We Made It a Whole Month

I clearly underestimated just how time consuming life with a newborn is.  Most days, my biggest accomplishment is taking a shower.  It's a bonus if I also get three meals in the same day at relatively normal times.  We were lucky enough to have Andrew stay home with us for the first two weeks after Isabelle was born.  The start of week three meant we had to send him back off to work. Even when he wasn't really "doing" anything, it was a huge help for me having him around and having that emotional support. The first day he left to go back to work I was scared out of my mind.  I had flashbacks to the day after we brought Buddy home when Andrew left for work and I sat there looking at Buddy wondering what we had done and why anyone trusted me with the total care of another.

I have lost track of the number of episodes of random shows I have watched on Netflix over the past five weeks. Yes, I'm sure that sounds like a glorious vacation to some. Honestly, I'm not sure how many of those episodes I actually remember. I can't seem to stay awake for more than two episodes at a time and usually find myself nodding off on the couch multiple times throughout the day.  Luckily, I can count on the dogs barking at someone outside to wake me up!  There have been many days I sat on the couch  thinking of my "to-do" list, and the list of things I thought I was going to get done on maternity leave. Note to self if we decide to have another... don't make a list of things to do while on maternity leave. Most days my internal debate is if I should eat breakfast while Isabelle is down for a nap, clean up the kitchen, start a load of laundry, or sit on the couch and pray for sleep to come. Sleep and food usually win out!  Unfortunately, my post-partum recovery was also hindered this last week when I developed shingles. One of the joys of pregnancy and the post-partum period is a compromised immune system; prime time for shingles to develop. Since we have a newborn in the house, I didn't take the wait it out approach I normally do.  I went to the doctor to confirm my suspicion and was placed on a week long dose of medications.  I think we are safely out of the woods on Isabelle coming down with chicken pox from my case of the shingles. 

This week, I have been thinking a lot about my return to work, which is coming up next week.  I'm sad that my time at home with Isabelle is coming to an end. However, I'm a little excited about returning to work. As I told Andrew last week, my work gives me a sense of purpose. Frankly, these last five weeks, I have felt a little lost. I'm in the midst of trying to figure out this new role of mommy and how that fits in with my identity as I have come to know it over the past 29 years.  I hope this next week, once a few of my normal activities such as working and going to the gym return to my life, I start to adjust to my new normal. 

It's hard to believe our little lady already turned one month old. I remember when we were in the hospital and we were debating getting newborn pictures taken. Both our parents encouraged us to get them taken and said in even one month she would change so much that we would like having those pictures to look back on.  This last week as I worked on birth announcements, I realized just how true that statement was. She has already changed so much.   We used up the last newborn sized diaper today, and I was a little sad knowing that she fit them so perfectly when we brought her home from the hospital.  

Since most people ask the all important question about sleep; no, she is not sleeping through the night. She typically wakes up one to two times during the night. Bedtime still is a struggle most nights. One night she will go down at 11:00 with no issue, and the next night she really doesn't go to sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning. I haven't quite figured out how that is going to work when I go back to work next week. I can't function on four hours of sleep. 

Other than the sleeping thing, she really is a great baby. She has started to smile and "talk" to us, which I love. She is doing great holding her head up. She doesn't seem to hate tummy time. She typically loves bath time, although I think she likes bath time when daddy gives the bath way more than when mommy does. She has pretty much outgrown newborn clothes and has now moved up to 0 to 3 month clothing. For one piece outfits, she is actually in three month outfits and even some of those are a bit too short for her.  There were some tears this week as I packed away several newborn outfits and brought out more of her three month clothing.  She is already growing so fast!  

This coming week, I go in for my six week follow up with the midwives.  It's strange that I haven't seen then for six weeks.  I got used to seeing them every other week and then every week.  I hope to get the all clear to get back into the gym.  I have been trying to take the dogs on walks around the neighborhood, but I'm also ready to get back into more of the structured workout.  Walking two beagles doesn't provide the most consistent walking pace.  Also coming up for us are family photos; fingers crossed little miss cooperates!