Motherhood: One Week In

Today our little pea pod is a week old. I can honestly say that though a lifetime's worth of "stuff" has happened in the past 7 days, it seems like she was just born. Just as in a day or so ago, absolutely not 7 days ago. That being said, we've definitely had plenty of time to start to learn her behaviors and develop our new normal.

Breastfeeding.

So far, it's been bittersweet. A love hate relationship. I don't think I'll ever be one of those people that just loves breastfeeding, but we're getting better. I am thankful I have the option (and so is my wallet- have you seen the cost of formula?!), and hope we can keep it up for at least 6 months.

Sleep Deprivation.

The rumors are true. Babies really don't care if you're tired, what time of day it is, or if they just woke up 45 minutes ago for something unrelated. There have been a few moments of "How will I ever survive this? I am never having another kid!", but for the most part Norah is a really well mannered baby, so that makes it a lot more tolerable. And the fact that I love her more than I ever thought possible makes it pretty easy to just give her what she needs. It kind of reminds me of college. Even though I loathed walking to the library, uphill, in the snow, and staying there all night, forced to survive on vending machine food and old coffee- I also loved it. I loved my major and knew I had signed myself up for this, so it felt really good to put all my energy, blood, sweat, and tears into something I wanted to achieve. It's kind of like that, except instead of earning a degree I'm trying to raise another person. Crazy. It also doesn't help that the first few nights I was so paranoid of something happening to her while I slept, I literally could not fall asleep for more than 10 min at a time.

Newborns Are Tiny.

Like really tiny. I didn't buy hardly any newborn sized clothing because people said she'd grow out of it in a flash. Now were stuck with a very limited number of outfits that fit, none of those including pants. It's blazing outside, but not so warm in our house, so that has been a bit of a predicament. I am thinking about running to Kohls today to grab a few pair of pants and a couple more onesies for her in this size. So the rumors (for us at least) are not true on this one. Buy the newborn clothes.

Overall.

Overall, I could not be happier with the way things have gone since we got home from the hospital. There have been a few moments where we have had no clue what we're doing, but I'd be worried if we thought we always knew what we were doing as first time parents.

I'm pretty sure we hit the jackpot when it comes to the baby department. I never really imagined exactly what our baby would be like, but the one we got exceeds any expectations I could have had. Everything about her little face and personality is perfect.

Hope to be back soon with Norah's birth story, and plan to post full on updates of her progress each month.