What have I learned in the first 14 days of being a mom?
1.) I really wasn’t going to need as much sleep as I thought, but I still should have made myself nap. My husband refers to it as my non-sleeping super powers driven by hormones, I call it ‘too freaked’. About four days in, I may have also lost my shit on my husband. It’s totally my fault; I was stressed and thought I needed to watch over little sweet face’s face; too protective to sleep and too bewildered to stop looking. And completely resentful of my husband’s inability to stay awake. His slow, slumbered breathing on the next couch felt like a mockery. However, I now know that I was suffering from self-imposed sleep deprivation madness.
2.) I should have made a list of everything I was planning to use, and at what age I could use them. It took me an entire week to remember that babies have a preference on things they like to sleep in, and things they hate. It took me the same amount of time to remember that I had planned to use a white noise machine. It took me nine days to try out a boppie a friend sent me, and it took me ten days to remember I had baby carriers/baby wearing tools at my disposal.
3.) Bath and Body Works hand sanitizers are really perfumed. My doctor told me not to use a pacifier for another three weeks, so until then, kiddo gets to suck on my finger to pacify himself if in a pinch (or getting pinched, or a shot, or lab work). We ran over to San Antonio the other day, so yeah, got to keep the fingers clean. That is until my finger was covered in… whatever artificial fireplace smells make up ‘Winter’ scented hand sanitizer. Yeah. So. That was a fun moment. On the plus side, I think kiddo likes car rides, which is a good sign for a new family with two drivers and four cars at the moment.
4.) Feed. Wait… then Change. About when you have everything cleaned up is when the nose avalanche of milk arrives, they often poop after you change their diaper, and every baby boy has peed on his own face.
5.) If you plan to breastfeed, find out if your hospital (or center, or whatever) comes with a lactation consultant. I had a fabulous one at my hospital, whom surprised me with how much I needed her guidance.
6.) White noise. Babies totally love white noise. I had this one white noise machine selected by Moms on Call, but instead I am using an old smart phone. I fired that baby up, connected it to my home wifi and downloaded a couple of white noise apps until I found one I liked. I keep it inside an empty tissue box near the only thing here the baby will sleep in. Pros: long battery life from not using it regularly and a backup camera in case something awesome happens.
7.) Your smartphone is your organizational hub, so get a good one. I use my phone for pictures, video, scheduling doctors appointments, reminders, remembering which boob I used last, how many diapers produced that day, to quickly notate what questions to ask the doctor – this thing is my brain. It’s also my entertainment when I am a chained cow to the couch feeding, and my connection to the world when I feel like I haven’t spoken to humans in awhile.
