the first week

back in the present tense
so, hi! i feel like i’ve done a ton of recapping and reflecting, but have written very little on what’s been going on now that we have our baby home + safe. somehow 9 days have gone by and she’s over a week old already! amazingly, i can see that she is already changing — her habits, her size [!!], her alertness. even more striking is the incredibly steep learning curve that josh and i have been on, trying to figure out her patterns and how to best keep her happy.

things we are learning:

✔ how to win at some of her diaper antics [never trust a naked baby!]
✔ the amazingness of the miracle blanket
✔ that she loves to eat but isn’t always on task [working on that!]
✔ NOT to rush over and pick her up at the slightest whimper [we’re not talking about a cry here — just a little sound]. often she will make a few little noises but then fall back asleep happily on her own for quite some time.
✔ that she has some sort of internal schedule going on, even if we don’t quite understand it yet. her naps over the past few days have been a clockwork 2.5 hours each [much more irregular is the awake time BETWEEN naps]

i’m currently playing baby anthropologist to try to figure out her patterns . . .although i’m sure by the time i do they will probably change.

daily life
basically, we’re just trying to go with the flow around here. we’ve been trying to get out for walks daily and do a bath every other day, and . . . that’s about it! i’ve snuck in some blogging time [ie, her birth story!] between naps. but i find the best thing has been to let go of any expectations of what will be done when. as long as we all stay fed and relatively sanitary, the main priority is just getting as much rest as possible.

i’m not going to lie — there have been a few hormone-fueled meltdowns on my behalf [i find myself getting really paranoid about certain things, like my milk supply]. and the fatigue everyone talks about is very real — pretty similar to being on overnight call, and let’s face it — i was never a fan of that. however, it’s been manageable because eventually she will nap, and that gives me time to catch up. last night was actually pretty decent, with essentially 3 x 2.5 hour stretches. it was fragmented, but that’s 7.5 hours of sleep! i’ll take it.

2 parents / 1 baby
it has been amazing having josh off this whole time and i have to admit i’m nervous for what things will be like when we can no longer tag team throughout the day. he has been going to the grocery store, cooking dinner, cleaning up, doing many overnight diaper changes, etc — making things MUCH easier for me to focus on just feeding + snuggling.

we’ve been eating well:

clean eating’s meatball bahn mi
homemade vegetable soup with a side of sleeping baby
me
on my end, things are quite good! i did sustain a 2nd degree tear at the delivery with lots of lovely stitches, but it actually hasn’t been so bad painwise after the first few days. i’ve been able to walk and do pretty much everything without any problems.

breastfeeding has gone fairly well, too. i wouldn’t call it painless [i LOVE THESE hydrogel pads] but once she’s latched, each feed is getting more and more comfortable. our biggest issue, as i wrote above, is that she tends to be sleepy feeder which can lead to marathon sessions [think 5 separate feeds over a 2.5 hour period]. she does sleep in between these bouts though so i can’t complain too much!

finally, there’s the whole baby weight issue — i know i’m always curious to read how others bounce back from their deliveries, so i am sure some are interested in my experience. i ended up gaining 19 lbs during the pregnancy [i think at one point i was up +21, but then lost a couple despite my best efforts over the last few weeks]. of note, i had also gained something like 7 prior to getting pregnant, but was stable at that size for a few months before conceiving.

i really didn’t expect this to happen, but as of now, the 19 are already gone.

now don’t get me wrong: my body is NOT back to its original condition. i currently have no waist to speak of and things are very soft in the midsection area [although no stretch marks!! yay!!]. and my chest is huge 🙂 but my [biggest pair of] jeans fit, as they sit at the hips. they are maybe even a little looser in some areas [muscle loss??].

i haven’t tried on that many other things yet, but i’m happy to at least have some non-maternity options to put on! i’m assuming the rest of the uhh . . . reshaping will take some time. i do plan on returning to working out in addition to stroller walks [at-home yoga + hopefully some running!] but not for at least another week or so.

so that’s it — the story at 9 days out! happy saturday!