These last 6 weeks seem to all blend together. I have a hard time deciphering where one day ends and the next begins! Could be all the broken sleeping and night time feedings… could be because the last 6 weeks don’t feel at ALL like real life. Seems like we’ve been in an amazing dream, and I’m scared to wake up and have it all disappear.
I started writing this post almost 3 weeks ago – planning to post it when she was 1 month old. And that day came and went, and here this post is, still unwritten! Woops!
*** SIDE NOTE *** If you’ve been following me for even half a second, you’d know how lucky we’ve been to have my Aunt Venise so close to us! She’s in love with our baby (bonus!) AND she’s also amazingly talented at photography. She lovessssss taking pics of newborns too… which worked in our favour. She did my maternity photos, she did Raeleigh’s newborn shots, and a couple weeks ago, she did some of Rae, Greg and I, as well as Rae and her cousins 🙂 They’re scattered throughout the post so I can include as many as possible! Obvi! (I haven’t included as many as I would have liked because my blog STILL is not working properly and the person that put it together for me is nowhere to be found! So there aren’t as many here AND they’re not positioned properly. STILL LOOKING FOR A NEW WEB DESIGNER!!! Hit me up if you know someone!)
OH, before I forget… just incase there is any confusion – we’ve had a few people comment on little girls name, and say they’ve been saying it wrong! It’s pronounced Ray-Lee and the middle name is Laine as in Lane 🙂
One of the things I am really surprised about over these last 6 weeks is my lack of restlessness when it comes to resting (IE, not working out, not having an insane to do list every day, etc). Anyone that knows me, knows that working out is part of my daily routine. Up until the day before I had Raeleigh, I worked out. I was 40+ weeks pregnant and it was still something I did daily. So I thought, surely I am going to struggle without working out for 4-6 weeks post delivery. OMG, can I just tell you, not only did I not miss it, but I really enjoyed not worrying/stressing if I got a workout in or not. The first couple weeks, it made me cringe just to think about working out because my body was exhausted and simply needed the rest and healing. After I started to feel better, I could have totally worked out, but I just really wasn’t interested. I was pumped to have not a thing to do each day except snuggle my beautiful baby girl, and just let her determine what our day was going to look like! That said, I’ve started easing back into workouts (at about 4.5 weeks postpartum) – doing some while baby wearing (my FAVE!) doing some at the gym while she naps in her car seat, and some at home with her looking on in her swing! Happy to get back to it, but absolutely prioritizing time with babe over working out! If she’s wanting to cuddle or not happy in the carrier/swing… then the workout doesn’t happen. She’s only 6 weeks old after all, and I’m never going to get this time back with her, so that’s my #1 focus.
Raeleigh is getting SO big it’s crazy. When she was born, she was 6lbs 3oz, and she is now a whopping 9lbs 6oz!!! In her first week, she was averaging a weight gain of 3oz a DAY! The midwives said about 1/2 an oz a day was normal! What a little over achiever! haha It seems to have tapered off a little bit, but apparently her weight gain is impressive. While we want her to stay little and slow down, the midwives are thrilled and say it’s great for her to be gaining like that!
Just this past week she’s started smiling at us, like crazy! It just melts my heart every time! She seems to enjoy her tummy time, and she’s always moving when she’s awake! Her legs are constantly kicking (which makes sense because she constantly kicked me while I was pregnant!) She’s been such a good baby – really content most of the time and happy to meet lots of people. She’s been to several outings/parties/gatherings seeing as she was born right before the holidays, and she’s loved them all!
I am SO thrilled at how well Oaklee and Pedro seem to be adjusting to the new addition to the family. That was one of my biggest concerns. I was afraid they (Oak and P) would get jealous of our time being split and wouldn’t welcome her. I thought they might growl at her. They’ve been AMAZING so far. Super curious. Sitting with me while I feed her… sniffing her lots, but nothing negative! SUCH a relief and so cute to see them checking her out 🙂
So, here are some of my thoughts from the first 6 weeks as a new mama.
>> I MAY NEVER BE CLEAN AGAIN!
