What I wish I had known about having a newborn:
-It's okay if bonding doesn't happen right away. I probably won't tell her this, but I didn't feel like I had bonded with Daisy until weeks 3 or 4. Bonding is hard to describe, but I knew it hadn't happened yet. When I was left alone with her for the first time, I really did not like it. I was so tired, I didn't know what I was doing, and I felt so frustrated. I really resented taking care of her, and I hated feeling that way. When it happened, though...it was wonderful. Every baby book I had said what I went though (baby blues) are totally normal, I just never expected to not instantly fall in love with my sweet little baby. Don't worry-I can't get enough of her now.
-Breastfeeding is hard. It took 4 days for my milk to come in. I expected it to happen after 1 or 2. That was super frustrating, because I really wanted to feed my baby. Also, for the first month or so...it really hurts, and can take a long time. Lanolin and gel pads saved my life.
-You're not a bad mom if you give your baby formula. I wish I would have given her formula the first couple days as we were waiting for my milk to come in. She was fine, (newborns don't need a ton of food) it was her jaundice that the formula could have helped with. The type of jaundice she had gets better when breastmilk (or formula) flush it out of the baby's system. Since I didn't have any milk, I wish I would have given her formula. Her jaundice wouldn't have gotten as bad as it did, and Jordan and I would have felt so much less stressed. Not going to lie-we were freaking out a little bit. Also, every so often (If I have had a rough night) Jordan will let me sleep and give her a bottle. Daisy still latches on to me, my supply is still fine, Jordan gets some bonding time with Daisy, and I get some sleep. We all win.
-Be prepared to be paranoid for life. Maybe it's just me, but I now feel ultra aware of anything that could ever go wrong with, or happen to Daisy. It can be stressful.
-Little babies do great in movie theatres. Date night doesn't have to end! Daisy sleeps right through movies.
No one cares if your dishes don't get done. You just had a baby. You get to do whatever you want.
Recovery takes a lot longer than you think it will. I thought I felt fine, so I started walking all over the place and cleaning the kitchen floor (wtf, Jessica). But then, the drugs wore off. I felt like recovery was worse than labor and delivery. Next time I'm not doing anything. I'm taking all the offers people give to come over and cook, clean, and do whatever else I need.
-Be prepared to turn into a facebook mom. I didn't think I'd be exclusively posting about Daisy every day....can't help it.
Now for some stats on Daisy:
-She is 11.5 weeks old!
-At her 2 month appointment, she weighed 11lbs 9 oz, and was 23 inches long. Thats about a 3 lb and 3 inch gain from her birth stats!
-She is so calm and happy. She rarely cries. Most of the time when she wants something, she just lets out a cute little noise. I feel really grateful that she is so calm.
-The first time she smiled at me I died. Not literally.
-She loves hearing her momma and poppa's voices. She always turns her head towards us and smiles.
-She loves "You Are My Sunshine". It regularly calms her down and puts her to sleep.
-She is starting to fall asleep without my help. She still won't sleep for very long during the day if not being held, but we are working on that. She now has one long stretch of sleep during the night, thank goodness.
-She is starting to discover her hands. She sucks on them all the time, and I catch her studying them too. Last week she was able to reach for a toy and grab onto it. It doesn't happen often, but it's a skill she is developing.
-Daisy is hilarious during tummy time. She lifts her head and shoulders for a while, but usually tummy time ends with her lying with her face on her side, cooing, and licking the blanket.
-She loves bath time and getting her diaper changed.
Her blessing was this past weekend. It was a wonderful experience. My parents and Jordan's parents were able to come visit, and it was really great having all of them here. Daisy was treated like such a princess by the grandparents-plenty of new clothes :) My mom made her beautiful dress, and Jordan's mom gave Daisy a very pretty pearl bracelet. Jordan did a fantastic job with her blessing-he came back with sweat all over his face, poor guy was so nervous. His blessing for Daisy was perfect.
K, this is a super long post. I'll catch up on more later. I've been cooking a lot more vegetarian meals lately, so I'd like to share about that. Jordan and I have weight loss goals and we are trying to work on that together-maybe if I blog about it, I'll be more diligent?
K. Now pictures of the best baby ever.
Blowing milk bubbles bores Daisy I guess?
Daisy with my dad
OMNOMNOM
Nakey time is her favorite time.
So... amen to recovery being horrible! Ha, you would think I would have thought about the effects of childbirth and how that would make my body feel... but nope, I figured delivery would be the worst part. Oh little did I know. I was on percocet for a week and then vicadin for a week after that, and then the dr had to cut me off. It was sad parting with the good drugs :/
ReplyDeleteAlso, I hear you on breastfeeding. Very painful. My milk didn't come in for almost a week (supposedly b/c i was induced) and baby lost 1.5 lb in a couple days, so the doctors were freaking out. It was really stressful, which didn't help the whole learning to breastfeed situation.
Daisy is super cute and enjoy those movies! Zoey doesn't last during movies.
This made my whole day! Love love love hearing all about her. And LOVE LOVE hearing all the secrets about after baby is born! Good to know!
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