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My daughter is officially one month (and some change), so that means I am over 30 days into this motherhood journey. Let me just say I underestimated the hell out of motherhood. First of all, salute to all mothers around the world especially the ones with more than one child. Moms are real life super humans. This month has been a rollercoaster to say the least! No two days are the same - everyday will indeed bring you something new. When you are pregnant you know your life will forever be changed, but until the baby is physically here you don't fully understand that statement.
You learn so much about not only your baby, but yourself daily. One month has truly flown by! My days are filled with all things baby now. Being a parent, a mother, is the most self sacrificing thing in the world. You take a backseat to a little human that relays on you for everything. My world truly revolves around her.
I think for the first couple of weeks I was running on adrenaline - I am just now looking at her in awe/realization that she is here and she is mine. I don't know what I did to get so lucky to have her pick me as her mom, but I am forever grateful. Although it's been a month I have so much I want to share with you all! There is so much that goes into being responsible for another life and sometimes you may feel it goes unnoticed, but trust me your little one notices and that is the most important. There are a lot of moving parts to becoming a parent, and some things don't get talked about enough.
Things nobody really talks about:
Postpartum is sometimes harder than birth itself. You are given a baby while your body is probably at its weakest. It's really a big paradox if you ask me. You just pushed a baby out or you just went through a major surgery - nonetheless you are sore for weeks and hormones are everywhere whilst now being the sole provider for another life. People talk about postpartum depression, but never anything on just postpartum in general. You are on overdrive and autopilot at the same time. I had a second degree tear and felt like my "stuff" was going to fall out of my body while walking/rocking my baby to sleep. Nobody mentions the strain your body truly goes through - from the engorged boobs, excessive bleeding, sweating, etc.
You are "stationed" with your little one (more so during COVID). You may take walks and venture off here and there but for the most part you are in the house. You will want company and then be overwhelmed at times when you have company because you feel like you have to be a host. You are really in the house for weeks, and you will probably get lonely at times. I have always been a busy body so I wish someone would have told me that I really wouldn't be "outside" for a while. Some days I don't even go outside. Make friends with Amazon and Target (order pick up, drive up, delivery). Anything you can find to streamline or automate ... do it! Thank me later.
You will get real creative. Things pre baby and post baby are VERY different. Examples being: I know how to shower in record time, go to the bathroom/brush my teeth while holding a baby, and I can type dozens of emails using one finger while holding a baby. I also feel like my toes can pick up just about anything (I drop a lot of things for some reason, but have learned ways around that). All this to say that a mother will always find a way to get it done. You will be surprised at the things you come up while holding your baby - because you truly never do anything alone again.
You will never be ready in five minutes again. This one is pretty funny to me, because the days were you use to tell your friends "be there in five" are over for a while now. There are so many random little things that go into getting yourself and your baby out the door. Majority of the time I have more than one bag in hand and her in the other. You will probably master getting yourself ready in record time, but then comes getting the baby ready, getting out the door, and sometimes that is not an easy feat. Prepare yourself with extra time if you know you have some place to be.
Last, but not least .. YOU are doing great. Somedays will be harder than others, but on all days you are doing great.