As any of you other mamas know, a newborn is a LOT of work! As such, and given he's a whopping week old, my goal for An Uncomplicated Life Blog is to get three posts out a week while we ride out the "fourth trimester", or until Henry is 3-4 months old (he was a late-preterm baby, so the doctors told me to use his due date in calculating development rather than his real birthday).
I'm going to do my absolute best to stick to a M-W-F schedule, but I'm sure you'll understand if some weeks I'm a bit off. Sometimes babies just have their own agenda, and don't care about blog posts, amiright?
Let's jump in then! Given this Monday was a delightful holiday but I'm still a new mom, we're hijacking a typical Mommy Monday post for Tuesday. Take THAT, Tuesday!
Top Five Things I've Learned As a New Mom: Week 1
1) You'll develop irrational fears: I consider myself a pretty sane, well-adjusted person. But I've noticed myself having absolutely insane thoughts. "Are his lips turning blue? Can he breathe?" "What the heck was THAT squeak about?! Is it SIDS? I better check to make sure he's breathing!" "My husband left the damn bathroom door open. I ask for ONE THING. Shut the bathroom door! Where's a knife, I'm going to chase him down the next time that happens!" "Are you sure his lips aren't blue? Because I don't think he's breathing." I could write pages of stupid and insane thoughts I've had over the past 10 days or so... However, most of them? Yeah, I don't need to make them public!
 |
| My irrational thought during this pic: "My seven-day-old baby knows how to hold his own paci! Did I give birth to some sort of freaky-child-prodigy?!" |
2) Everything takes much, much longer than you expected: Remember how you used to get up and plan your day, and knew how long it took you to eat breakfast and shower, clean the floors or do a load of laundry? Yeah... Forget that. Everything will take you much, much, dramatically, insanely longer. I can't even safely say a number, like "it will take at least twice as long" because there is no arithmetic for a new baby. They make their math up daily, and juuuuuuust when you think you've cracked their code, BAM. New numbers need to be inserted for x and y.
3) Newborns require tummy time: If you have kids, have every babysat, have friends with kids, or have thought once or twice about a baby in the history of your life, you've likely heard of this thing called "tummy time." It's when babies kick it on their bellies and it promotes neurological development, coordination and strength. I've always associated it with, say, a four, five or six month old. But a newborn?! Yeah, I guess they need it too. The more ya know, right?!
 |
| Family tummy time! |
4) Your day will revolve around boobs: Guys, don't get jealous! But a new, breastfeeding mom's day will now revolve mostly around her boobs. You think it's the baby, but really, since the baby is relying on your boobs to live, it's your boobs. You'll begin to "read" the way your boobs feel to determine if the baby is hungry. You'll spend time talking about them. You'll look in the mirror in awe/terror at the size and sight of them. You'll curse your leaky nipples as the drizzle all over the clean onesie you JUST changed your baby into. Really... It's all about the ta-tas.
5) Belly binding is God's Gift to new moms: No, seriously. It sounds like it would be uncomfortable - maybe like a corset back in the 1800's? Nope! It. Feels. Ah-maze-zing! First, your baby pooch doesn't stick out nearly as far. Second, your poor stretched out uterus and abdominal muscles get pushed back into place and held there. And finally, your back gets supported. All of these things are lovely, and SO needed by a new mommy! I don't buy into (and nor should you) the complete crap some websites have regarding weight-loss and tummy binding. What a bunch of hoo-haa. The only thing that results in weight loss is taking in less calories than you use during the day, and consuming high quality calories. But, the support of these things is absolutely great!
 |
| Belly wrap shot FIVE DAYS after delivering Henry. I'm using a bamboo Belly Bandit |
No comments:
Post a Comment