Tuesday 28 April 2015

3 weeks in

Holy shit.  I've had a baby for three weeks.  They let me take him home from the hospital and no one's realized they've made a terrible mistake and called or sent someone to take him back.  How is that even possible?  I know I'm almost 40 years old, but a lot of the time I barely feel like a grown up myself and now I'm in charge of a whole other person?  That's screwed up.

So, you ask, how's it been going?  Remarkably well, would be my reply.  Q is proving to be a ridiculously easy baby.  I'm not trying to brag; both M and I are genuinely befuddled at how we got so lucky.  For the first couple of weeks Q was basically just asleep most of the time, to the point that we were setting alarms to wake us up at night to make sure he fed every three hours.  Once he regained his birth weight, our pediatrician gave us the OK to drop that back to every four hours, although since then we've found that he generally wakes himself every 3 and a half hours or so.  All of this means that we've been getting long-ish stretches of uninterrupted sleep at night, which everyone told us we wouldn't.  I feel like I'm jinxing us by even telling you about it, but there it is!

Can't you see I'm sleeping?  NO PHOTOS!

We've also had the added bonus of having family around to help out with stuff around the house.  M's mom spent the first few days home from the hospital with us, and then my mom arrived for two weeks.  It's been awesome not having to worry about dusting or laundry or getting dinner, or conversely having someone look after Q while I sneak away to take care of some chores.  Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to handle things once we're finally left on our own after my mom leaves this week!

Breastfeeding has also been going pretty smoothly, apart from the to-be-expected initial nipple soreness.  So far I've managed to stick exclusively to breastfeeding, and my supply seems to be decent enough that Q is gaining weight like he should.  I've read more than enough blogs to know that I'm extremely lucky to be able to do this at all, so here's a huge shout out to my ta-tas for doing their thang.  I am however wondering when the magical fat-melting part of breastfeeding starts.  While I lost about 22 pounds pretty quickly after birth, it seems like I've plateaued now with 10 more to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Add to that the fact that my FUPA has now been replaced with a full-on c-section scar belly overhang, and there's a lot of work to do once I get the go-ahead to start working out again.

Of course things haven't been all rainbows and unicorn farts, and I don't want to pretend like it is.  Q does get fussy at times, and I get frustrated because I have no idea what he wants.  I also had a major crazy hormonal breakdown about a week postpartum where I essentially lost it at M because he is a hoarder packrat collector and I was sick of looking at piles of his stuff now that we also have baby clutter to deal with.  Then I bawled because I felt bad for getting mad at him, since he'd basically been my man-servant for days while I parked myself on the couch with a baby on my boob.  Yay for violent mood swings!

All in all, though, I'm mostly just amazed and overwhelmed by how lucky I feel right now.  And I say that despite being projectile-pooped on at 3am this morning.  Because...this face!

28 comments:

  1. Oh I am so glad to hear all this wonderful news! Q is such a cutie! I love bald babies :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I am so glad to hear all this wonderful news! Q is such a cutie! I love bald babies :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. So wonderful that you all have been doing so well! And Yes you get to keep the baby!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my gawd, he's gorgeous. So glad things are going smoothly. But it is surreal, right? Over a year in, I still can't believe I'm somebody's mom!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey that is awesome that he is such a great baby! All and all my girls have been pretty easy for the most part. Like you said, some ups and downs.
    Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had a good baby, too, and I kept waiting for the "hard" part to start. Really, recovering from the c-section was more difficult than caring for the kid.

    Lost 22 lbs already? Girl, you're rocking it! The last 10 will go. Just give yourself time.

    Oh and the sleeping through the night thing... yes, yes, we had the same "set our alarm to feed her because dear God she just won't wake up"... enjoy it now, because 4 month sleep regression is REAL. And it SUCKS.

