I knew that there would be all kinds of things that would be different than I expected, but it's interesting what things stick out to me. Let's make a list...1 - Breastfeeding is messy!!
I'm so happy to be nursing Isis. It was something that was really important to me & Lewis. Luckily it's gone fairly well so far. I know several people who really wanted to nurse their children and for whatever reason weren't able to or it didn't work out well after a little while. So I'm hoping things continue to go okay. But can we just talk about how the "let-down" thing is just crazy! I went to dinner the other night to say goodbye to my friend Katisha who is student teaching in Australia and while at dinner, I started leaking! By the time I got home, it was literally all over the left side of my body. There was nothing I could do about it but hide it with my scarf and coat. And then even when I'm at home, I'll wake up from a nap and my shirt will be totally wet. And when I'm feeding Isis on one side, the other side will let down and I'll be trying to find the closest burp cloth to keep things under control! It's just hilarious.
2 - Baby blues are a little out of control.
Things are definitely getting better every day, but baby blues hit me hard and I was not expecting it! Now that I'm starting to come out of it, I can see several things that contributed like the obvious sleeplessness and the fact that I had to postpone student teaching and deal with all of that stuff at UK all in the first week of coming home with Isis. Then there's the anxiety and worry that comes with being a new mom. I've never felt so insecure in myself in my whole life. I question everything! I'm learning to just go with my instincts and take it easy. That's why everything keeps getting better with baby blues.
3 - Physical healing.
I guess I just never really thought about how my body would physically have to heal after delivery. I was thinking about breastfeeding and about taking care of Isis and about getting enough sleep and things like that. Healing from stitches and just stretching and things is more than I had expected. They send you home with Ibuprofen and Percocet and I've definitely used it! It's funny that I use all the pain medicine AFTER labor & delivery! I feel like I went through my tough experience and I got through it and I know I'm able to handle whatever, but now I just want to relax and take the medicine and let things get better.
4 - Marriage changes.
I have the most wonderful husband. Really, the experience of pregnancy just did so much for our marriage. We got so much closer over those 9 months! I didn't think it was possible to love him any more. And then we had Isis and it's like a whole new level has been reached. Even though we are both sleeping less and even though we don't have a lot of time to be alone together and even though we're falling asleep around 9pm every night, I feel closer to him than I ever have before. Watching him with Isis is just the most amazing thing and I'm so excited about raising children with him. I just didn't expect things to get even better than they were!
That's about it for now. I'm sure lots of things will keep happening that are unexpected. Today I finally really cut Isis' fingernails! Maybe she'll stop scratching herself and I can stop making her wear little mittens everyday! Yay!
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