Wednesday, March 5, 2014

10 things you forget about newborns and the post-partum time period!

I’ve been AWOL on here for a while, and there’s a very good reason for that. I had my second daughter! Before I get to the blog post, let me take a minute to do the obligatory mommy bragging. She was born VIA repeat c-section at 2 days before 40 weeks, at 9:09 AM. She’s a big baby girl, but beautiful and healthy! She was born 9lbs and 12oz, and 20 inches long, which explains the misery I was in for the last month! I mean, seriously, she has a big head! Her head was wedged into my hips for a month, so I took one look at her head and BAM, my exact words were, “Well THAT explains a lot!”


My other half looked at her when she was born and laughed, and said “That’s a BIG girl!” and I swear, I was in denial. I was all “No, she’s not!” and he was grinning and told me that yeah, she really was, and darned if he was right! Big baby! Explained a lot! She looks just like her daddy though. I’m one big proud mommy.


Anywho, so today I figured, since I have a new addition in the house, I’d write about her! Well, 10 things you forget about newborns, anyways! Basically, this is the stuff that happens, and after a while, you don’t remember it because your little one outgrows it. And then you get the baby fever, and you don’t even think about these things. And, while we’re at it, let’s toss in those post-partum BLECH moments that we completely forget about too!

1- All-nighters. I can honestly say that I had forgotten about the notorious all-nighter, until the second night in the hospital where my little one would NOT sleep in her bassinet no matter what we did! We finally got her to sleep in her bassinet last night and so far, so good for tonight. *fingers crossed* But yeah, you seem to forget about the lack of sleep that comes with a newborn most of the time once you get to getting some sleep again.

2- Getting peed on. Yeah, my first really only did this once, but so far, my Roto-Rooter takes BIG pees, so when she goes, she soaks her diaper, and sometimes, us too. She got my other half the other day, and today she got me! I don’t think we’re going to be buying anymore packs of newborn diapers that’s for sure. Pretty sure we’re going to size 1. But I know I sure didn’t remember the feeling of a wet pair of pants and going ‘Huh… that’s warm… and wet… and the baby’s wet… oh…’

3- The need to feed!! Yes, I made that sound like a zombie thing on purpose! I completely forgot how my older girl had loved to chow down her food! So when this one decided to be a chow-hound too… man, I was taken aback for a bit! And I had nurses trying to tell me that she shouldn’t be eating as much as she was, but I had to remember that babies will seldom overeat, they will eat until full. And once we did a formula switch to the anti-spit up formula, she eats her 2.5 to 3 oz avery 3 hours, and we see almost no spitting up. (And yes, her pedi said her intake is perfectly normal. Some newbs apparently just need a little more, especially ones born at 40 weeks, from what she said.)

4- Clothing that suddenly won’t fit! It’s been literally 5 days and already she’s outgrown a good chunk of her newborn wardrobe. She’s gotten longer I think since she came out. When she came out, for example, she had a little blue footie pajama set that fit her perfect. Now? She can’t even straighten her legs in it, and the arms are way too short. Luckily onesies stretch some, but even the stretchiest onesies in the world can’t help some of her brand new clothes that, suddenly, won’t fit.

5- That stretching feeling! This goes with the whole outgrowing clothes thing, but MAN I don’t know if it’s just my kids or if it’s ALL babies, but in the first week this kid has sprouted taller like someone sprinkled Miracle Gro all over her head and watered her like a plant. I mean, she seems to get a little longer by the day lately! And when I thought back, my older daughter did that too!

6- Ew, bleeding. I completely forgot how gross post-partum bleeding really is… It’s nothing like a period, at least not for me. It makes me miss my period…

7- OW MY BOOBS! Seriously! Once that milk comes in, my boobs felt like bricks of HATE! I couldn’t even lay in the bed! I stuffed cabbage in my bra, for a little comfort, and then I found out that Sudafed helps with drying you up, so I’ve taken that for 2 days. (Luckily, I had a runny nose from my cold still anyhow, so I knocked out two birds with one stone.) Kudos to the women who breastfeed and have to deal with that engorged feeling, because I don’t think I could do that plus deal with my C-section incision pain.

8- Hello, hormones! Yeah, I forgot how weepy and stressed having a newborn can make you. That lovely cocktail of post-partum hormones makes every little thing seem major for a few days, and then you start to even out and feel kinda human again.

9- I want it and can’t have it… Take three guesses at what I’m talking about here. Yeah. That post-partum waiting period SUCKS. I don’t know why, but I’m still just as ‘wanting it’ as I was when I was pregnant, and now, I actually can’t HAVE it, and no lie, it’s driving me freaking BATTY! Probably a hormone thing, too, so YAY hormones I guess!

10- The stinkiest, grossest poops in the world. No lie, newborn diapers stink. And they’re all seedy, like someone filled them with little sesame seeds… And the color palette of them is just… I forgot poop came in those colors. And don’t get me started on meconium. Even more gross, poo that sticks to the kiddo like black tar… At least a bit of olive oil helps with getting THAT stuff off.


And there you have it! Off topic, I’ll probably be posting a little less while I get to know my little Roto-Rooter a little better, and we have some bonding time, me, her, sissy, and daddy, but I will be posting when I get the chance! I also have college to finish up, so you’ll probably get more out of me in May, once I finish school and graduate! (YAY GRADUATION!) As always, thanks for reading! 

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