Bed time for you baby

There are things you just will never understand until you are a parent. I often laugh at myself around 8:30 at night. By 7:30, I am SO ready for my son to go to bed but an hour later I miss him. I am so glad I decided to become a parent. After sleeping well for a month, all the hard work of those first 9 months seem like there were all worth it. And my mind is gearing up to want to do it again.

the joy of motherhood

i thought i should post this while i was still feeling it.... i don't think you can explain this feeling before you have children. but there is a joy to motherhood, a joy that makes it hard to leave to go back to work. maybe it is my son's age (8.5 months), he is starting to interact with the world, pulling himself up on tables.... always wanting to be up, figuring out balance. laughing so hard when his dad tickles him... i want to capture it in a bottle. then joy fills my heart. i am so thankful to meet my little guy. gush.

Facebook

I would have never believed what therapy facebook would provide. Sometimes you just need a minute... and since that minute is likely to be a noisy one facebook easily provides 60 seconds of catching up, playing with a zoo, and if you are really at your end you can rob museums and fight mobsters. All in good fun. Facebook is a friend too moms!

New Moms Group

I just wanted to put a word in for new moms groups. They are awesome. Many hospitals have them set up throughout the week. The place I gave birth at has at least 4 different groups. I went when Abner was only 2 weeks old. I did not take him because he was so tiny. I just sat there with tears streaming down my face the whole time as I listened to other new moms going through the sames things I went through.
At the group I attended we just went around the circle and each mom would share any highlights of their week and then ask a questions. The facilitator would encourage members to share their wisdom. Of course she had a lot of advice to give if no one offered any up.
I went for the 12 weeks I was home and then two other times. At my group you are allowed to go until your baby is 6 months old but I had to go back to work.
Group is good for many reasons - to know you are NOT alone, to give you support if you don't have family close, to share tips and tricks, to meet moms that you will visit with after 6 months, and many many more reasons.
If you feel like you need to share after you have your little one, see if you hospital offers this great service.

A few more words about fitting back into our jeans

Are we talking muffin top or no muffin top?

Since dieting has never really been my friend to begin with losing the baby weight is not fun. I actually weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant except all my extra weight relocated to my stomach. So now I equate my stomach to Florida. It's where retired fat cells go to spend the rest of their days.

As for exercise, I do tapes and walks and even go to a stroller strides class once a week. My new brilliant diet plan, however, is to hire two large German weight lifters to follow me around all day and knock any junk food I try to eat out of my hands. If I wanted the food bad enough I'd have to wrestle them for it. I'm sure I'd work off more calories than I was able to consume. Anybody know anyone who is up for the job?

that is would take me 5 months to get back into my jeans

Okay, time for a less depressing post! :) I hope all you new mommies out there have had a wonderful mother's day. I did!

So for mother's day brunch my husband brought out my jeans (I had been wearing a size up and he told me the other day that they were looking roomy). They fit!... well perhaps they a bit too tight but I can zip and button them.

My secret to get those pounds -- wii fit and returning to work. I must walk 2 miles at work, that help with those last stubborn 10 lbs. There is still a bit of back fat but that may be my friend for life now. The stretch marks seem to be fading too (I was quite pissed about those because I never saw one the whole time I was pregnant, I buttered my belly like a baked potato. Then I come home with Abner and I have stretch back stretchmarks --- WHY didn't anyone prepare me for this, I thought I was out of the woods).

How hard it would be without family

If you have family close, be thankful. I could not comprehend what having family far away would mean. It means that in the early days when you don't know what the heck you are doing there isn't a mom there to give you a hug. It means when you just need to get away for awhile that your spouse has to watch the baby and then when you get home it will be your turn. It means that you don't have that extra helping hand. It means when family comes to visit that you will have to fight to see your baby because they will gush love on him or her. It means when your baby hits a milestone they will not be there to see it. I hear a lot of moms complain about how hard things are but I know they have family helping... I don't ever say anything but my brain thinks it. It means that you may go through major life events and you still will not have family there to help. Perhaps I am a bit emotional right now... so all I am saying is if you have family appreciate them. If you family is far, try to get a friend to move to your new town (that is what i did ;) ). Be thankful for friends who give you a hand and get ready to dole out the babysitter bucks. Join a mom's group for support there are LOTS of mom's out there like you. Sorry this posts isn't going to get anyone laughing, this blog is for crying too.

