Hello, world.
It’s been two months, since the commencement of Operation Mommy. Hard to believe, actually, because time did indeed fly. Well, except those super long nights, when time stands still, and it feels like sun will never come up again.
The kid is currently in a rocker, hiccuping and drooling like a St.Bernard.
I am finally climbing out of the haze of the last eight weeks, and starting to glimpse what the new “normal” might look like – life with a child.
Things I don’t miss – my huge pregnant belly, not being able to reach my feet, and eating Tums like candy.
Things I miss – uninterrupted sleep, and not having to coordinate every single aspect of my day with Italian.
Quick summary (with more to follow):
Baby
I have one.
I think I am finally starting to get used to the idea. It took at least a month for this to sink in. I mean... I have a baby!? She eats, sleeps, pees, poops, and cries. The repertoire expands every week, but those five still take up most of the time. She is super chill during the day - eat, sleep, rinse, repeat. The nights are a bit more of a Russian roulette.
The witching hour is real. Anyone who tells me to "enjoy every moment" is welcome to come over around 7pm on a bad night. I will drink red wine and laugh hysterically. And probably cry too.
Body
In my mind, labour and birth would mark the end of my physical suffering. By the end of the pregnancy, I was getting pretty miserable - my back hurt, I couldn't sleep, even walking was uncomfortable. It would ALLLLL end as soon as the baby was here.
In actuality, the few weeks postpartum kicked my ass hard. I got sick as soon as I delivered - flu, coughing, fever all in addition to the regular joys of immediate birth aftermath. I had pretty intense pelvic pain (which is just a nicer way of describing "I-want-a-new-vagina" pain). Let's not forget few days of absolute insomnia, when I could not fall asleep no matter how hard I tried. I would spend all of my days, going from feeding the baby to rocking the baby to trying to "sleep when the baby sleeps", just to give up, more tired from trying to sleep than from not sleeping. Just... no.
Food
For the first few weeks, we ate whatever we could find. I didn't have a stash of frozen meals prepared during my pregnancy, mostly because I was in denial of sorts up to the very end, so, friends and family showing up with food were like angels here on earth. We got pizza, we got salads, we got homemade lasagna, soups from the local farm, and chicken pot pies. Too bad I lost all appetite after birth - it took at least few weeks to re-calibrate, but in the initial few weeks, Italian followed me around with a spoon, trying to force some food down my throat.
Now that we are two months into it, we are cooking again! Cooking with an awake baby is definitely an exercise in multitasking and patience. Cut one carrot, calm down the baby, cut another carrot, calm down the baby. Washing a sink of dishes is either done SUPER quickly (if she is sleeping), or SUPER slowly, if she is awake, and then the approach dish washing resembles the above approach to carrot cutting.
Movement
I am starting to get back into something that resembles training. Working out six days a week probably won't happen for a while - mostly due to scheduling - as now, someone has to actually look after the baby, if I am headed to the gym, but I have been able to get at least three gym visits a week for the last few weeks. Once spring is here, I am looking forward to more walking and hiking - the baby carrier is all ready! One of my goals this year is to get into a more regular practice of day-to-day blogging (again), rather than more topical posts that I have been sticking to in the last few years. The former are just more realistic in Mommyland. So... more details to come, as I am writing my way through this new adventure. Anything in particular you want to hear more about? Gimme a shout. :) Hugs, SOLO