15 Things My 3 Week Old Has Taught Me about Newborns

1) If you have to leave the house at 8:15, they're going to start screaming insanely to be fed at 8:05 and it doesn't matter that you just fed them for 30 minutes before that.

2) They know the moment that you are thinking of making food for yourself and start screaming like they're starving. Also, they prefer you to always eat your food cold.

3) They hate clean diapers. As soon as you put a clean diaper on, they are sure to poop in it.

4) Exposing their little behinds to air is sure to make them pee all over you.

5) People no longer care about you and how you're doing. They just want to know how's the baby? How old is she? Oh she's so cute.

6) You will never sleep eight hours again, at least not in a row. It is completely possible to live and function on only two or three hours of sleep.

7) Newborns could care less about all that fancy expensive equipment that you bought. They just want to spend all day in your arms, which is ok because you will never want to put them down. Who knew that you could hold a 7 pound baby for hours and your arms never get tired?

8) Putting clothes on a newborn is a combination of torture and a miracle.  They scream like you are killing them and it's a miracle you get the outfit on.  Buttons and newborns do not mix.  Seriously, buttons are the worst thing ever. Have you ever tried to button up a outfit with a million tiny little buttons on a screaming infant at 2am? Zippers. Why don't all baby clothes have zippers?

9) You'll be covered in every form of bodily fluid imaginable and won't care about it.  

10) It doesn't matter how many books you've read or videos you've watched and how prepared you think you are, when you take your baby home from the hospital you still have no idea what you're doing and are never really prepared.  You will spend much of the first week not believing someone let you take something so tiny home.  

11) Seriously how can something so tiny make so many dirty clothes.

12) Loving a child is a whole new level.  Who knew you could love someone you just met so intensely?  You will want to just stare at them all day because you can't believe how prefect they are.  They make you see the world in a completely different light and you have never been so in love before.  

13) Your parents were right about a lot of things. 

14) You can have the best laid plans, but those are your plans and for everyone's sake and sanity you better just go with your little ones plans and needs. 

15) You worry about everything. Is this normal? What if she stops breathing in her sleep? Is the carseat in right? 

The Princess has arrived

November 8, 2014

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since the little Princess was born.  The last three weeks are just a blur of exhaustion, being completely overwhelmed, and happiness.  I have been pretty much off the grid for those three weeks – texting and talking to only a few people.  Answering phone calls and texts just seems like a lot of work between breast feeding, diaper changes, and getting to now this new little person. 

I had my little Princess about three weeks early.  I went to an OBGYN appointment and my blood pressure was high, so they sent me to the hospital.  I figured, I would just be monitored for a while, then sent home.  Nope, not the case.  My blood pressure stayed high and the doctors at the hospital decided it was best to induce me.  When I asked the doctor when I could go home, she told me I wasn’t leaving the hospital without a baby.  Now I had a nice little birth plan that I really wanted to follow and being induced was not part of it.  Over the next 48, basically the whole plan went out the window.  I have a fairly high pain tolerance, but even for me being in labor for more then 30 hours was too much and I requested drugs.  Labor and delivery is not something I can describe.  It’s terrible.  It's only time in your life you want the pain to increase not decrease.  Finally, after being up for 3 days and not eating since Friday at 3, the princess finally made her way into the world on Sunday, October 19, 2014 at 8:53.  The doctor had to physically reach inside and pull her out because she got stuck and her heart rate dropped.  Yes, it sounds as horrible as it was.  I really can't say too much about the delivery because I was too out of it.    

The first week of life was rough.  She had trouble breastfeeding.  Princess couldn’t get a good latch and I had flat nipples.  Really?!?! Is that real?  Yep, it is.  So with my flat nipples and her poor latching skills, no one was getting food.  Thank god for the help of a lactation consultant.  We still struggle some, but are getting better.  We also were readmitted to the hospital because of jaundice.  But we now have been home for two weeks.

Life with a newborn is crazy.  You would think it would be boring since they sleep 18 hours a day, but when you wake up and want to eat every two hours it makes for a crazy schedule.  Princess is finally sleeping a little longer, but still goes through phrases where she wants to be fed every two hours.  The other day I fed her 14 times!! I’m not sure how something so tiny can need to eat so much.  The days fly by with taking care of her, trying to nap when she does, and trying to at least keep up with laundry and dishes.   

Some days I still can’t believe that she belongs to me.  It’s amazing even with all the sleepless night and insane worrying.  I am constantly checking to make sure she is still breathing.  Having a baby really does change everything.  It's insane how something so little can completely turn your world upside down (for the better).  She has only been her 3 weeks, but I can't imagine life without her already.  

Almost There, Thank God!

September 21, 2014

I am almost there.  Our little Princess is going to be here before we know it.  We are ready.  I am completely ready to be done with this ‘baby carrying’ business.  I’m 33 weeks pregnant and counting down the days.  I’m pretty much uncomfortable in every part of my life.  Sitting is hard, lying down is only slightly better, and sleeping is unheard of most nights!  Plus I never know where my stomach is anymore.  I’m constantly bumping into things with it and I swear now I just have a permanent line of water or paint or something across my mid-section.  LOL.  Yesterday, we spent several hours making and freeze a ton of meals. We now have 36 meals in the freezer that we can relay on to make it through the first couple months after the arrival of Baby V.  I just know that I’m not really going to want to cook after the baby comes and I really don’t want to eat junk food every night (i.e. Boxed food or take out).  So, I’m very excited to have lots of healthy meals to pull out of the freezer, pop in the oven or crockpot and enjoy.  The baby continues to move about on the inside.  However, her movements are not as crazy as they were several months again.  Now it’s mostly just arm and leg movements, no flipping around.  Plus you can just watch her move now, because when she moves around my whole uterus moves.  It’s crazy! 

