Just 15 days ago I was asking myself what life would be like after the baby was here. I'm very happy to say that things are going well. It hasn't been without its struggles, however. It certainly helps that Jimmy is here and is able to "take over" which is exactly what he had to do after my C-section.
I guess that's a good place to start tonight. Let's talk about my C-section recovery.
I would love to say, "It's great, I've healed so well and my stomach looks like it did before I got pregnant!"
But none of that is true.
C-section recovery is H.A.R.D While in the hospital, I stayed pretty doped out of my mind, but trying to get out of bed those first few times was pretty painful. I had heard rumors of the painful gas that would accompany the recovery, but I had no idea what to expect. The gas is no joke. It sort of collected in my right shoulder which my nurse told me is very normal. I felt like I needed a good, deep massage. Luckily it went away after a few days.
Coughing and laughing were out of the question for the first week after the surgery. My lovely family would accidentally make me laugh here and there and as much as I love to laugh, it absolutely killed me. There was one instance where Jimmy said something so funny I literally fell to the floor grasping my stomach with tears rolling down my face.
My stomach now looks like a deflated beach ball. I remember being able to slip into my pre-pregnancy shorts just two weeks after I delivered Harper (the good old-fashioned way.) I can still wear my jeans, but the muffin-top is definitely prominent and probably will be for some time. I am going easy on myself though.(It's only been two weeks today!) It will take time for my stomach to look somewhat normal again and I will most likely always have that "C-section pooch."
Now, let's talk about the baby blues.
Yes, I had them and they stink. I am not afraid to talk about them because they are very real and I'm all about being honest. In case you are wondering, yes I had them with Harper too. For me, it started on day 5 after she was born. My parents had just left town and so began the downward spiral of emotions. I felt anxious, overwhelmed, kind of scared and very sad that the pregnancy was over. On day 6 or 7, I sent Jimmy and Harper away so that I could just have some time to myself. I ended up having a few good cries and just got it out of my system. I have always been paranoid about Post Partum Depression, but I'm happy to say that I'm feeling back to normal. Thank the Lord.
Harper is adjusting pretty well. We've had our share of rough patches and Jimmy and I are not sure if it's just because he is in his two's or if he is acting out because Hollin is here. We think it may be a mixture of both. Last night was really, really hard. He whined and cried almost all night, refused to eat and every night since we've been home he's been getting out of bed several times. Today was apparently a rough day at preschool as well. He threw sand and toys and had to go to timeout twice.
Tonight, he has been like a totally different little boy. He was cooperative, ate most of his dinner and was really sweet to the baby. He is finally to the point where he will ask to give her a kiss goodnight, like it's always been part of his routine. We are all adjusting and overall, he's done pretty well.
Maya is adjusting well too. When we first brought in the baby, she growled because she couldn't really see what she was nor did she understand what was going on. In a matter of minutes we could see that she was settling down and sniffing everything that the baby had been in/touched. Now, she treats her just like she treats Harper. She will walk by her bassinet, sniff to make sure all is good and then is on her merry way.
Our routine is not really a routine just yet. We of course still take Harper to preschool on a M,W,F basis, but for right now, I stay home while Jimmy takes him or just stay in the car with the baby. Today has been the first day that we've run errands during the time he was in preschool. I hadn't felt physically up to it until today.
Hollin eats pretty much every 2 hours for about 10-15 minutes or so. The pediatrician recommended that I not feed her for any longer than that because anything outside of that time frame is probably her just using me as a paci :) I will feed her for as long as she wants though because that is what I feel is best, but she rarely eats for any longer than 15 minutes.
I guess that's a good place to start tonight. Let's talk about my C-section recovery.
I would love to say, "It's great, I've healed so well and my stomach looks like it did before I got pregnant!"
But none of that is true.
C-section recovery is H.A.R.D While in the hospital, I stayed pretty doped out of my mind, but trying to get out of bed those first few times was pretty painful. I had heard rumors of the painful gas that would accompany the recovery, but I had no idea what to expect. The gas is no joke. It sort of collected in my right shoulder which my nurse told me is very normal. I felt like I needed a good, deep massage. Luckily it went away after a few days.
Coughing and laughing were out of the question for the first week after the surgery. My lovely family would accidentally make me laugh here and there and as much as I love to laugh, it absolutely killed me. There was one instance where Jimmy said something so funny I literally fell to the floor grasping my stomach with tears rolling down my face.
