On Thursday, Gretchen will be ten weeks old & already I have learned so much. Some things were expected, some came as a surprise & for all of them I am grateful.
01. I have learned how to breastfeed successfully! This makes me so incredibly happy, especially since we had difficulties with it at the beginning. Thanks to the support & advice of friends & medical professionals I was able to persist! I can now say that I absolutely love breastfeeding & it makes me feel very fourtunate & fabulous. I will continue breastfeeding as long as I possibly can (which means pumping a lot when/if I end up working again). I feel such a special bond from breastfeeding & I'm really proud of myself for sticking out the rough patches.
02. I've learned the art of babywearing. I absolutely love wearing my daughter. We have three different types of carriers -- the CuddlyWrap, a Baby Bjorn & a Heart to Heart sling -- all great for different reasons. My favourite for the time being is the Cuddly. I love having her so close & snuggled to my heart -- it's also fantastic for helping her fall asleep.
03. I have learned what it feels like to worry about someone so tiny & so beautiful that your heart can hardly handle it. When my daughter wasn't gaining weight, or when she had a fever last week, my insides hurt. However, as one of my readers mentioned, these are the things that make you stronger. Thankfully in both of these situations I also got to feel so happy when she was finally growing & gaining weight and of her recovering from her fever & smiling at me once again. These are the moments that recharge your soul & make you feel like a wonderful parent.
04. I have learned that I love cosleeping. Going to sleep beside my gorgeous little girl & waking up to that smiling face warms my heart to the core. Ryan & I talk to her when she wakes up & we get to see the first smiles of the day -- even more exhilarating than that first cup of coffee in the morning. Cosleeping also makes those night feedings so much easier. Roll, latch, nurse, sleep! I almost never have to get out of bed at night anymore & that makes for a fairly well slept mama (and in these first months, sleep is aking to sanity).
05. I have learned that no matter how much love I thought I had to give, the moment I saw my daughter for the very first time, I had more. So much more than I could have conceived. So much more than could have been described to me. She is the best thing that has ever happened to both Ryan & myself. I still feel like I'm bursting with love each time I look at her & since I spend about 20 hours a day doing just that, I'm sure you can begin to imagine the workout my heart is getting. My heart has never felt stronger.
I know that I have learned a ton of other things in these first ten weeks, but most importantly I have learned that I absolutely adore being a mother. I always thought that I would & now that I'm experiencing it -- It's amazing.
Simply amazing.
13 comments:
Thanks for sharing this.
Your words are so wonderful and touching and makes me even want more to be a mother soon.
I hope next year at this time, I can say these words about my daughter or son.
thank you
Tina
http://www.eve80.wordpress.com
I hope you can too -- best wishes!
What a beautiful post! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on your baby's first few months.
the first thing i learned as a mother was that i thought my life began when i met my husband, but actually our life together didn't begin until our son was born.
thank you for reading!
and deanna -- I think that's so beautiful!
awww this was so wonderful to read! especially the cosleeping part. awwwwwww. i still can't believe i haven't met her.
oh soon! I hope you can meet her soon!
I always enjoy your posts, especially this one! I love that you take the time to reflect on these firsts, capture all these special moments for your daughter, and share them with us!
It's my pleasure, Elaine! I know I'll be so grateful to be able to look back at posts like this one and see how I was feeling during these precious early weeks.
Thank you for reading <3
I know it's old, but I just read this post and loved it. The first ten weeks are so exhausting but amazing all at once.
Awe, thanks!
It's amazing how fast it all goes & there is just so much to take in ^_^
So touching.
#5 really rings true to me. It amazes me how much my heart can expand to meet the needs of my children. Even when I doubt everything else about the world, the one thing I know for certain is my love for my kids. Love is truly one of the few things that grows faster, the more you give away. I'm not sure I really *knew* that until I had kids.
So true, I find it incredible EVERY single day!
Thank you so much for visiting.
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