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First off, I recognize that it has been forever since I last wrote and I'm SO sorry! It has been hard to tear my eyes off my beautiful son to work on a blog. Plus, someone likes to eat about every three hours (for about an hour) and I haven't quite mastered the art of one-handed typing.
But he's so cute that I have a hard time focusing on anything but him anyway.
The last almost three weeks have been the best, happiest, craziest, sleepiest, most overwhelming and amazing weeks of my whole life! So here's what I've learned about Nathan, motherhood and myself in the last few weeks:
* I absolutely LOVE watching Nathan wake up! He stretches and yawns and balls up his little feet and it's the cutest thing I've ever seen.
* I love, love the feeling when he is crying so hard and I pick him up and he immediately settles down and just looks at me and then falls asleep. It is just the best feeling in the world!
* Breastfeeding is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. My milk didn't come in as quickly as it should have and I think a big part of that is because we had to supplement for a little bit in the hospital since he was jaundice, and then afterward because my supply was so low. I worked SO hard to get the milk in and it is SO worth it now - despite the pain (not to get too personal here!).
* I'm way more possessive of him than I ever thought I would be. It's the hardest thing in the world sometimes to watch someone else hold him or touch him (and sheesh - if I don't even know you, then definitely get your hands off my child!). I've become extremely protective of him.
* He makes the sweetest noises in the world - I love his little moans and when he gets all happy and excited after he's eaten.
* I always knew that Jon would make a great father, but seeing him as a father just completely warms my heart! He's changed diapers, cleaned up spit up, calmed a screaming baby at 4:30 in the morning and has become the Master of the Swaddle.
* I never knew how little sleep I could survive on! Nathan is such a good baby and he'll go about four hours at night before needing to eat, but then he's up for a couple of hours. Some days I'll get a nap, but the majority of the time, once I'm up in the morning, I'm up for good.
* Changing a boy's diaper is a lot more challenging than I ever thought it was - it took about three times of getting hit by a fountain before I finally figured out that a strategically placed wipe prevented an entire load of laundry. ;)
* Germs are EVERYWHERE! I have never been so aware of bacteria and I've always been a very clean person. Now though, everything is sanitized like nothing else.
* Learning to let go and let other people do things while I'm still recuperating is so hard for me - In the first couple of days after we got home from the hospital my parents came over and watched Nathan for a few hours a day to give Jon and I a chance to sleep. It's hard for me to not be a hostess (but after waking up from a three hour nap, I never loved my parents more!).
* I appreciate my mom more than I ever have in my whole life now that I know what moms go through in the very beginning.
* I've decided that Nathan can get old enough to sleep through the night and then he can't get any older. I'm going to be that mom who is sobbing when he goes to kindergarten someday.
* I never knew how time consuming babies are! By the time I get him fed (which takes an hour), we get him changed, and I eat, shower or get the house sort of straightened up, it's time to feed him again and start the process all over. Getting anywhere on time has become a miracle in and of itself - and half the time getting somewhere on time involves no makeup for me.
So forgive me if I don't blog quite as often anymore! I'm hoping that we'll get into a routine soon and I'll be able to find the time (and energy!) to write more. :)
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