    He's pretty cute. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. So enjoyed your update! Q is a cutie! So glad he's giving you a break. Isn't it nice when they help us to feel like we know what we're doing. You are doing great with the weight. As the weeks go by your body will feel more and more like yours again, but it takes time. My weight has plateaued at 10 pounds over. It's not a priority with me though; I don't care much either way. Keep enjoying that sweet little guy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm so glad things are going well and that Q has been so easy. Take advantage of it while you can, because I hate to say it but it doesn't always stay that way! And good job only being 10 lbs away from pre pregnancy weight at 3 weeks out! Oh, and those hormonal, emotional breakdowns are no joke! Our poor husbands.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So glad that Q is an "easy" baby. I kept waiting for the hard part with Izzy and so far so good. Q is super cute which helps as well. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a cutie!! And I'm so glad things are going well. Hang in there with the transition. I promise that you've got this.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So happy to hear that he's an easy going baby. Love that photo on the hand blocking his face.e Totally your personality

    ReplyDelete
  12. He's adorable! As for the fat-burning effect of breastfeeding, I'm still waiting for it... or perhaps more accurately, my appetite easily makes up for all the extra calories I transfer to SB. If you find the secret, let me know.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So cute! And congrats on the breastfeeding success! We were abysmal failures on that front - despite the help of 5 different lactation consultants, surgery for tongue tie, and trying everything to up my milk supply (including dozens of different herbal supplements, dietary changes, and the illegal-in-the-US off-label prescription drug for milk supply).

    Try not to be too hard on yourself about the weight loss. We can't all be like your fellow Toronto-an (?) at Yeah Science! It felt like I was NEVER going to lose the baby weight...and when I got discouraged, the mantra "9 months up, 9 months down" helped me go easy on myself. In the end, it took about 8 months. :/

    ReplyDelete
  14. he is a DOLL. yayeee! i am murderously jealous of the ease and the sleep. enjoy, mama. (:

    ReplyDelete
  15. You've only had one crazy hormonal breakdown? That's impressive.
    We had to set alarms for middle of the night feedings, too. It seemed so crazy to wake them but we had to do it until they gained enough weight. Also, I think I held on to the last 5 pounds until I was done breastfeeding. It's still so early, though. The weight will come off. Be patient!
    So glad things are going so well and he is such an easy baby. I am soooo jealous of your family actually being helpful. You will be fine when your mom leaves. You got this!

    ReplyDelete
  16. He's freakin beautiful and y'all deserve an easy baby.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The blog are the best that is extremely useful to keep.
    I can share the ideas of the future as this is really what I was looking for,
    I am very comfortable and pleased to come here. Thank you very much!
    Carpet Supplier Dubai

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great article this is very informative .......keep posting Thanks Regards
    carpet market abu dhabi

    ReplyDelete
  19. Stunning, Fantastic its looks so astounding. Much obliged to you for sharing this article and keep doing awesome. Carpet Abu Dhabi

    ReplyDelete

  20. Great article this is very informative .......keep posting Thanks Regards
    furniture abu dhabi

    ReplyDelete
  21. Stunning, Fantastic its looks so astounding. Much obliged to you for sharing this article and keep doing awesome. Best Carpet stores in dubai

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thank you for sharing such important information. It will be very useful for us in future. Good keep it up and keep writing. Read more about
    Parquet Flooring Abu Dhabi

    ReplyDelete
  23. Stunning, Fantastic its looks so astounding. Much obliged to you for sharing this article and keep doing awesome.Curtain Stores Dubai

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thank you for sharing such important information. It will be very useful for us in future. Good keep it up and keep writing. Read more about
    Carpets Dubai

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great article this is very informative .......keep posting Thanks Regards
    persian carpets abu dhabi

    ReplyDelete

  26. Thank for sharing such important information. It will be very useful for us in future. Good keep it up and keep writing. Read more about
    Carpets Installation

    ReplyDelete

  27. Stunning, Fantastic its looks so astounding. Much obliged to you for sharing this article and keep doing awesome.Made to Measure Sofas

    ReplyDelete

I'm needy and your comments validate me. Help a sister out!