Yes, the 4th trimester is a real thing!! Our first 12 weeks as a baby & Mama! WOW! What an insane time full of so much transformation?!! Baby girl has figured out life outside the womb and I have been steady recovering & getting back to “normal” I am so happy to have our baby girl Earth side & I don’t really miss anything about being pregnant at all… So thankful to ditch the shortness of breath, swelling & giant belly and get to move on & snuggle my girly, wayyy more fun!
HOW BABY IS DOING
We have truly been blessed with the most amazing baby!! She is so easy going & sweet (I hope that lasts forever!!) & so far has met all developmental milestones with ease, we are SO THANKFUL for her good health & progress ๐ That being said, even under the best circumstances & a best case scenario situation… babies are an insane amount of work!! It is so wild & precious how she depends on us for everything 24/7- we are here to make sure she is safe, clean, fed, entertained, comfortable… the list goes on! Now that she’s holding her head up independently though we can take a few deep breaths! She is eating GREAT, luckily we clicked right away with breast feeding & we are working out the glitches when it comes to sleep, amazingly enough we are getting 8-11 hour stretches at night, when she goes to sleep!
HOW I AM FEELING
I had no idea how I would feel postpartum, it’s such a Pandora’s box of unknown waiting on you on the other side! Motherhood is also a major conundrum, every day is a new adventure & you never know what to expect from the day, your baby, yourself?! I initially thought I would be totally shut down for at least a month after delivery, but I was fortunate to have an amazing L&D experience so my recovery was smooth for the most part! I began to walk regularly again within the first week home, sciatica it was challenging at first, but has continued to improve & bleeding subsided after around 7 weeks. I have been pleasantly surprised by how fun & natural it has come to us to love her, care for her, breastfeed her…. and I have been absolutely baffled by how challenging it now is to keep up with “normal stuff” like laundry, running errands, sleep, cooking, or to carve out alone time, shower?! Everything has been turned on it’s head & the simple no brainer stuff of “pre-baby life” are now major luxuries! Dodging spit up all day has to be my least favorite part, it can strike at any time, but ALWAYS after a fresh outfit change! Regardless of how long it takes to get her to sleep, how engorged/painful BF can get, how tired I am or how little “me time” I get in the day- it is 100% a privilege to get to spend so much time with her & be Mommy! I use so much of my time & brain to make sure she is good to go, while trying not to let my entire to do list slip away… but I refuse to lose sight of how special she is to me & how fleeting this time together really is. When she sleeps in my arms clutching my hand or her Wub a Nub, when she babbles/coos/squeals and locks in on me with her big blue eyes I just melt. I am learning to give myself grace and slow down as we design this new life of ours & make sure to do what is best for Elyse.
MEMORIES & MILESTONES
Again, I am constantly surprised by how accomplished I feel after completing the most mundane task but with a baby, you have to use an entire extra part of your brain to make sure you have planned ahead & packed enough!! It is so wild how every day is a milestone filled with new memories?! I am super proud of us for making every big trip home and going to the lake, prioritizing family time, meeting up with friends, going to restaurants. It has been an entirely new dynamic to base your schedule & life around another’s schedule when I have been so accustomed to doing as I please day/night for years! So far, so good though, we have kept her safe & healthy and have been amazed by her growth every step of the way!
I think these pictures sum up “motherhood” pretty well… most days I look insane and Elyse is adorable ๐ Well this day I decided to get some pictures with her at the house for our post, so I got her settled- jumped in the shower, dried my hair & applied makeup! (42 mins) then I set up the camera (4 mins) picked her up to take a quick photo only for her to immediately start spitting up & filling her diaper, as I walked to the changing table she has now soaked through her clothes- clean up/clothing change (17 mins) Now I soothe her & bounce her to reassure her it is okay (12 mins) only to get in front of the camera to snap a few shots (3 mins) for her to have another full meltdown (5 mins) and it is time for her to eat again (30 mins) ~So now I understand why family pictures are so challenging to get! LOL we tried! SO glad I have puppy Lucy for all of the moral support, she is the BEST & is always by my side.
