There is sometimes a loneliness that goes with motherhood. Until I became a mother I really didn’t understand this. I didn’t understand the shift that I would experience going from a coupled adult to a mother. Now I know. I am still surprised though at the moments when motherhood feels most lonely.
If you are anything like me you obsessed about newborn sleep with your first baby. You read tons of articles and books and tried all different strategies to get your baby to sleep longer and on her own.
I read so many books and articles on newborn sleep the first time around. From gentle strategies to cry it out methods. I dabbled in them all, but nothing really changed the situation.
All this down time has given me the opportunity to catch up on one of my favorite (slightly guilty) pleasures – Jane the Virgin. ***Spoiler Alert *** Season 2 starts with Jane’s transition into motherhood. Though her situation is as dramatic as the best daytime soap opera, there is still some realistic plot around the postpartum experience.
For the birth of my first child I bought a couple large maxi pads, some nursing bras, and stocked a few meals in the freezer. That was about it. There were so many little things I felt like I was missing in the first few weeks. Luckily my doula came by with a little bag of goodies that helped me care for myself and recover from birth. This time around I am trying to be mindful of what I used the first time and what I wished I had on hand.
After a repeat C-Section in March 2015, I was actually shocked at how quickly I recovered. I was up on my feet walking around by the time night time rolled around the same day. I didn’t need any pain killers at all during my 2 day stay which made me really happy since they always make me sick. After carrying around a baby for 9 months and having her weigh a whopping 11lbs at birth at 39 weeks, my body was just relieved to not be carrying around all that weight!
“She can’t be hungry again!” If you have breastfed a newborn, or are breastfeeding a newborn, perhaps you’ve either thought these words and/or had somebody say these words to you. There seem to be times during those first few months when babies just want to nurse for hours without stopping