What they don't really tell you...

By the time you give birth, you're nearly crazy from the hormones. But, you tell yourself that it'll all be better once the baby is born. The first few weeks are atrocious though--the hormones crashing out of your body make you cry at the drop of a hat. I would cry for NO reason whatsoever...I'm pretty sure TH was more freaked out by these hormone swings than when pregnant me would cry at commercials. But--you know it will get better--and it does.

Then there are days like today---where despite the beautiful weather, your happy smiling (finally!!) baby and good life--you just cannot shake the feeling of gloom. I'm down in the dumps today...I cried when TH said he didn't get a chance yet to watch the movie I sent him of LM (I send him a picture or video daily at work). I cried through the whole royal wedding and I cried when LM woke up from his nap. It's just one of those days.

There's no way to feel better---besides eating chocolate--it just has to pass. And it does. But no one can really prepare you for what it feels like after nearly eight weeks...just expect it.

Don't count my eggs before this one sleeps through the night!

When you get married, people start asking you when you're going to have kids. Relatives, colleagues, total strangers....everyone needs to know.

When you get pregnant, everyone asks if you're going to find out the gender, whether you're going to have an epidural and (for reasons that still elude me!) whether it was a planned pregnancy.

Once you have the little one, the next topic of interrogation is whether you'll have more and how soon you'll have them. This lovely topic gets raised left and right..well meaning family members, your spouse and your doctor at the fun six weeks postpartum appointment. It's potentially the most sensitive of all the questions, because it's asked when your most sensitive emotionally/physically and oh yeah, totally sleep deprived.

I'm not sure why everyone needs to know whether we'll have another baby and how soon we'll have it. As it took us over a year to conceive--and only with the help of rounds of Clomid--it's an extra confusing topic for me. Will we have trouble conceiving the next one? If so, do we prevent at all then? How long do we wait to "try"? Do we use the mini-pill or "pull n pray"? What if it's not hard at all this time--what if the next little one takes no time at all and we're "blessed" with two under two? These questions stress me out--especially as there is no right answer. TH and I go round and round about how to handle it. We've come up with no solution yet but we'll have to soon.

I'm just tired of everyone counting my eggs before this one sleeps through the night

What goes down, must come up!

You know that your baby spits up a lot, everywhere and that no burp cloth can contain it when....

everytime I put LM up on my shoulder to burp him, my dog comes running from wherever he is in the house so that he can lick up any spit up that ricochets or lands on me!

when you're smiling...

I believe it goes "When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you"...

In LM's case, the whole world keeps smiling at you waiting for a smile back. Oh sure, we've cooed over the sleep smile and sleep giggle. We've gotten the half smile when we rub his cheek. We've even gotten what I classify as a "happy face"...but the elusive social smile still has yet to make its appearance.

We're close...so close. When TH comes home from work (after being home with us for weeks), LM is visibly happy to see him....but no smile. I know at seven weeks, it's perfectly okay to not see it yet and that it's coming. But, man! I can't wait.

Of course, I'm sure that LM will share this milestone in an unconventional manner...my money's on our furbaby getting rewarded with it when he licks his hand.

I am "that" Mom

I am now that Mom---you know the one...where you can't get through an entire phone conversation without her interrupting to say "stop that" or "no no". Any serious grown-up conversation grinds to a halt because she can't seem to focus on the topic at hand....

Of course, most people are talking to small children when they do this. Me, I'm the one talking to the little dog...who decides to chew on the corner of the crib while I'm on an important phone call.
I suppose one day, LM will be the one causing the interruptions...but for today, I'm that mom to my furbaby.

I *heart* my stroller!

I adore my stroller. It was probably the baby gear item I researched the most. I didn't want a bulky travel system but I wanted something that would accommodate an infant car seat. I liked how joggers looked, but don't jog so I really didn't need the big tires and fancy struts. I liked gadgets, so I was hoping that I would find one with some fun features. And....TH wasn't going to let me spend a lot of money on something that wasn't gender neutral. After lots of research, including the mom bible--B.aby B.argains, I settled on the B.aby Jogge.r C.ity M.ini in black. It met all of my requirements...especially the nifty one hand fold and GIANT sunshade! And, TH liked it too!

We haven't had a lot of opportunity to use it---just a handful of walks when the weather warms up (both with the carseat adapter and with LM in the reclined flat seat). It has exceeded all of my stroller requirements. More importantly though...it is magic!! Everytime we use it, LM falls asleep! This will make life a lot easier in these early walking days...I'll be able to get some exercise and fresh air and he'll be content until he's old enough to want to look around on our walks.

We went for a walk today at a local park---he snoozed and I got a major mood boost from the fresh air and exercise. I'm finding it important to be able to have a variety of activities that help keep my mood buoyed. The combination of PP hormones, lack of normal routine since I'm not working, and life adjustments make this even more important for new moms and is something I've learned in the last couple of weeks.

I *heart* my stroller.

*note--obviously, no one at Baby Jogger has ever heard of me (besides to take my money!) and this is not any kind of sponsored review*

Here we go...

We're seven weeks into this journey and thank goodness the learning curve is steep. They say it's a new world this motherhood thing...and they're right. There is no gradual "figuring it out"----when he's screaming in the middle of the night, you learn quickly how to react to your instincts instead of analyzing and debating and *gasp* overthinking! For me, that's been the hardest part---because I am an overthinker. I won't say I was sure I had motherly instincts or intuition (or if I do now)--but I have learned that I'm starting to learn to react. And it's pretty cool. The idea that I can make the LM stop crying by following my instinct versus stopping to recall something I learned in a book is a new and interesting experience for me.

This isn't to discount books, research etc. We're definitely a H.appiest Baby on the B.lock family--swaddling and shushing are my friend! We're also starting to play around with some of the Eat Activity Sleep Your time (EASY) methods to letting LM develop a better schedule. I feel more secure knowing that these tried and true methods are available and there to guide us...but the empowerment I feel from trusting my instincts is truly amazing.

Maybe the key to figuring this all out is figuring out how to marry the two...while sleep deprived!

Fumbling Through

Life is full of mixed blessings...and perhaps this blog will become one of them. As an avid blog reader, I've often pondered creating one of my own. But--I've always been stopped by one major question---why would anyone want to read about my life??? However, enter LM and suddenly, life seems full of adventures, mishaps and tales that other people might actually be interested...because who doesn't love a good car wreck :-)

I've been described as little bit Type A so, of course, prior to LM's arrival I read all the books and researched--this baby thing was going to be a breeze!! Even though I'm an only child, babies can't be that hard--right?? Little did I know that the cliche of my world turning upside down would be so true.

Now that LM is here and TH and I are head over heels in love with our little guy, we're fumbling through this new world together. The books may not have all the answers (and neither do I) but I'm learning and trying new things...all in hopes that LM turns out to be a functioning member of society one day (and not on the news!!). I'm glad you're hear to read about our experiences and join us on this journey--we're living a babylicious life!