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.