Sleep...A Whole New Ballgame

I've never classified myself as a "morning person". I didn't like to be woken up before I had to be up, I didn't like to interact once I got up, and I was just down right grumpy some mornings. Fast forward to having a newborn. It's no big deal to me to wake up after only sleeping for 3 hours. It's not even a big deal to me to have to get up before falling back asleep. If I sleep 6 hours (thanks to my husband) I feel like I've had a full nights sleep and wake up not knowing what to do while my son still sleeps. I'm sure someday I'll appreciate a full nights sleep again, but right now I'm totally shocked at how well I have been handling my 3 hour stretches!

The first days home

I've been given a lot of advice from family and friends. I've read a lot of books and articles online all about how to take care of my newborn. The do's and don'ts. What I've really learned is every baby is different and every parent is different. A few things that I do which people told me not to do:

• My son sleeps with blankets. He's typically swaddled in one and covered up with one or two more. 
• When he is swaddled, his arms are free. He loves to have his hands next to his face and even if I tucked them in the blanket tight, he would still wiggle them out. 
• I warm his bottles in the microwave. Shake it up when it comes out and there is no "magical hot spot". 
• He sleeps in our room at night. We have a fan on every night and the room is kinda chilly. Thus, why he has blankets. 
• Sometimes he wiggles himself to his side at night. I don't flip him back to his back. I don't wake sleeping babies! 
• We haven't stayed home to "avoid all the germs". Lets face it, he's going to have to come face to face with those germs at some point. Although, I do keep him away from people that are obviously sick. I'm talking about places like grocery stores and family events.

What I learned about giving birth

Two weeks ago, almost to the hour, I went into labor. My, oh my, how my life has changed since then. I am the mother of the most gorgeous little boy you have ever set eyes on. After over 24 hours of labor there are some things that I  learned which no one told me about.

• When your contractions start; you might not feel any pain, whatsoever. In fact, you may have to pay very close attention to even know you are contracting. Trust your instincts and know your body. 
• Don't let anyone talk you into getting an epidural before you feel like you really need it. Everyone told me I should get one, but I made it to 7cm and lasted over 24 hours from the time of my first contraction with absolutely no medicine. Had I gotten the epidural early on, I would have been stuck in bed that whole time. YUCK! 
• Your bed will have lots of levers and buttons on it, which will make people want to mess with it. Don't let them. The bottom part of your bed breaks off for delivery. You don't want to be dumped on the floor. I wasn't, but it was a fear of mine! 
• Your water may break on its own and when it does the pain sky rockets. There was also no question for me as to if my water had broke. It felt like a fire hydrant flushing. 
• Once your  body is ready to begin the delivery process they will let you start pushing through the pain. No one told me HOW to push. A natural instinct just kicked in. 
• Having  my husband next to my bedside every minute was probably the only thing that got me through it. I needed to know I wasn't alone. 
• Once you start pushing through your contractions, you finally feel like you are getting somewhere, and you are learning to deal with the pain; the Dr. will tell you to stop pushing and to "breathe" through the pain. You will want to punch him in the face! 
• Once the baby is born more fluid gushes out of you. I had no idea there could be so much left in there after the first gush. 
• Holding your newborn and seeing your husband hold your newborn are  2 of the best moments of your life. Don't feel bad for not letting friends and family in right away. We waited over an hour! 
• Your body may shake uncontrollably in the minutes after birth. My Dr. said it was a hormone dump and not to fight it because it would make it worse. 
• Ice has never tasted so good. For some reason your mouth becomes like sandpaper while you are pushing. 

It's really May

May 1, 2012. A day that I have been thinking about for months now. Not my due date, that isn't for 2 more weeks, but the start of May. The month my son will be born. It's unbelievable to me that it's actually here. I look down at my stomach and can't believe how long I've waited for this yet how fast it came. Tomorrow at my weekly appointment I will be checked for the first time and have the option to have my membranes swept which could put me into labor within 24 hours if baby is ready. Am I ready? Physically and emotionally yes. Mentally? I'm not quite sure yet.