the first few weeks (part 1)

Lots of bloggers capture their birth story, and I'm very glad I posted mine (although I have found a few typos that I need to correct - sleep deprivation, forgive me!). But I also wanted to capture bits and pieces from our first few weeks post-baby - they've gone by so fast! This post started to get pretty long, so I'm going to split it into 2 parts. :)

The post-partum period surprised me, in several ways. The first time I was able to shower, I kept marveling over how slender I felt.


The little bones on the side of my ankles appeared again! And hey, I can bend over to shave my legs without getting out of breath! And ohmygosh I can wear a normal tshirt without stretching it beyond recognition!

All of these things were a surprise to me. I gained a good deal of weight while pregnant (about 45 pounds, I think) and I dropped 25 of those pounds within the first few weeks. So while I'm still carrying around "baby weight", and my stomach looks different than it did before baby, I've been pleasantly surprised with my post-partum body.

My midwives told me that the rest of the weight will come off slowly, typically over 6-12 months, but that it's common for breastfeeding mamas to carry around an extra 10 pounds while they're nursing. I'm trying to keep that in mind, even though I'd love to lose it sooner. To be completely honest, I was kind of shocked that I lost 25 pounds so quickly - I know that isn't always the case.

I'm still stuck at an awkward in between stage as far as pants go. My maternity pants are too big, but they're the most comfortable right now. A week or so ago I did try on a few pairs of regular pants...I can fit into them and could even button a few pairs, but it was a squeeze. Some of the weight I'm carrying around is definitely in my hips. Hopefully I'll be able to use a belly band and pack up the maternity pants soon. I've already packed up all of my maternity shirts - I could fit into most of my prepregnancy shirts almost immediately. It felt so good to throw most of my pregnancy clothes into a box.

Another surprise for me was nursing. Because I feel so strongly about breastfeeding, I put a good deal of time into researching nursing ahead of time. I learned all about latching and the challenges you can encounter and I was prepared for it to be tough at first. Thankfully, for me, nursing came pretty naturally. I was a little sore the first few days, but adjusting the latch, lanolin and air drying cleared that up quickly. At Jax's two week check up he weighed 10 pounds, 6 ounces - almost a pound more than he did at birth, so I think he's nailed the art of breastfeeding as well.

Nursing is surprisingly wonderful for me on an emotional level too. Sure there are days where I can't believe he wants to eat again, but mostly I love snuggling him, memorizing his tiny features, and being the one who can comfort him in such a unique way. It's also another reason to be in complete awe of the human body - it's all pretty amazing when you think about it. Jax also makes the sweetest little faces after he finishes nursing - Nate and I have dubbed it his "baby birdie" face. He lifts his chin up, closes his eyes and bobbles and his head - it's just adorable.

Also on the subject of nursing - I've got to say that I was pretty shocked at just how BIG you get when your milk first comes in. Holy wow.  I felt like a Barbie doll for the first few days.

I am planning to start pumping soon - I want to build up a freezer stash and introduce J to a bottle. We offered Jax a pacifier a few times, but he wants nothing to do with them. Hopefully bottles go better! More on that in the future.

One of the hardest parts of the post partum experience for me was not doing too much. My midwives are rarely adamant about things, but they really stressed the importance of resting during the first few weeks. I felt like myself again pretty quickly after the birth, so it was hard to rest and focus on healing when I felt like I could be up and doing things. On the couple days when I did do a little too much, I noticed I would get a bit achy and fatigued, so I did my best to rest and let others help me.

As a result of all that resting, we've watched an insane amount of tv and lots of movies. Daytime television is awful. :)

Other random tidbits:

-I think I'm giving up on my belly button ring for good. If I tried, I could certainly still get it back in, but I think I'm kind of over it.

-I love, love, love my iPhone these days. We've been able to capture so many sweet photos, and I'm able to google any questions with one hand - it also helps keep me awake during late night feedings!

-We are loving the Ergo carrier - Nate likes it, I like it and Jax likes it - it puts him right to sleep. I have not, however, mastered the Moby wrap...I feel like I can't get it tight enough, and it's just so much fabric to manage. I ordered a Balboa sling, hopefully that will work for us - J is definitely more content when he's snuggled up to mom or dad, and having my hands free would be wonderful.

-Nate heads back to work on Monday. I haven't posted much about this, but he is starting a new job, with a completely different schedule. It's an exciting career change for him, and it will definitely benefit us in the long run, but it's going to be a big adjustment. He'll be working day shift (6 am - 4 pm) until the end of the year, at which point he will likely get stuck with the 4 pm - 2 am shift (before baby he was working 8 pm - 6 am). We are fortunate that my mother in law has offered to be our "day care" and is able to be flexible with us. I am so thankful that Nate was able to be home with us for these first few weeks - it has been wonderful.

-I love the Undercover Mama nursing tanks - they clip to a nursing bra. Awesome.

-I just started to use a regular Fitbook again, not so much for the fitness benefits, but to make sure I'm eating enough protein and fresh veggies. I'll admit that these days I am often so busy feeding someone else that it's tough to make sure I'm eating enough myself. I wasn't a huge fan of the Fitbook Mama2b, so I'm just using a normal Fitbook now.

-Poor Kona is exhausted. The baby crying at night keeps her up too. Poor puppy - ha! Other than that she has adjusted quite well. The cats have been doing okay too. Mocha ignores the baby, but continues to try to sleep on/in everything baby-related. Lizzie tries to lay on the baby and is weirdly interested in him whenever he cries.

-Cloth diapers are going really well. We used 4 disposables that I got for free in the mail right after birth, but besides that we did great with our BumGenius newborns and haven't bought a single disposable! Around 3 weeks we noticed that the BG newborns seemed to be leaking more often, so we switched to our BumGenius elementals. They seem giant on his little butt, but they are working great so far. We think he was just tinkling more than the BG newborns could absorb. :) We did narrowly avoid a disaster though - a belt on our washer broke the first week he was born, and the washer was full of dirty diapers. Luckily Nate fixed it - you really need your washer! We do a lot of laundry with cloth dipes.

Part 2 coming soon. :)