Still Balding

I had planned a post on hair loss but G beat me to the punch. There are things you don't know when you get pregnant. Someone at work just happened to mention that my hair would fall out in clumps after I gave birth. I did not sign up for that! I am sure my husband appreciated 9 months of a hair free home though. My hair has now been falling out for three weeks. It started right after my son turned 4 months old. I have an awful habit of raking my hair with my fingers, I always get at least 1 hair. It is like a compulsive tic, usually I get 10 hairs. Will I have any left? I honestly didn't notice that my mane looked any nicer when I was pregnant. By the way, this tic will freak others out - they to do not know that postpartum's long list of pay back includes bald spots! Perhaps I should weave a bird's nest.

Soon I will be bald

When you are pregnant, your hair gets thicker - nice bonus, right? All the pregnancy books talk about it. Of course, they fail to mention that a few months after your baby is born all your nice, thick hair starts falling out. Every time I wash or brush my hair I lose a handful or two, and now that my son has taken to grabbing and yanking my hair every chance he gets, I figure it will only be a few more weeks until I'm as bald as he is.

Recovery is a bitch, part II

Following up on MamaMeg's post...

I debated about bringing this up, but honestly, this is one of the biggest "Things I Wish I'd Known" thus far, so if you're squeamish about blood and girl parts, just STOP READING NOW.

I was ready for the blood during delivery. I'd been in the delivery room a couple of times with family members, so I knew what to expect (although I still want to know how we ended up with blood on the chair behind my bed - can't figure out that trajectory). But I didn't realize that following the birth I'd have what is essentially a 5-6 week menstrual period. Yeesh. And every time you go to the bathroom there's a cleansing/pain relieving ritual you have to go through. Forget taking a quick pee. Those days are over for awhile.

And did I mention that you can't use tampons during this time? Yep, you're stuck with maxi pads, and at the beginning you need BIG ones. Not fun. You're already uncomfortable walking and sitting due to your downstairs trauma from the birth, and then you factor in the maxi pad and you develop this really attractive bow-legged waddle.

To top it all off, one of the signs that you're supposed to watch for so that you know if you're bleeding too much is, I kid you not, passing "blood clots bigger than a golf ball." Holy cow! 

If you can read this post and still want to have a baby, you're probably ready (or else completely warped, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt).

Recovery is a Bitch

I wish there was a nicer way to say this but there isn't. Recovery is a bitch. After I had my baby I wondered why no one told me and then I realized some of my friends had tried. They told me it was terrible and I remember thinking it can't be that bad. Plus when you are 8 months pregnant all you can think about is having your baby out of your body safe and sound so you are pretty much willing to endure anything to get to that point. Here are a few tips to make the recovery process a little easier.

• Buy a donut/hemroid pillow. You can not imagine how uncomfortable it will be to sit


• If you leave the house for any reason without your baby those first few weeks you should probably print up little cards to hand to people you may run in to that say "I just gave birth and have therefore donated what feels like half my brain and most of my blood to the good cause of bringing a precious little being in to this world so please be patient with me."


• Have someone you know and love promise (before delivery) to bake your favorite treat after the baby arrives. Then ask them to repeat the favor about 25 more times.


• Your stomach will look scary. My advise is don't look at it. Now I totally understand the whole Elizabethan Collar. It was invented by a woman who just gave birth and didn't want to look at her stomach. If you can find one I would suggest buying it. Also avoid full length mirrors. If you know you will encounter them often invest in one of those t-shirts with the perfect bikini body painted on it. It will go well with the collar.

The good news is your new baby will take up most of your time and occupy almost all of your thoughts so you won't have too much time to reflect on how hard recovery is until you are through the worst of it.