When I first became a mum I learnt that, despite my love for staying up late into all hours of the night, sleep was suddenly the most desirable and mostly unattainable thing. I learnt that babies go through way more clothes than I'd originally thought, between spitting up and pee leaking out the nappy, 6 outfits a day is reasonable. I learnt that even though I had all intentions of going at this head-on with a total positive energy, sometimes you just have to cry and come to the realisation that life's just not that easy but you just keep going.
'Baby Blues' was a phrase I'd heard plenty times before but I like to think of myself as a mainly cheerful person and thought "that won't happen to me, I'll be alright". Wrong. The truth is, I can be a very emotional person at times and that mixed with all the hormones that come with pregnancy and post labour, Baby Blues are inescapable. I did well during the day. Days are easy. If you didn't know, its normal for babies to sleep a lot during the day and be up all night. Nights were when those emotions started to really buildup. When my baby was born I hadn't slept a wink in 24 hours and for the next couple days afterwards I maybe got 8 hours sleep. I couldn't really sleep during the day and mostly I just wanted to cuddle and stare at my beautiful new baby. I had a few, I guess I could call them, minor breakdowns, almost always at night when my baby was unsettled and I was beyond tired, and there were a few times in the week or so after being in the hospital that I thought I might lose it.
I can safely say now that my Baby Blues are long gone. Yes I'm still tired and can get a bit stressed at times but I can deal with it. Truthfully I am the type of person who can actually function on a lack of sleep, so now that my Blues are gone I am able to cope a lot better and also making sure I find time to nap during the day while my son sleeps is always a good idea.
You start to learn things about yourself too, or rather, becoming a mother teaches you so much that you grow more as a person. Becoming a mum is the best thing that I have so far and will ever accomplish in my life and its made me a better person. I can definitely see changes in myself, though I am essentially the same person, just with more responsibility. I am a good mum, people always said I would be and people tell me now, but I know it for myself completely now which is really what matters.
Another thing I've learn't since having my son and being home with him all day is that you can go a little stir crazy. Really I figured this out being in post-natal. We had to stay in the hospital for 4 days following the birth of my son. We wanted to leave earlier but couldn't and spending 4 whole days in that same room and in that same uncomfortable bed, I began to get a little stressed and couldn't wait to get out. The afternoon we were allowed to finally leave was a blessing, I had never been so happy to go outside in my life.
I now make sure that I get out as much as I can. On wednesdays my mum has the day off from work, so we always go out for the day with my baby, out for lunch, a browse around a couple shops or sometimes we just go back to my parents house to hang out for a few hours. Other times, when the weather is good, or not too bad, I take Toby for a walk in his pram. It gets me out of the house and I think he enjoys going for a stroll, most times it puts him to sleep but sometimes he enjoys looking around at the scenery while we walk. If I can't get out, its nice to have someone visit or keep myself busy at home. I even went out to the cinema one evening with my sister which was the first time being away from my son for any amount of time. I can honestly say that it was great to go to the cinemas but I really did miss my son and couldn't wait to get back to him.
Its been over one month now and I'm learning new things about babies and motherhood everyday. We're doing good, we're happy and enjoying our new life. Being a first time mum can be a struggle but this little human is worth any struggle every time. This baby boy is my world and our lives are now more complete with him in it.
No comments:
Post a Comment