Month 1 of Momming

That first month were D turned from a Newborn to a full fledge infant went by so quickly! I’d like to blame it on the holidays, but I have a feeling this won’t be the last time I feel like I’m in a time warp with our little Dude. Gone is my sleepy head and arrived is a little dude full of personality and spunk!

If you read my week 1 recap, you might know that Husband and I are splitting up nightly duties. Last night I was 100% off and it was glorious. I got 10 hours of sleep and feel so well rested. D isn’t too much trouble at night, but he is still waking ever 3-3.5 hours to feed.

Now that we are out of the shock that someone would let us (children in our own right) leave the hospital with a baby, we have settled into routine. Some highlights for D in month 1 have been:

1. It waited until Christmas Day, 1 FULL month, but his stump finally fell off and we were able to give D his first real bath. He seemed to really enjoy it. I’m hoping he ends up being a water baby just like his momma.

2. In his first 2 weeks he graduated into fitting into some of his Cloth diapers and we slowly started testing them out. Now we are full time during the day and still using disposables at night. Husband has even gotten the hang of it all pretty well. I’ll do something separate on what we have tried and liked / didn’t like from our diaper stash.

3. D really gave us lots of Christmas . One in particular was him rolling over from belly to back! I wasn’t expecting that to happen for some time. I think the lifted cloth booty helped him get a little more leverage.

4. Now that we are more alert we have been working on stimulating D more during day time hours. Spending time on the mat doing tummy time, focusing on high contrast images, listening to music and going on walks together.

I may be painting D out to be a golden child... Don’t get me wrong though, he does cry! Mostly for feedings when I can’t get a bottle made fast enough. This little dude is an eager eater. He also does seem to be going through some evening irritability where he fusses a bit more and wants to sleep on my chest.

Going though all of this for the first time, I’m constantly reminding myself that “Momming” isn’t just about taking care of D it’s also about taking care of myself. In order to be my best self when I’m caring for him, I need to be recharged and centered. The first 2 weeks while healing from the C Section were hard because I felt handicapped by my incision. I pushed myself a little too hard a few times and had to remind myself that I had major surgery and needed to recover.... Ok maybe it was more that husband reminded me... Now that I am mostly healed though, I’ve started to build some routines that make me feel like the same old me.

1. I’m walking again. I can’t wait to be cleared to Run, but until then... When weather is allowing (which is hit or miss this time of year) I am getting out solo for an hour long walk. I use the walk to get fresh air, recharge and listen to a podcast or 2. My news intake has been low since D arrived so my walks are where I catch up. When I get home, I feel like a new woman ready to take on the next poopy diaper!

2. I got a haircut! 2 hours at the salon after not having my haircut for 6 months felt amazing. It was also the transformation I needed to feel more like myself when I look in the mirror.

3. As I started with... SLEEP. The biggest thing I could do to be recharged! I am so thankful for a true partner in this parenting endeavor. I have mad props for all the moms out there that do this without help, who handle all the night feedings and are on call 24/7. I don’t know how you do it and I will forever vbe in awe of all of you.

4. Lastly, showering. When I read postpartum advice, taking a shower or remembering to shower always made the list. Which made me think this was somehow going to be hard. Personally, I love water, I love bathes and showers. The first 2 weeks where I was healing, it was physically hard to shower because it hurt. Now, its the first thing I do in the morning after little man is fed. I find that’s when he’s the most content, I hand him off to Husband and focus on myself.

The first month has been a blur and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I spent so much of my pregnancy focusing on all the advice I had heard or was told what postpartum would be like. I expect it’s very different for each person. I found that a lot of things didn’t reign true in our lives and many of the things I feared about becoming a mom, haven’t happened. I’m looking forward to the coming months as D continues to show off his personality!