try not to put too much weight on it or move in certain ways and wait for it to heal. So I'm in a lot of pain and waddling around still like a pregnant penguin, pissed off because I'm not able to get stuff done as much as I'd like.
But pain aside, I am enjoying this parental thing very much. So far I haven't felt panicked or not known how to handle any situation. I feel very natural and comfortable in my new role. Even during those crazy moments like late night changings where my son drops a load in his diapers and then pees in his own face as I'm trying to clean him up and then proceeds to scream at me like its all my fault. Or even though he somehow knows when I even think about eating and immediately starts crying. Hey, he's a great diet enforcer! I've already dropped 25lbs since giving birth and am lower than my pre-pregnancy weight. Hope we can keep this up!
Every day is just so fun for me to see how he is developing. I don't want to miss a single moment. I have become one of those insufferable parents who take a million pics of their kid every day, and I'm sure some people are sick of all my online posts, but I'm fine with that. My parents and several friends and relatives live far away so social media has been a super easy way to just share with everyone at once with minimal effort. I don't have time for the most part for phone calls or responding to comments or texts, and even this blog post has taken hours to get through, but that's to be expected and I think most people are understanding of that. My number one priority is just to enjoy my time with this little guy as much as possible because he's growing fast right in front of my eyes.
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| Darius vs Me at 1 Month |
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