I guess we’ll start with being discharged from the hospital. I was so ready to leave and get away from the fussy nurses and doctors. It seemed like as soon as I fell asleep they were waking me (or baby) up for something! Luckily, everything went well during Maddie’s birth so we were there for two nights only!
Maddie was born in February so it was still quite cold and it just happened to be raining on the day that we left the hospital. I remember the ooohs and aaaahs we got as we passed people on our way to the hospital’s exit. I also remember being very nervous and concerned about Mario driving carefully in the rain with our greatest possession in the vehicle. I asked him about it as I wrote this and he said he remembers that it was drizzling and that he was so “scared driving home because she was so flimsy“! Yes folks, he used the word “flimsy” to describe our newborn. I nearly passed out with laughter when he said it, yet I totally get what he means. Men! So cute though!!!
Now, all I can remember about arriving home is the fact that I never wanted to put her down. We stared at her, a lot! And held her, a lot! I pretty much held her all day for the first few weeks. This was highly frowned upon by a lot of people but I couldn’t help it. I was (and still am) breastfeeding and it was occurring every couple of hours so we just became very attached (ha, pun intended)! She even slept with us for the first three months (more on that two Friday’s from now :))!
A few things that helped me to survive those first few weeks included:
- Family and friends bringing food!
- Limiting time with guests so that we could focus on getting use to the changes a baby brings.
- My amazing MIL staying with us for a week and helping in any way she could!
- Caring about the baby and myself only…not the housework, cooking or anything else!
- Remembering to think of me! Seriously! Eat, sleep, cleanse wounds, etc.
- Calling/going to the doctor when I wasn’t comfortable or sure about something.
- Not trying to create a schedule/routine right away (I let her ease into one naturally over time).
- Getting out of the house and interacting with people once we were cleared to be out and about.
- Trusting my instincts as a mother and doing what I thought was best for my child!
It doesn’t get any simpler than that!
What were your first few weeks with baby like?!?
I'm not a mom, but I agree that "flimsy" is a great word to describe a newborn!
Yes, Gwen, it actually describes a newborn perfectly :)!!!
Maddie looks nothing like this now!! Too cute!