My stomach now looks like a deflated beach ball. I remember being able to slip into my pre-pregnancy shorts just two weeks after I delivered Harper (the good old-fashioned way.) I can still wear my jeans, but the muffin-top is definitely prominent and probably will be for some time. I am going easy on myself though.(It's only been two weeks today!) It will take time for my stomach to look somewhat normal again and I will most likely always have that "C-section pooch."
Now, let's talk about the baby blues.
Yes, I had them and they stink. I am not afraid to talk about them because they are very real and I'm all about being honest. In case you are wondering, yes I had them with Harper too. For me, it started on day 5 after she was born. My parents had just left town and so began the downward spiral of emotions. I felt anxious, overwhelmed, kind of scared and very sad that the pregnancy was over. On day 6 or 7, I sent Jimmy and Harper away so that I could just have some time to myself. I ended up having a few good cries and just got it out of my system. I have always been paranoid about Post Partum Depression, but I'm happy to say that I'm feeling back to normal. Thank the Lord.
Harper is adjusting pretty well. We've had our share of rough patches and Jimmy and I are not sure if it's just because he is in his two's or if he is acting out because Hollin is here. We think it may be a mixture of both. Last night was really, really hard. He whined and cried almost all night, refused to eat and every night since we've been home he's been getting out of bed several times. Today was apparently a rough day at preschool as well. He threw sand and toys and had to go to timeout twice.
Tonight, he has been like a totally different little boy. He was cooperative, ate most of his dinner and was really sweet to the baby. He is finally to the point where he will ask to give her a kiss goodnight, like it's always been part of his routine. We are all adjusting and overall, he's done pretty well.
Maya is adjusting well too. When we first brought in the baby, she growled because she couldn't really see what she was nor did she understand what was going on. In a matter of minutes we could see that she was settling down and sniffing everything that the baby had been in/touched. Now, she treats her just like she treats Harper. She will walk by her bassinet, sniff to make sure all is good and then is on her merry way.
Our routine is not really a routine just yet. We of course still take Harper to preschool on a M,W,F basis, but for right now, I stay home while Jimmy takes him or just stay in the car with the baby. Today has been the first day that we've run errands during the time he was in preschool. I hadn't felt physically up to it until today.
Hollin eats pretty much every 2 hours for about 10-15 minutes or so. The pediatrician recommended that I not feed her for any longer than that because anything outside of that time frame is probably her just using me as a paci :) I will feed her for as long as she wants though because that is what I feel is best, but she rarely eats for any longer than 15 minutes.
I feed her on demand and she wakes me up maybe twice a night to eat. I can't complain about that! Granted, we do go to bed around midnight and are up by 6:30ish. We are still in the eat, poop, sleep ritual and that is fine by me. I am loving every minute of it.
One of my favorite things so far is being able to put bows in her hair! She came back from the nursery at the hospital with a little pink bow and I immediately asked how they made it stick. The answer? KY Jelly. You just buy some tiny ribbon, tie it in a bow, put a little dollop of the KY on her hair and voila! It is a little strange to put that in her hair, but whatever works. The result is too precious to let that stop me.
Life is hectic right now, but really fun. Jimmy and I are loving all of this time together while he's still on leave.
Life is good.
One of my favorite things so far is being able to put bows in her hair! She came back from the nursery at the hospital with a little pink bow and I immediately asked how they made it stick. The answer? KY Jelly. You just buy some tiny ribbon, tie it in a bow, put a little dollop of the KY on her hair and voila! It is a little strange to put that in her hair, but whatever works. The result is too precious to let that stop me.
Life is hectic right now, but really fun. Jimmy and I are loving all of this time together while he's still on leave.
Life is good.
So glad everything is going well. :) I hope your c-section recovery starts getting better quick. I am terrified of having to get a c-section. I know woman do it everyday, but something about it just scares me. Glad Harper is adjusting well, its so hard at the beginning for little ones. But it gets better. :) That picture of her laying on the dog is precious! & I wish i would have known about the KY jelly trick before, sooo cute! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I recently came across your blog and just wanted to say congrats on the new little bundle of joy. You look amazing for just having a baby and love the little bow in her hair!
ReplyDelete