Since having Evan I feel like all my personal relationships with friends and family have taken a back burner. Its not that I don't want to keep up the relationships, it’s that I don't have the time. Before having kids I told myself I wouldn't be one of those people that let their lives spin out of control and lose touch with the people that I once spent my nights and weekends with, but in reality it just happens.
During the work week, I barely have enough energy to get home and take care of Evan and myself, let alone worry about someone else. I have a small window each day on my way home from work to talk on the phone and catch up, but as soon as I walk in the door I kick into my second job of being a mom. Plus, since I don't get to spend much time with E during the week I want to devote my entire energy and being to him.
The weekends are then spent running the errands I couldn't get to during the week and just being with the family.
I'm hoping juggling my personal relationships gets easier with time, but right now I'm doing the best I can to just keep up. Plus, I figured if people are my true friends/family they will understand and it won't affect our relationship. I guess it will be a big test on who the real genuine people are in my life. So, to my friends that read this please accept my apology now for neglecting you. I'll figure this mom thing out soon enough and be back to the old me soon enough.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
If only I had known
I’ve decided that there are a lot of things they don’t tell you about parenting and having a baby when you are a first time parent. So, I decided to make a list of these things so I can pass these little known truths along to all the new moms I know.
Labor & Delivery
1. After giving birth your stomach will be very sore. I’m not sure if this is because you’ve carried a basketball around for 9 months or what, but I could barely stand the pressure of the sheets on my stomach the next day.
2. If you have your baby vaginally, you will have your period anywhere from a month to 6 weeks.
3. The hardest part with labor (if an epidural is involved) is the pushing. They make you hold your breath while you push and I thought I was going to pass out.
4. The needle for the epidural really doesn’t hurt. I think this is because by the time you need one the pain from your contractions makes the needle seem like a light poke.
5. You will get nauseous from all of the pain meds and hormones while in labor. So be sure to eat a good meal before you go into the hospital because they will only give you ice chips to suck on while you are in the hospital and in labor.
Nursing
1. This is a HUGE commitment and one that can only come out of love, so be prepared to spend lots of time nursing and pumping (which means getting up earlier and going to be later during the day).
2. You still have to watch what you eat and drink because it can be passed to the baby. I couldn’t eat leafy greens, broccoli, sushi, and certain cheeses. I also couldn’t go 100% back to my caffeine consumption.
3. When you are feeding or pumping out of one breast the other one will leak, so have a towel or disposable feeding pad ready.
4. You still cannot lay on your stomach at night because your breast fill up with milk and will leak all over the place, that, and its very uncomfortable.
5. Just the thought of your baby will cause your breast to leak, so invest in lots of disposable pads.
6. If you drink a lot of alcohol the night before, you will probably need to test your milk and dump it.
7. Pumping and dumping will not clear your milk of alcohol. Your body filters the alcohol through your breast milk like it does the rest of your body.
All about baby
1. Your baby will sneeze a lot the first few weeks of life because their nervous system is still developing. There is nothing wrong with your baby.
2. If after a month your baby isn’t sleeping at least 4 hours at a time, try swaddling or talk to your doctor about acid reflux. We didn’t find out these helpful tid bits until E was about a month and half and it saved my sanity once we did.
3. People will tell you that you can’t put a baby on a schedule and they are lying. The quicker you can get one in place the better for you. Even if your baby doesn’t react right away keep it up, do the same night time routine or feeding routine. Eventually they will pick it up and expect it.
I’ll update this list as I think of things, but I thought this was a good start.
Labor & Delivery
1. After giving birth your stomach will be very sore. I’m not sure if this is because you’ve carried a basketball around for 9 months or what, but I could barely stand the pressure of the sheets on my stomach the next day.
2. If you have your baby vaginally, you will have your period anywhere from a month to 6 weeks.
3. The hardest part with labor (if an epidural is involved) is the pushing. They make you hold your breath while you push and I thought I was going to pass out.
4. The needle for the epidural really doesn’t hurt. I think this is because by the time you need one the pain from your contractions makes the needle seem like a light poke.
5. You will get nauseous from all of the pain meds and hormones while in labor. So be sure to eat a good meal before you go into the hospital because they will only give you ice chips to suck on while you are in the hospital and in labor.
Nursing
1. This is a HUGE commitment and one that can only come out of love, so be prepared to spend lots of time nursing and pumping (which means getting up earlier and going to be later during the day).
2. You still have to watch what you eat and drink because it can be passed to the baby. I couldn’t eat leafy greens, broccoli, sushi, and certain cheeses. I also couldn’t go 100% back to my caffeine consumption.
3. When you are feeding or pumping out of one breast the other one will leak, so have a towel or disposable feeding pad ready.
4. You still cannot lay on your stomach at night because your breast fill up with milk and will leak all over the place, that, and its very uncomfortable.
5. Just the thought of your baby will cause your breast to leak, so invest in lots of disposable pads.
6. If you drink a lot of alcohol the night before, you will probably need to test your milk and dump it.
7. Pumping and dumping will not clear your milk of alcohol. Your body filters the alcohol through your breast milk like it does the rest of your body.
All about baby
1. Your baby will sneeze a lot the first few weeks of life because their nervous system is still developing. There is nothing wrong with your baby.
2. If after a month your baby isn’t sleeping at least 4 hours at a time, try swaddling or talk to your doctor about acid reflux. We didn’t find out these helpful tid bits until E was about a month and half and it saved my sanity once we did.
3. People will tell you that you can’t put a baby on a schedule and they are lying. The quicker you can get one in place the better for you. Even if your baby doesn’t react right away keep it up, do the same night time routine or feeding routine. Eventually they will pick it up and expect it.
I’ll update this list as I think of things, but I thought this was a good start.
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