Post Partum: Week 4 & 5 + One Month Old!
My baby is ONE MONTH OLD! My goodness. How did we get here?
Cache, you are one month. I love seeing your little beedy eyes blink in the dark at 3 AM; I love that you smack your lips when you’ve finished a bottle; how you smile at your stuffed moose before falling asleep in your crib; your gummy, toothless grin; that you go into a trance during bath time; how you can go from a smile to a frown when you’re dreaming; I love hearing your little grunts during breastfeeding sessions; how you study the world around you with intention; and that you have no issue letting me know about every.single.wet.diaper. Happy one month on Earth!
I finally feel like ME this week. I’ve started back cooking, going for walks and getting out of the house. It’s nice to do something familiar again! Since the baby, my whole life has been turned upside down: sleep is different; eating is different; my body feels different; my schedule is different. It’s nice to slowly find those old habits that make you feel sane again.
The hunger that comes after labor and throughout breastfeeding? It is ruthless. I am hungry constantly. When I first came home from the hospital, I didn’t even taste my food. It was like I couldn’t eat fast enough! Unfortunately, the hunger has stuck around for as long as I’ve been breastfeeding. Just the other day, I was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich …while making my LUNCH.
Are you hearing the words that are coming out of my mouth?!
My husband looked at me and said, “Wow…you’re hungry.”
I don’t know who was more surprised: Tyler because I was eating two lunches, or me because he acted as if this was something new.
And the baby isn’t the only thing waking me up at 3 AM! In the dead middle of the night, I actually had an aching pit in my stomach, so I made my way to the pantry and ate a protein bar. Tyler woke up from the sound of my chewing.
I.am.a.savage.
Let’s just say our grocery bill is our biggest expense at the moment. Hehe.
I love this babe of mine. Just look at those toes! But man did he do a number on my body. I realized the other day that I hadn’t taken one photo with the baby because of how unattractive I feel. There are so many stretch marks, dark scars and crepe like skin. Even my belly button is a crater. I used to have a small belly button, but after toting around a big belly, it has stretched out.
Do you know the celebrity stories where the actress had a baby a week ago, and she’s rocking a flat stomach on the red carpet? I can’t even fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans 4 weeks in (fyi: don’t read the mom forums where everyone talks about how they fit into their jeans a week later…total fail on my part). I think the biggest surprise has been that none of my bathing suits even fit my bust! I’ve gone from a B cup to a C cup, and it looks as if I’m going to need all new swimsuits for this summer!!
As of right now, I’m 15 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I’m waiting to visit my OBGYN at my 6 week appointment before I begin working out. As soon as I get the green light, I plan to bust it! I can’t wait to begin exercising again. I have such a strong desire to get outside and RUN FORREST RUN.
On another note, my baby is already getting so big! I’ve been told that he’ll start to physically change on a weekly basis, and it’s so true. We’re already seeing him grow right before our eyes. He’s getting delicious baby rolls and his cheeks are super chubby. I love it so much.
We live in a 2-story house with a master bedroom on the first floor. Cache has been in a bassinet in our bedroom for the past 5 weeks. Just this week, we decided to sleep in the guest bedroom on the second floor and put him in his crib in the nursery. *Enter lots of sobbing* When he was in our room, I was waking up constantly from his shuffling, so Tyler suggested moving him out of our room so I wouldn’t wake at every peep. The “Moms on Call” book mentions that babies can smell their parents from a room away. They suggest the baby sleep in his own room, so we’re finally weaning him from his bassinet next to my bed.
BOO HOO.
It’s so hard to watch them grow and take these leaps, but I feel like more sleep will give me more energy throughout the day to be an even better mom.
For his first night spent upstairs (and ours!), we made sure to create a flawless system so that nights run smoothly like: putting a night light next to his changing table in the nursery so that we could see diaper changes; bringing our robes and slippers upstairs for middle of the night feedings and changes; bringing my pump upstairs and putting it in the bathroom; filling a canteen of water in case we got thirsty; bringing the baby monitor into our room, etc.
We’ve even begun taking shifts! Tyler starts back work next week, and we agreed that I would do middle of the night changes/feedings so that he could get some sound sleep, which means I have the 12:30 AM and 2:30 AM shifts. Tyler has the 5 AM and 7 AM shifts. We found that it worked really well for us! I think I see sound sleep in my future!
This week, we’ve received 3 hospital bills in the mail, and OH MY STARS it’s far more than we thought it would be. It’s enough to pay for a gently used car. I cannot believe how expensive having a baby is! Hospital bills are an effective birth control method, let me tell you. And this total is AFTER INSURANCE.
