We're finally venturing out of the newborn hazy waters & we survived. With a two year old in the mix as well. This time has been filled with many changes, lots of late nights & early mornings... but mostly just a lot of love. A lot of love for this tiny human who keeps changing & growing every day. I don't think I ever understood just how much babies can change in a day before being a mom of two. And I thought they grew up too fast with the first baby! (And by finally getting out of the newborn hazy waters, I realize my baby is now 7 months... but the time goes by so fast, I feel like we just had a newborn!!)
I have mixed emotions about this phase ending once again... I so badly want it to stay, while at the same time, I am loving watching my babies grow. I'm happy to say I've found a nice groove & I've learnt so much over the past months & I want to share a few things I have learnt myself about being a mom of two kids... but this also works for moms with one!
You do YOU mama! Do what works for you, your baby & your family. There were moments where I started to panic or stress about things I could be doing wrong, or better... but then I was reminded that God gave me & Jonathan this baby. He entrusted US to care for them & no one else.
Nursing is really hard at first. Every feed would hurt. However, slowly but surely & a lot of nipple cream later, it got SO MUCH BETTER. My recommendations... nipple cream & a good supportive nursing pillow. (Because you're upper back will hurt like it never hurt before). Be patient with yourself, your baby & get help from a consultant or your midwife if you're struggling with the latch, etc.
On that note... if nursing doesn't work & you need to supplement, or pump... then YOU DO YOU. You are doing everything right for YOUR baby. And mad respect to you mama! ;)
You're probably going to cry a lot, physically hurt a lot from labour & fight more than normal with your significant other. Communicate, try to be positive & remember you're both tired... just because your spouse isn't up at night breastfeeding doesn't mean he isn't allowed to be tired.
No one can truly prepare you for the emotional roller coaster of becoming new parents. You just have to experience it for yourself honestly. But remember, you can always ask your family & friends for support or help!
Your baby will smell like Heaven. Biology is crazy, because I've never met a newborn baby that smells as good as how my baby smells. It's just how it is. And it's lovely. (When they have't just pooped or tooted I mean).
You don't actually need a lot for the first few months. Obviously it's fun to prepare & get everything ready as there are things you'll need further down the road, but the first three month essentials (including that first week postpartum) for us were:
diapers & wipes
sleepers (with zippers are best!)
blankets
soother
kid vitamin d drops
noise machine
swing
wrap
car seat (obviously)
coffee... lots of coffee
nipple cream
breast pads
water bottle
pre-made freezer meals
snacks (homemade lactation granola & granola bars of sorts were the best)
laptop/tablet (for those long days of feeding & you're too exhausted to do anything but binge watch netflix shows)
nursing pillow
Things I still have yet to learn:
how to dress my postpartum body
how to drink my coffee hot
.... and I'm sure many other things that I can't think of right now.
Of course, we got piles of information & advice from a lot of people, but I found the best advice I received was always from our midwives. They always gave advice/provided information, but it was always followed with: "you can do this, you do what works best for you & your baby". They informed us of what to expect always, while entrusting us with making the decision that best suited our family. These are all things I've learnt in the past few months, so there you go! Enjoy!
xo
-Liz Lemon