1 Month Old

Mason is a month old! Everyone told me time would fly but honestly I felt like the chaos of having a newborn slowed things down a bit. A lot of it is still a sleep deprived blur but it does not feel like we brought home home from the hospital yesterday. Especially since I feel like I have not been more than 20 feet away from him since he was born - and if we are being real for the past ten months we have been attached. True that.

My first trip without Mason was to CVS, so exciting! But for real. Jake was giving Mason a bottle (woop woop!) and I was able to leave the house for the first time in a month without the baby in tow. It. Was. Awesome. and it was also 20 minutes. Granted the trip was short but it was still thrilling, I love Mason but every once in a while it was nice not to have to pack diapers, extra outfits, nooks, his rocker, and his car seat up.

In other news, Mason has started to sleep through the night more! Our schedule has paid off and naps and bed time are becoming more predictable - although he still has his little episodes of crying. I think I got a full 6 hours of sleep last night - I felt so rested today. We have also started to establish a bedtime routine - we read three bedtime prayer poems, sing a few songs, swaddle the little man and off to bed he goes! This will hopefully help him to understand that after this pattern happens it is time for sleeping (and not playing or crying), so far we have only done it twice so I do not think he is used to it quite yet, but it only takes a few days to establish a routine right? Good thing we have plenty of time.

And that is what I need to keep reminding myself. I have time and tomorrow is a new day. This is a constant struggle that I have been having - the feeling of being rushed, mostly with Mason. I have to keep reminding myself that I do not need to hurry or try to speed things up, he will only be this little for a very short time and while I am looking forward to him being able to sit up on his own, laugh with mommy and daddy, and eat solid foods, I do not want to forget the little faces he makes while sleeping or his first smile or the first time he took a bottle. All of the memories that I will store up from this stage will be just as precious as the memories I will store up from his next stage which is why there is no need to rush things.

Mama Mia out.

The Nap Cycle

Mason has been crying less and less during nap time and that is an amazing feeling because listening to my little man cry is not fun. But he still has his moments of tears, and so does mommy. So sometimes I just need to mow the lawn. 

It is not really mowing the lawn that calms me down but the distraction from a crying baby that helps. Jake stays inside to make sure Mason is okay and I head out to the back yard and just listen to music and the incredibly loud mower. Or I take a shower, which is good because realistically some new mommies do not get a chance to shower everyday. Or I run the not quite half full dishwasher and it is just loud enough to distract me and keep my kitchen clean at the same time. 

In the previous few days I have kept myself distracted by cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming the house (which actually put Mason to sleep), mowing part of our yard, and finding anything else that makes a good amount of noise. Feel free to make more suggestions! 

Mason is learning that nap time means sleep, and he needs his sleep. It is a vicious cycle if he doesn't get a good nap in - first he starts to fall asleep while eating and he doesn't get a full feeding in, next he gets crabby because he is tired, then we put him down for a nap and he wakes up early because he didn't get enough food he gets even more fussy but is so tired he falls asleep while eating. So if we get in a good feeding and a good nap that leads to another good feeding and an even better nap! But consistency is key as we have had a bit of trouble being consistent so far, we will be working on that over the next few days!

My next goal, besides getting Mason not to cry during nap time, is to find a way to fit some form of working out into my day. Mostly I am thinking I will try relearning all of the line dancing and two stepping I have forgotten and just distract myself with the music. It has to be something that I can do while in the house because Jake goes back to work tomorrow. Not cool. And let's be honest bringing a baby to the gym sounds like a bad stressful idea - No one wants to sit on an elliptical next to a crying mom and a crying baby. Especially the crying mom part, crying babies are more socially acceptable. 

Everyone says it only gets better and by week 6 we will be in more of a rhythm. For now we will trusting God, crying a bit, and praying every chance we get! 

Mama Mia out. 

The Human Vending Machine

Breastfeeding. Woah, I went there. For those of you who are not comfortable with this topic feel free to skip it!

Most moms I know are willing to talk about it, listen to me talk about it, AND talk with me while I am doing it - they even sit in the same room as me. Woohoo!

But as far as I can tell, these feelings are not shared with the rest of the population. So every three hours if we are out of our own home I end up in an upstairs room, isolated from everyone for about 35 minutes. It's super fun. Not. 

Truthfully, I am not going to feed my child in the middle of church or a restaurant, I am not exactly comfortable pulling out the girls in public, but even if I do end up in a back room somewhere - it is nice to have company. My husband has been great about coming upstairs and keeping me somewhat entertained but I can tell that he gets bored pretty quickly. Especially when he knows he is missing out on the conversation about the next camping trip or someone's new putter (it's a golf thing, so I do not partake in those conversations). 

This is why I am super excited for two things in the future. Number 1: I have a few mommy friends who are also breastfeeding so when we get together we can sit and feed our little ones together! No awkward questions like "where are you going" or "why are you taking the baby away?" Just some mommies feeding their little ones chatting about onesies, spit up, and babies. 

And number 2: when I finally build up a good milk supply, we can introduce Mason to a bottle! I am currently trying to pump about twice a day to store up milk for the future which makes me feel like a human vending machine. Once I have a bit stored up not only will mommy be able to stay in the same room as everyone else but daddy, grandma, or basically anyone else can feed him instead of me. Super pumped about that. Pun intended.  

But until those days arrive I will just be sitting here. Feeding Mason. All by myself. And of course my iPhone, which I write basically all of these posts on. 

Mama Mia out.