You need to be okay with your new life of being constantly covered in breast milk, puke, poo/pee, or a nice combo of all of the above… all the time. Between what Raeleigh spits or drools on me, and the milk soaking into the breast pads seemingly 24/7 – If you smell sour milk – it’s probably me! – (TMI?… I promised to be honest about my postpartum journey…so…)
>> BREASTFEEDING…
It’s an amazing thing. But holy smokes does it make you SO thirsty and hungry. My midwife told me we burn an avg of 750-1000cals just producing milk every day!! insane!!!
>>PRE PREGNANCY…
there are little things I took for granted before being pregnant … things like being able to have 100% control over my bladder and boobs that just sit there and look pretty instead of spraying whenever they want – kind of like an unruly fire hose! On that note, I will say it’s crazy how powerful our boobs are!!! Seriously. I am so impressed with what they’re able to do. I know the first time Greg saw the ‘spraying’ in action he was like ‘WTF IS HAPPENING’. But those and those alone are what’s feeding our baby girl every day, giving her everything she needs! Pretty cool
>> ALWAYS LATE.
If you’re someone that likes to be on time, you’ll have to let that go (I HATE being late more than anything!), but baby is the new boss, and if she’s hungry 2 minutes before you’re about to leave the house, or poops all over herself (and you), well… you’re gonna be late
>> OBSESSION IS REAL
It’s a struggle to do anything but stare at the adorable little creature you created all day… so some days, I don’t. haha We sit on the couch and snuggle and make faces at each other all. day. long
>> MOM-ING IS TOUGH!
And it’s something I totally didn’t fully GET until being here. Yes, I see my friends and fam members and think ‘Good for them, they’re juggling well… it must be tough’. But until you’re IN it, every day… every night… I don’t know if it’s fully understood. I know it wasn’t for me! I ABSOLUTELY am not complaining – I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just acknowledging and cheers-ing those before me – especially those with multiples, and multiples close in age. Double cheers.
>> WE ARE SO BLESSED
Obviously I feel super blessed for a million reasons, but the one I am referring to right now is that we have family so close to us! Like I said above… mom-ing is harrrrd! We are so blessed to be surrounded by family and friends eager to help us out! My mom lives only a few minutes away and has popped over on a number of occasions for a quick snuggle with Raeleigh while I have a shower. Yes of course I Can bring her in the washroom with me in her DocAtot or bouncy chair, but it’s so much more relaxing knowing she’s being taken care of by someone. Since we live with my in-laws right now, my mum-in-law has been crazy helpful as well, offering to take her while I do a quick workout, take a nap or just take a quick break! I feel SO lucky we have people around us willing to help. It would definitely be a tough (and lonely) go on our own!
>>IT’s THE LITTLE THINGS!
My brother was home visiting last week, and was happy to get some cuddle time with Rae, since he hadn’t seen her in a couple weeks. I had at LEAST a 20 min long shower… actually washed my hair, shaved my legs (maybe for the first time since giving birth – can’t remember!) and even blow dried my hair. It’s unreal how amazing a nice, long, hot shower, (and a NAP!) will make you feel~!
>> SET REASONABLE/REALISTIC GOALS!
This is something I learned in the first week I would say. I am usually someone with 47 things on the go at once! I have my fulltime job, my blog, social media accounts I try to keep a decent following with (mainly workout based), Mutt Malas (the jewelry I make and donate 100% of the profits to animal rescue), then not to mention time with my animals, hubby and of course baby Raeleigh. I always have a million balls in the air it seems. For the last month and a bit, I have only really had 1 thing I wanted to accomplish – which sounds ridiculous, but some days even that is too ambitious. Some days it might be getting out with Rae for a walk, or to get groceries, or cleaning/organizing – others it’s doing a blog post (this post has been on my list for 2+ weeks like I said). This made me feel a lot better having only 1 thing I really wanted to do each day – instead of setting lofty goals and getting nothing done. At the end of the day, I am still so new to this mom thing, and I’m learning
I know there are a ton more things I wanted to include, but honestly, my brain does feel slightly like mush these days! Perhaps I’ll do a recap in the next post!
I’m so disappointed with the lack of photos I’ve been able to include in this post, but I really don’t know why they’re not uploading properly and I haven’t been able to find someone to help me. However, I am getting them all posted to FB so check them out there 🙂
I am going to work on a post of all my fave ‘must have’ items that we’ve loved for Raeleigh, as well as the ones we could do without – for all my mama to be’s out there!
Thanks for following our journey! Until next time…
XOXO
