I’m finally getting to the point where my brain can handle non-baby related things. As in, I can keep my life a little more organized and I have the energy to move around our apartment and interact with people and feel like a human again! Occasionally we even leave the house! Clara is 2.5 weeks old and at this newborn stage, it’s truly getting easier and more fun every single day.
I promise to might get off my ‘posting about all things newborn’ kick soon, but for now here’s a quick update:
I am convinced this may not be my child at all. She looks exactly like Tim.
Currently in the Benroeck household…
// Tim is on his third week of his month long paternity leave, so we’re enjoying a ton of quality time together – and I really, really love and appreciate his help.
// My belly swelling has almost completely subsided and I’m feeling like a skinny-mini again. I saw the scale at 109 lbs today… 5 more lbs to go and a lot of work on getting some muscle back to my core to come.
// I love that people want to come to visit Clara, but sometimes entertaining guests exhausts me. I feel like I repeat myself a bijillion times and I get bored of hearing myself tell the same stories over and over. I’m glad that now we aren’t hosting guests all day, every day and can focus on just a few friends per week.
// I’m thankful that this week we had the chance to go to church (Clara slept through the service) and were also able to walk around the neighborhood. We even got ambitious enough to go to the grocery store! My pain has finally started to subside and I’ve taken myself off pain meds.
// I’m feeling like the luckiest gal in the world. Tim was meant to be a dad. I knew this from the day I met him, and I’m so happy that we were finally able to create this little life together. He has been exceptionally helpful over the past two weeks and I don’t know what I’m going to do when he needs to go back to work!
// I spend a lot of time on the couch. A lot of time. (As evidenced by my last post). We watch The Food Network. We watch movies. We watch Modern Family. We don’t usually miss a Jeopardy or Ellen re-run. I’m not at all a TV person, but we’re pretty limited in activities we can do together while watching Clara sleep. I hate feeling stuck in the house when it’s such gorgeous weather outside, but until I get better mobility, we really don’t have a choice.
// We’re still receiving a lot of gifts for Clara, which I’m so, so thankful for, but I’m having a hard time keeping up with the thank you notes or even keeping up a list of what people give us so I can write the thank yous. Then I feel guilty for not showing an appropriate level of gratitude towards loved ones. Sigh.
// We aren’t feeling very sleep deprived (knock on wood). Tim and I have the good fortune of being able to sleep in until 10am or so each day, so even though we need to wake up at night, we’re able to get our ‘normal’ amount of sleep each night.
// Speaking of sleep… Clara sleeps about 4 hours at a time and wakes up only to eat, which takes her 20 minutes per ‘meal’. Occasionally she’ll open her eyes just to look around, and I love seeing her blue eyes when she does open them. So far she’s an easy baby and doesn’t cry unless she’s hungry or uncomfortable – so we’re enjoying an easy transition into parenthood.
// I don’t wear a shirt about 80% of the time, and I wear a bra much less than that. Who needs a bra with engorged boobs that stand straight out by themselves?! I really only get dressed if a guest is coming over or to go outside to sit on the porch for a bit. I don’t know how other breastfeeding moms do it, but my boobs are engorged and they hurt, so I’d rather not try to squeeze them into an ill-fitting bra. (I’m going to get remeasured sometime soon, though, so that may help!) I’d rather just be naked at this point, even though I do tend to drip breastmilk everywhere. It’s easier to breastfeed without having to move aside clothing and all of that stuff. Basically, clothes make life more difficult than it needs to be, which is something I always knew but having a newborn has confirmed!
// On a related note, my boobs feel much better this week than they have the previous two. Breastfeeding continues to be easy but is easier and less uncomfortable as time goes on – yay!
// But still… there is no better feeling in my life than when Clara drains both of my boobs. Seriously, I never thought that my comfort would depend on a mini person waking up to suck my boobs dry, but here we are! I’m sure this will become less of an issue when my milk supply figures itself out.
To sum it up, I love being a mom. I don’t see myself as a ‘mom’ though – that seems too grownup. I see myself as a person in charge of feeding this little one and making sure she’s comfortable and as happy and content as possible. This newborn stage, so far, is far easier than I thought it would be, and Tim and I are truly enjoying it!
Cheers!
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