Reflections of a New Mother

How someone can go through this experience and
not believe in God is beyond me.

Wow. It’s already been a week since we headed to the hospital to deliver our sweet little girl. The time has flown by so quickly, and all the days seem to have blended into one big long day. I guess that’s what happens when you only sleep for a maximum of three hours at a time. (It’s totally been worth it, though.)

I will spare you the details of labor and delivery. It was the most horrible and wonderful experience of my life and I feel that EVERY woman who has ever birthed a child is a true hero – my “war” was 15 hours with 2 hours of pushing. I was blessed with a wonderful coach – Nick was truly amazing and I don’t know what I would have done without him there (or God [I prayed a lot], or the epidural). I LOVE YOU! You can ask him how many times he had to count to 10. :)

I also want to mention that my prayer was answered, and I did not have to be induced or helped along in any way. Just like her daddy, she waited until a deadline had been set, and then waited until the last possible second. Literally. I had minor contractions all day long on Monday, and they started getting intense around 5pm. We were scheduled to be admitted to the hospital at 6pm.

Anyway, enough about that. I know what you really want to know about is Natalie. She is just wonderful and has been a great baby so far. She doesn’t fuss much at all, and 95% of the time it is because she wants to eat. She has been eating like a champ (keeping mommy very busy) and had already regained 2oz at her first doctor’s visit on Friday! She was so much smaller than I expected her to be. At the beginning of October when we had our last sonogram, they estimated her weight at that time to be 6lb 6oz and guessed that she would be around 8lb by delivery. So, when she came in at 6lb 14oz I could hardly believe it! She is long and skinny - 20 ¾ inches. Long fingers, long legs, long feet, and long monkey toes like her daddy.

Although I was scared out of my mind, what they say has been true so far. It just comes to you. I guess God just gives you exactly what you need when you need it. I just try to be as calm as possible and try to put myself in her shoes when something is the matter.

The hardest thing for me has actually been making myself rest and take it easy. For those of you who know me well I am an achiever by nature and feel like I need to be productive in some form or fashion every day. Napping during the day is something I must make myself do even though it’s so tempting to get something else done.
Nick has proved to be a wonderful daddy just like I knew he would. He is a natural and it is a joy to watch him snuggle with her, kiss her, and talk to her. And he is a pro at swaddling her – much better than I am.

Well, I guess that is about it for now. This post is long enough for one day. Enjoy the new pictures of our little snuggie.