I have a New Baby…. Now What?

01/24/2012

What a life-changing event! You spend 9 long months prepping for the day that your baby will arrive…. decorating and outfitting the nursery, researching the best car seats, reading baby name books, making lists of things to buy, cruising baby boutiques, ahhing over your ultrasound photos, taking prenatal classes. It’s truly the most exciting time of your life!

I clearly remember the day we brought our first baby home, nearly six years ago. As we were leaving the maternity unit with the nurses smiling and waving goodbye, we couldn’t help but feel incredibly….. nervous. Waiting for the elevator to take us to our car, my husband E said out loud what both of us were thinking,

“Are they really letting us leave with this baby?”

Sounds silly, I know – it was our baby, after all. But there we were, a family. Two had become three. And we had no idea how it had happened so quickly! All of a sudden, the reality had hit us. We were in charge of this small being. In the hospital, we had nurses right there, at the other end of the call bell, arriving in an instant when we had a question. They changed our baby’s diaper in the night when I was asleep so that I could get some rest. They helped me learn to breastfeed, dress the baby, care for my healing body.

And now we were on our own – and what a mix of emotions! We were over the moon with pride and excitement. When we arrived at home, we took pictures of Baby P in his nursery, laying in his crib. He was so tiny! We showed him around the house (he slept through the whole tour). We set him in his bouncy seat, his swing, his bassinet- still sleeping. When we finally felt like we had done our best at making Baby P feel at home, we sat down and stared at him. I remember thinking, “Now what do we do with him?”.

Those first few weeks with our newborn were the most incredibly overwhelming days of my life. The exhaustion, the change in routine, the realization of what love for someone so tiny really is. My husband was lucky enough to be able to take a few days off from work to help me, and we adjusted together. All of our family and friends came to meet our  adorable new addition. It was so much fun to share this new life with everyone! But then the day came when my husband had to return to work…. and I had no idea how I was going to do everything on my own….. but by taking one day at a time, I did it! I learned how to hold my baby in one arm, while making supper with the other. I learned to stay at home until he was ready for a sleep, then put him in the car seat to go out to make it easier. I learned that it was okay to put him in his bouncy seat while I showered – he didn’t need to be held and carried all the time. Gradually, I grew accustomed to this new life of being a mommy….. but I had no clue how people with more than one child did it!

Today, I have four – yes, four children- three boys and a girl; 5.5, 4, 2, and 10 weeks respectively. I get asked how I do it on a daily basis-  if I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told “Oh, you have your hands full”, I’d be rich! Yes, it’s busy. Some days are definitely more chaotic than others, and I will admit that there have been moments when I’ve asked myself how I ever thought I could manage four kids, a household and a business… but the truth is, I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. Busy, yes…. but I’ve learned to embrace it! One day my house will be clean for longer than 5 minutes! 😉

~ CW~