            I’m back at work and it’s pretty exhausted teaching 3-year-olds all day.  I’m going to try and stay at work as long as possible though, so I can have as much time afterwards to spend with the baby.  I now go to bed so early, typically by 9:00 and still have a hard time getting up at 6 the next morning.  I’m happy that the pregnancy is finally coming to an end.  I’m ready to have my pre-pregnancy body/life back.  I just want to be able to tie my shoes again and not struggle to just put on socks.  And it would be nice not to literally roll out of bed in the morning, because I can’t figure out how to sit up first.  LOL.  Plus, I’m always short of breath and have terrible heartburn now.  It doesn’t matter what I eat I still get heartburn.  I just would like to walk up stairs without feeling like I can’t breath.   Still waiting for the wonderfulness of pregnancy to kick in.  LOL

            Another pain in the a$$ thing that I’ve been dealing with is figure out this whole maternity leave.  As with everything at DCPS, they make it super complicated.  My leave will be coming from three different places, so that means three times the paperwork and each place likes to give me a different answer on what type of leave I need to take first.  Seriously, the paperwork is about 20 pages long and needs to be filled out perfectly then filed with 4 different organizations – short-term disability, the Washington Teacher Union, DCPS human resources, and my actual school’s business manager.  I don’t understand why I can’t just give it to my business manager and he takes care of it all.  But that would be too easy. Hopefully, I’ll get it all figured out and in before I go into labor.  Well, the next blog could be announcing that our baby girl has arrived.          

Quick Update

August 25, 2014

I am officially in my third trimester.  This Thursday I’ll be 30 weeks, which means only ten more weeks to go!!!  I’m not sure how I’m going to manage in another month or so.  I’m already pretty uncomfortable most of the time.  It’s hard to sit or stand or walk for a long period of time.  So I just sorta rotate between the three.  I’m also having a hard time sleeping.  I just can’t get comfortable and I wake up a couple times during the night to pee.  I can’t bend over and getting off the floor is getting harder and harder.  Besides that things actually have not been too bad lately.  Our little Princess Bean was moving a lot and making lots of quick jabbing movements, but now moves slower and her movements are more like little waves.  At first, I, of course, freaked out and called the doctor.  We got checked out and everything was fine.  They said, she is just getting bigger and doesn’t have as much room to move around, so her movements may not be as strong.  Sometimes she feels like she is standing up in there because I can feel her up by my ribs and down by my waist.  There really is not a whole lot to report this month.  Both baby and I are just packing on the weight.  LOL Oh, here are my latest cravings (since everyone always wants to know them).  I, finally, have developed an unhealthy craving – chocolate and sweets.  I want to eat both all the time, but so far have limited myself to once a day.  No other new cravings.   

Look I don't so big straight on

But do from the side 

Getting Ready for Princess Bean

July 27, 2014

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I wrote a blog.  A lot has happened in the last month.  I am finally feeling better.  Thank the God!! But by better I mean, I’m not throwing up, I can brush my teeth again, and I’m not quite as tired as I was.  I still can’t be on my feet for a long period of time and I really can’t wear sandals.  Which is terrible!!! I love my sandals especially in the summer.  But no sandals, they are just not supportive enough.  Sneakers instead.  Oh how, I really dislike sneakers.  The baby is definitely making her present know.  At times, it feels like I’m carrying around a child’s size bowling bowl attached to a short 2 x 4.  She especially seems to enjoy lying down very low, which is extremely uncomfortable.  Overall, we are both doing well and both growing bigger and bigger each day.  I can enjoy peanut butter again, which is wonderful and I’ve missed eating it for six months.  LOL.  Sara almost got her dream of me eating ‘real’ bacon as I was craving bacon for several days a week or so ago.  However, eating lots of turkey bacon satisfied that craving.  Lately, I’ve also been craving cold water.  Weird right?!?!  I typically like my water at room temperature.  I feel like I’ve had a lot of cravings so far.  Nothing crazy though – fruits, melons, juice, bacon, and water.   Sorry no pickles and ice cream.  

We had the baby shower last Sunday.  It was wonderful and we had so many people come out to celebrate our little Princess Bean.  My sister-in-law hosted it and she did an amazing job.  My mom and sister-in-law made all the food, which was delicious! The cake was so cute at first I didn’t want to eat it, but then I remembered how yummy the cakes are from Sweet Thing Black Orchid and had no problem eating two slices.  LOL   Everyone had a ton of fun playing the games that were planned.  The amount of gifts we received was crazy.  It took my mom and I hours to cut all the tags off the clothes, wash them, sort them by size, and put them away.  Princess Bean is set for clothes until she turns a year old!!! It was a great day with great people.

We also have been busy putting the nursery together.  I’ve been anxiety to get it started and finished.  Two incredible friends painted the nursery for us.  My parents and Sara put together the baby furniture, and then I started sorting, decorating, and organizing.  My favorite things to do.  We still need to hang pictures and put up curtains, but we are almost there.  Overall, the past month has gone well and been very productive.  I’m ready for our little Princess Bean to be here!!

6 months 

Princess Bean's First Cake 

Spoiled girl already!

Closest

Baby's Room

Nursery

I love it!

Sara's favorite gift