The Joys of Parenthood

Having a baby has definitely been a wake up call.....literally:) I can honestly say that being a mom is a lot harder than I imagined. I wish that weren't the case, but I think most moms that are honest would agree. I think the array of emotions I have felt is just all over the place. I couldn't have imagined just how much I could love little Amelia and just looking at her can make me cry. She's our little miracle and I'm just so thankful for her and that she arrived healthy and beautiful. But, I also wasn't prepared for just how tired, frustrated, guilty, anxious I would feel either. For the 1st 2 weeks, my hormones were quite insane and I was pretty worried that I would have postpartum depression. I just couldn't snap out of feeling so anxious and feeling like I could cry all the time and I did cry way more than Amelia:) Thankfully at exactly the 2 week mark...which is what my midwife said is the timeframe in which they would think it's more than just baby blues.....I started to feel much more like myself. There have been a couple obstacles that have made things kind of hard. My back has been really bothering me and it's starting to get better, but there for awhile I could barely put any weight on my left leg and certainly couldn't carry the baby carrier. Also, we are having quite a bit of trouble with breast feeding. It's crazy that something that seems like it should be so natural just doesn't come natural at all. I've been working with a lactation consultant at Vanderbilt and she seems to think Amelia is "tongue tied" which means her tongue doesn't come out of her mouth enough to get a good latch. So, we are trying to work through that and I'm hoping we can get this figured out.

So, that along with sleep deprivation has made for quite a few tears and lots of "We're gonna get through this" from my wonderful and encouraging husband. I'm so thankful for him and how understanding and supportive he is. We've found, too that once we open up about how we are feeling about things to other people, they open up and are honest about how they felt, too. It feels good to know we are not the only ones that are going through this. We will make it and in the mean time we are just cherishing how sweet our little Amelia is. She melts my heart. I'm looking at her now sleeping so peacefully in her bouncy seat. It's so cute...she's swaddled all tight, but has wiggled her little feet out of the bottom of the blankets. Nothing cuter than little baby feet:)

We would love your prayers for us as we are making this leap into parenthood. It's a wonderful and scary experience:)

New Little Friends

Today we had our biggest outing yet. We ventured to Murfreesboro to my friend JJ's house to introduce Amelia to her new little friends. JJ just had twins 1 month ago today and I got to see them the day after they we born, but was excited to see them again and take Amelia to meet her new little friends, Emma and Logan. Here's a picture of them all....Emma and Logan fell asleep and Amelia was just a little confused looking about what was going on. It was very cute to see them all together:)

Another Owl Onesie

In case you didn't know...we love little owls:) This is a super cute little onesie that my friend Anna gave me. She had actually bought it before I was even pregnant. It fits Amelia perfect and she looked so cute.....of course I might be biased:)

Father's Day

Chad had his first Father's day this year. It was very special and it just makes me so happy to see him with little Amelia. He loves her so much and I know she's going to be a daddy's little girl. He's a wonderful husband and dad!

I hope you love Target, Amelia:)

Amelia had her follow up dr. appt on Thursday and it went so great! She had gone from 6 lb 3 oz to 6 lb 11 oz in 4 days! So, she is back up to her birth weight which sometimes takes 2 weeks. The dr. was very happy and even said I could cut down on the feeding times since she was obviously eating plenty. So, after we got done at the dr. we had to celebrate by taking Amelia for her first trip to Target. It will be the first of many.....

Aren't I cute in my owl onesie?

Auntie Greta got Amelia the cutest little onesie. She designed the owls for the front and had it made. She looks so cute in it!

How will I sleep when Grandma goes home?

So, we've figured out a little night time routine that is working well. Not sure how it's gonna work when Grandma goes home, but we'll worry about that later. She is only content sleeping in her bouncy seat or in someone's arms. So, what we've been doing is after her first feeding of the night...usually around 9:30 or 10....she will get swaddled up and put in her bouncy seat. She gets to stay downstairs next to the couch where Grandma is sleeping:) She's actually been doing pretty good about sleeping roughly 3 hrs, but if she does wake up....she has Grandma right there to hold her and she usually goes right back to sleep and sleeps on Grandma's chest. We have about 2 shifts like that and then the past couple mornings after her 5:30-6:30 am feeding I've brought her up to my room and she lays on Chad's side of the bed since he has to get up around then. She is just as happy as can be laying beside me in bed and will sleep for hours. It's not a good habit...but our dr. has assured us that the first month for a newborn is just about "getting through" and to not worry too much about creating bad habits and just try to do whatever it takes for everyone to get some sleep. So, right now she's getting tons of snuggle time with Grandma and she loves it!