I have now officially been a mummy for 2 weeks and 4 days...so far it is amazing. I am, of course, totally smitten with my little man, and am throughly enjoying my new role as chief nappy-changer/rocker/feeder/face puller/washer/bather/burper. :-)
My Little Bert - so serious!
We are taking each day as it comes, and so far I think Liam and I are coping very well - we make a great team. We're sharing jobs as much as possible, and although Liam has had to go back to work already (boo at only 2 weeks leave - rubbish!) he's still helping out loads.
first family portrait
I've spent most of my time so far with lots of lovely visitors (41 visitors and counting....) and have had so much support. I'm yet to do a proper stint of 'going solo' with Albert - I've only done the odd day here and there up until now. Tomorrow, Liam will be at work and the start of Albert and I building our own daytime routine will begin. I'm excited, and nervous (it is normal to be nervous right?) ... I feel confident, but there's always a niggle in the back of my mind - will I be good enough at this? We'll learn together, Albert and I, and hopefully a few weeks down the line we'll be in the swing of it, and our routine will be becoming more familiar each day.
Bert in one of his flat caps - with a name like Bert he HAD to have a flat cap, right?
Everyone is asking how I'm coping with the sleep deprivation, and to be honest, so far, it really is okay. Yes, I'm not getting as much sleep as I used to - but by the end of the pregnancy I wasn't sleeping well anyway - and at least now I'm not getting up 6 times a night to wee! The 'routine' (I use that term loosely) that we seem to be in is giving Bert a late feed around 12-1am, then taking him up in his moses basket (which lives by my side of the bed) and then he tends to wake once in the night for a feed, and thats that - he's up between 7am-8am for his morning feed, and we've even been blessed with a few nights where he's slept right through for 6-7 hours. We've also had a couple of nights where he's only slept for 2-3 hours, but thats to be expected with a newborn. I am tired, but I'm happy, excited, exhilarated by this little bundle - when he screams I'm not mad, or frustrated, I'm worried, I want him to stop because it physically hurts me when he cries - I'm like 'no no no don't cry, lets fix this, what can i do?' then the guess work begins - hungry? wet? dirty? in pain? needs a cuddle? a rock? a wander round the house? And the time goes on like that basically. It is all a big blurry muddle of love, and excitement, and learning how to be a good mum.
The first week was pretty rough as I was in so much pain following the birth. During the pushing stage of the delivery - right at the end - I had a huge bleed, so I had to have a very quick emergency delivery with forceps which caused a big tear 'down there', followed by a lot more blood loss and a ton of stitches- and so afterwards it really really hurt - to move, to sit, to stand, to wee (it REALLY hurt to wee) and that pain only eased after attempting to rest, taking paracetemol & ibuprofen like it was going out of fashion, and just letting time heal the wound. Naively, I hadn't thought much about pain AFTER the delivery - I'd been concentrating so much on getting through labour that it hadn't occurred to me how hard and painful it might be afterwards too! I was so lucky to have my mum and twin sister staying with me, and Liam off work, they helped and supported me no end. I now feel a bit more normal, and like I am starting a fresh new chapter of my life - when you're in pain or ill you sort of feel 'in limbo', like the new chapter hasn't started yet. Now it has. Time to put the trauma of the birth behind me, and move on, swiftly.
(To read my husband's account of the labour/delivery of little Bert visit his blog at www.childmanchild.blogspot.co.uk ... it is so funny & heart warming. It's likely to make you cry with laughter, and with emotion...he said it all far better than I could, and for me it was really funny hearing his version of events!)
We've experienced a lot of 'firsts' in this past fortnight ... first nappy change of our boy, first feed, first bath, first meal out at a restaurant with bubba, first car ride, first walk in buggy, first shopping trip, taking Albert to his first party/disco, a first 'date' for mummy and daddy post-baby, first time of leaving Albert with babysitters (our best friends Danni & Charlie), the first time he wee'ed all over us during a nappy change....at one point he even managed to poo on my trousers and puke in his own ear simultaneously - clever kid huh? :-) Welcome to parenthood I hear your cry!
Bert after his first bath!
Bert with his first babysitters - the lovely Charlie...
...and Danni xx
I'm really excited about all the other 'firsts' we're yet to experience, and I just know the time is going to fly by, so I'm trying to savour every single moment, taking as many photographs and videos as I can so I can preserve every memory.
I've still not managed anything on the baking front - although I have now managed to cook some dinners, so that's an improvement on the first week..! Maybe I'll manage to get my bake on in week 3....its something to aim for any how.
Thats enough baby-related rambling for now....
Mrs B
xxx
