Holy smokes, 12 weeks have never gone by faster than they did starting May 24th. Everyone tells you to enjoy every minute, but you can't truly comprehend how quickly those minutes will pass by until it's too late and you find yourself crying over the end of maternity leave. I feel incredibly fortunate that I was able to have these amazing 12 weeks with Tristan, but I still feel like 12 weeks isn't enough. I have no idea how people who don't enjoy their jobs do it, I absolutely love my job and I'm dreading going back with my entire being.
Here's a recap of what I learned over the past 12 weeks doing the hardest, yet BEST job there is, being a mom.
Time flies.
Remember how fast your wedding night went? All that time dreaming of and planning for the big day and it was over in the blink of an eye, right? This is like that, only a thousand times faster. Sure, the first four weeks SEEM like they are taking forever if your baby is crying and you can't remember the last time you slept or brushed your teeth, but trust me when I say you'll miss those days and want them back. Crazy, I know...it defies logic, but it's a fact.
Breastfeeding is hard work.
Everyone stresses over labor, that's a given, but what is worthy of stressing over is breastfeeding. There are so many worries that come along with being the sole provider of sustenance for your child! Is he eating enough? Is he eating too often? Is he crying because of something I ate? Will he ever do anything besides eat? And if you're anything like me, you'll Google it all and find out that EVERYTHING is normal, meaning there is no normal. Just rest assured you're doing a great job and DON'T GIVE UP!! I remember two very trying days when Tristan was one week old -- he didn't want to eat and I thought the world was coming to an end. After lots of tears from both of us and a great phone call from a friend who'd been through it, sure enough, we got through it, too. They say if you can make it through the first several weeks, you are in the clear -- it's true, DON'T GIVE UP! I absolutely love nursing my little man, it's a bond no one can explain. :-)
It gets easier.
I am by no means an expert, nor do I claim to be one only 12 weeks in with my first baby, but I do know there is a learning curve in motherhood and it's conquered quicker than you'd think. Like I said above, breastfeeding gets easier, responding to a crying baby gets easier, waking up multiple times during the night gets easier, functioning on little sleep gets easier, changing diapers gets easier, getting the baby in and out of the carseat (and car) gets easier (yes, I had the new mom moment of being unable to figure out the carseat and having to YouTube it from the backseat of the car so I could go inside CVS and not just take a trip to the parking lot), it all gets easier. I realized we were learning together, I was figuring out how to be a mom for the first time and he was figuring out how to be a baby for the first time...we were both rookies! But, after lots of practices together (some easier than others), we have come to make a pretty great team (dad included!) And the beauty of it all? You KNOW it gets easier because you can barely remember back to when it was all so hard. The science of survival hard at work.
You're doing a great job.
Motherhood is the hardest job there is. No books, prenatal classes or stories from friends and family can fully prepare you for what lies ahead. And once the job starts, you will question your ability to do it well. But, rest assured, you're doing a great job! I remember getting a Facebook message early on from someone I went to high school with. I haven't seen this person since graduation (and didn't really know her all that well even then), but she took the time to ask me how things were going and then went on to say that I was doing a great job and to keep it up. This note meant more to me than she'll probably ever know. So, Maria, if you're reading this, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. A little encouragement goes a long way for a new mama, and you can never get enough of it. I hope I can pay it forward. And to any new moms out there, you ARE doing a great job! :-) If your baby is fed, clothed, safe and loved, your baby has it all.
Motherhood is like nothing you've ever experienced.
I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't think I'd turn into "that mom". You know, the mom who thinks her kid is the cutest, smartest, best thing that ever happened to the world, yet here I am, 12 weeks later, thinking that and then some. I swear I love this little boy more with every minute that ticks by. I will admit, during that very stressful time when he was a week old, I questioned if I made the right decision in wanting kids and wondered if I could handle this new life I'd started. Now, thinking back on that, I have to just laugh and say how wrong I was to think that maybe life was better before becoming a mom. (Those preposterous thoughts are proof your brain goes nutty without sleep!) I thought I had a wonderful, fulfilling life before May 24th, 2014, but that was NOTHING compared to the amazing life I have now. Motherhood changes you in a way words cant describe, it's a feeling in your heart that makes you beam from the inside out even after no sleep, with spit-up on your clothes, dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor, but a smiling baby in your arms to make it all worthwhile.
And that is a tidbit of what I've learned in my first 12 weeks as a mom to an incredibly happy and adorable baby boy.
*I kind of wrote this post so that in the event we are lucky enough to have baby #2, I can remind myself that I can do it. :-)
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