One Month! A Reflection on Lyla Grace

Holy cow. My little Lyla Grace is already one month old. This past month was packed with more exhilaration, stress and hormones than I think the whole past year combined. I could probably write a book on just the hospital experience alone and how wonderful it was– from the nurses to Lyla to my awesome supporting husband. I sometimes wish I was back in the hospital as backwards as that may sound. But now that we are home, I feel like we are finally settling into a routine.

 

I am officially back to work now. Which may seem soon but it’s really not that bad. My schedule allows me to only work away from home three days a week for a couple hours each day (aside from a few weddings). My other days at home are currently spent sleeping in, getting up around 10 am (after taking Matthew to school), getting a few house chores done, editing, and taking care of/staring at Lyla.

[Disclaimer: some of the things in this post about motherhood might freak guys out a little, so sorry!]

Lyla is an extremely good baby. She is a pretty good sleeper and usually only cries when she is hungry. I love breast feeding. It’s a wonderful feeling of being wanted, needed and her biggest comforter in that time. But for some people breast feeding goes a lot smoother than it does for me. I would like to say that I am a firm believer of doing whatever works best for you and your family. One thing I had forgotten about was what it’s like to be judged. I often get that disappointing look once I tell people that we are supplementing. I know that breast feeding alone is best but you know what? We have figured out what works best for us, and that is what we intend to do without feeling guilty about it. Motherhood is hard enough. So let’s give each other a break on trying to measure up to each other’s standards and just support each other. Can I get an Amen?! Lol

Since it had been SIX years since I did this baby thing, here are some other things I forgot about:

1. Doing things one handed is possible, just slower
2. A quick run to the grocery store is no longer a quick run to the grocery store
3. After a couple days, the fun-ness of getting up in the middle of the night wears off lol
4. Breast feeding is time consuming and hard
5. My husband is like mush around a baby
6. The clothes. Nothing fits right yet, nursing bras limit wardrobe choices, dresses are awkward, and anything remotely tight around my waistline still hurts. So what to do? After some crying (hormones!) I went and bought some loose tops and maternity jeans– yes maternity jeans because I am not back to my old jeans yet and the maternity ones were comfy okay!

Things that are different with TWO kids now:

1. Balancing time between them is HARD
2. I can’t just play with Matthew at the drop of a hat
3. Ummm shopping is much more fun and much harder to limit with a girl
4. Matthew has surprised me with how helpful he can be
5. I am actually able to do this being a mom of two kids thing!

Woo hoo!! So there’s our one month reflection for you! I could have written a WHOLE lot more but I tried to keep it short for you. Thanks for reading!