We've made it to the 5 week mark of postpartum and it feels like a huge accomplishment. Ha! I have a feeling I'm going to say this all the time, but I can't believe I'm a mom and that I have a son! There's nothing that compares you for becoming a parent other than looking to those who have gone before you. I think about my parents all the time when it comes to raising my own son. There are restless nights and when I feel hopeless, I think about how my parents did it with basically nothing and here I am today because of them.
Postpartum has been very interesting to say the least. Between healing and recovery, learning to be parents, and trying to raise a new human ... there is so much that I'm learning. For starters, when I thought about having a kid, I didn't realize the recovery that needed to happen along with it. Not sure why. Lol. Everyone makes it look so easy and no one tells you how sore you're going to be afterwards. It felt like I had played in a month long tournament and then got hit by a train afterwards - I was truly that sore. The "down there" recovery is no different. It feels like there are tiny cuts all over and it stings a ton when you pee. It was a very interesting sensation.
Baby blues are real and tbh, I don't even know what it all entails, but my hormones were all over the place the first two weeks. Let's just say I'm so thankful that those two weeks are done and over with. It's a feeling that I can't quite explain. When we took baby home, I mourned the idea of not having it be just Jeff and me anymore. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed our time together with just the two of us. However, after a couple weeks with Noah, I learned to love the fact that we get to raise a human being and it's fun because we get to do it together. The mornings have been so sweet to wake up with my little family. I'm most definitely overtired and can barely function most mornings, but waking up with Noah in between us has been so special and pure.
Some of my most used essentials for postpartum:
+ a donut hole cushion to sit on; a necessity, truly. Your bottom will thank you.
+ pads of every size! When I first came home from the hospital, I used the big "diaper" pads they provided me and then used up the ones I purchased as well. They were the most comfortable especially when you're sore and not feeling tighter-fitting underwear quite yet. Then as I bled less, I started moving over to the daily liners.
+ a belly band. I wish I would have purchased this and had it ready right away. I had to wait a week for it to come in the mail, but it helped my stomach so much. For the first week out, my insides felt like they were just floating around. Lol. Gross, but felt pretty much like how it sounds. Haha!
+ Baby Tracker app. This helped me to remember feedings, to keep track of how often he's pooping or peeing and how much I'm pumping. It was a life saver in the first couple of weeks since there was literally so much going on - you just forget things easily. Now that he's back to birthweight, I'm considering stopping the tracking and just doing it occasionally, but we'll see!
Okay -- that's all for postpartum things! Update again soon.
I'm sharing with you guys a chart that I created for daily rhythms. Basically, it's to help me keep track of the little things as I go day to day as a stay at home mom, but you can use it for whatever purpose you'd like. I've found that having a routine as well as a tidy area has helped my sanity a little bit (postpartum-wise) and so I created a chart to keep me accountable. It can be overwhelming to think that all the things need to be done every day so I broke it down to ensure that a little bit of everything (things that need to be done but I don't always get to it) gets done throughout the week. I started implementing daily rhythms this week and it's been amazing so far. I haven't vacuumed in who knows how long, but our floors are finally clean again.
Anyway, here is the printable that you can print, write, edit it on your apps to suit your personal needs. :) I've enjoyed this life of being a stay-at-home mama (only 3 weeks in) and each day may look different, but I'm taking them as they come.
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