One Month of Mom Life

I cannot believe it’s been ONE MONTH since we welcomed baby Isla to the world!! In fairness, it has felt like a lifetime and a blur all at once and so I thought I’d share some honest lessons I’ve learned in this one month of #momlife.

To start, it’s true what they say that it’s challenging and rewarding simultaneously, it does get better each day (& week), sleep deprivation sucks and it takes a village. I feel like in my experience the physical part has been easier than the mental adjustment. We were really blessed that we had a pretty smooth birth, and I didn’t have much pain down there beyond the first week. Actually what did hurt most on my body were my boobs — and on that note, what I felt most blindsided by is that breastfeeding is hard AF. Probably the most hard part about post partum so far and definitely takes a toll on you mentally if you struggle like I did (long story short, super sore/cut nipples, pumping feeling like a full time job, latch issues on Isla’s part and supply issues on mine). My very brief advice on the subject is if it’s something you want to do, try your best but also don’t beat yourself up and if it doesn’t work out your baby will be just fine. In any case, I still feel like I was somewhat prepared that there would be bodily hardships up until the 6 wk check up (which I am so looking forward to so I can be cleared to workout!) so it’s been easier to push towards that milestone.

Mentally, this last one month has been trying because of the sleep deprivation (also to be expected) and I’m sure everyone feels this way but I am someone who NEEDS sleep — I’m talking I get 8-9 hours a night and even as a kid, student, etc always put myself to bed when I was tired (no all nighters here). I’ve also voluntarily taken majority of the overnight shifts bc my husband has his own business so therefore doesn’t get time off and I didn’t want him exhausted during the day at work (& more importantly, driving). Again, if anyone else is reading this and needs some words of encouragement like I got from friends with kids, it’s totally normal for your kid to not sleep well at first and have their days/nights mixed up but it improves! Isla is now at about 4 hour blocks overnight which only leaves 2 changes/feeds most nights so its getting manageable! A huge key for us has been incorporating probiotic drops to her evening bottle to help calm the gas she’s been having that wakes her up (we use these), and a weighted swaddle (we use this one and have bought several more)!! If your baby is super active like ours all that movement can wake them up so that’s made a HUGE difference. We also made sure from basically week 2 that her night sleeps are in her bassinet and in the dark to try to help distinguish between day but they’re supposedly still too young to even tell lol (just out here trying to get as much sleep as possible lmao).

The two things I wasn’t really prepared for is having to set boundaries with family and friends in the first few weeks — we’re SO lucky we have so many amazing people in our life who are great support and genuinely so excited to meet and get to know Isla, but it was getting to the point that we were having several different sets of visitors each day which then impedes our napping and figuring out our own routine and quality time. To all the new moms, prioritize your sanity first!!! Which brings me to my next honest point from one month of mom life…

New mom life is repetitive and monotonous AF. It’s a reoccurring cycle of change, feed, burp, clean out boogers and hope the baby is having a good enough day to be put down for a nap so you have hands for a minute to you know, pee or shower, which you probably end up using instead to fold laundry, wash bottles, order more diapers or maybe look at your phone which is surely a disaster zone of messages and emails. I promise you I feel like I have tennis elbow or something from holding her so much. My saving grace here has been asking for help (even if that’s just someone to come chat with me if I’m home alone or hold her so I can get in said shower when Ryan isn’t home) and going for walks!! Putting on clothes, breathing fresh air and a change a scenery is good for you and baby IMO (shoutout this carrier which is truly hands free).

Ok, so the good news? ALL of the above seems less of an adjustment each day and because you have your baby which is such a blessing and who also in my experience gets more and more adorable and interactive every day. There is honestly nothing like seeing your kid smile at you or hold your hand. Isla makes me laugh every single day and is a total joy (even despite the screaming lol)… although we’re entering Leap 1 today so ask me next week lol. I’m also starting to learn to appreciate how freaken amazing my body is and trust my instincts as a mom. I may have smelled someone’s butt more than I would have ever liked to this last one month lol, but can honestly say I am so excited for what’s to come with our girl!!

Can you relate? LMK in the comments + any tips for fellow new moms who may be reading this!! x