Favorite Moment During the First Week of Motherhood

At some point during pregnancy, I think most moms experience an odd pregnancy cliche that is annoying in and of itself because it's such a painfully lame cliche. 

Examples: 

• Strangers touching your belly. 
• People asking about cravings. 
• People predicting how you will feel during XX week of pregnancy or labor. 

That last little stinging bullet-point drove me crazy. 

I always wanted to fire off a sharp response to the tune of "Really? Do you know that I'm going to take the epidural? Get stretch marks, hate the last trimester, get heartburn and have a hard time with nursing?" And my favorite "Oh, it's going to be a girl/boy. You're carrying so low/high." 

Maybe pregnancy hormones played some factor because a lot of these predictions ended up to be accurate. 

The next story comes from a mom who kept her predictions to herself during my pregnancy and would only share her personal experiences when asked to give guidance. Thank goodness, because this little tale would not have gone over well for me while pregnant: 

"I don't really remember too much from that time, but I do remember one thing from the hospital. I remember the most wonderful nurse's shift was up and this 20-something nurse took over for her. She told me to roll over so she could check to see how everything looked. (Really?). She said "Do you know you have a hemorrhoid the size of a golf ball on your bottom?" Yes, she used the word 'bottom.'

Yes, thank you! (You’ll get yours one day)

I have to say one thing though, the hemorrhoid was worth it."

Ahh, the joys of motherhood. If you missed the other Favorite Moments During the First Week of Motherhood posts, here they are again, all together, like a big happy family: 

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Welcoming Number Two
• My Favorite Momement

My Favorite Moment During the First Week of Motherhood

This morning I let out a sigh of relief as I closed the door behind me. Ingrid was completely unreasonable and insane. Little frustrations were big, fit-throwing ordeals. She didn't want anything to do with eggs, books or heaven forbid, listening to her parents.

Mornings like these are painful. They are painful because I'm happy to leave. That happiness creates guilt. And who wants a side of guilt with breakfast?

Tonight was a different story. Ingrid was joy on the drive home; saying her goodbyes to everyone at daycare and pointing out the moon. She helped cook dinner (aka, ate a healthy amount of shredded cheese). After a failed attempt to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, we flipped over to Despicable Me (pretty enjoyable).

As I was putting on her jammies, Ingrid quickly kicked her legs in unison, twice.

This made me pause because while pregnant, Ingrid would do this frequently - to my ribs - and it drove me nuts. It would happen when driving or sleeping. A little kick-kick. A little reminder that - yes, you're pregnant.

At the end of the day (or maybe, in hindsight) I enjoyed being pregnant. My labor on the other hand, was long and dramatic. One aspect of my labor that I still look back on with sadness is that I didn't get to experience the joy of seeing Ingrid right away. I saw her for the first time when I woke up from surgery. I was in pain and yelling things that no infant should hear. Across the small, sterile room, I saw a grinning Dan, holding a little bundle saying "It's a girl! It's a girl!" Wide-eyed little Ingrid was observing the entire scene. I was in awe over this little person and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment.

Later as Dan changed her miniature diaper, she gave her legs a little kick-kick and that's when I fell in love. A powerful, intimate love that's so much realer than I could have ever imagined.

I loved her when I saw her, but with those little kick-kick legs, I knew little baby Ingrid as my own.

There were so many wonderful moments during that first week with Ingrid. The nerve-wracking ride home from the hospital. The first night at home felt foreign compared to the hospital. Quite moments napping in the recliner. But whenever she broke free of her blanket and wiggled out of the swaddle - those little kick-kick legs brought a smile to my tired face. Those kicks reminded me that even though I didn't know anything about newborns, I knew her - and that would always be enough.

Favorite Moment During the First Week of Motherhood - Part Two

As I read through the stories my friend's shared, I noticed how telling they were of that mom's personality. The nurse highlighted the memory of skin-to-skin contact and yesterday you read about zombie noises and breathing sounds. Each story is so wonderfully unique, the thought of lumping them all together didn't feel right. 

Today's sweet story is touching and so fits this caring mother:  


One of my favorite moments was right when Jackson arrived and he was lying on my stomach, and Jake quickly pulled up the "60s Oldies" station on Pandora so that we could sing a song to him - something nostalgic. The first song that came on was, "This Magic Moment" by the Drifters. Even though the song is about a kiss, it was so perfect because this was OUR magic moment and it certainly gave the song a more memorable meaning.


The other part I remember well is when there was no one there to visit us, Jake would crawl into the bed with me and we'd just snuggle with our little Jackson and talk about how perfect he was and how we couldn't BELIEVE he was so cute already. But I'm sure every parent thinks that.



 Stop it, now. That's too cute.  

Favorite Moments During the First Week of Motherhood - Part One

Last week (or so), our good friends welcomed their first baby girl.

I don't know if it was because the baby's gender was a surprise, or because the news came while I was in a NyQuil-induced sleep, but the next day I was just giddy with excitement.

The news brought back memories of our painfully long hospital stay  and those precious moments at home.

I reached out to my favorite mothers (including my own) and asked them to share their favorite moments during the first week of motherhood.

Although everyone had something different to share - one theme rang true: Those first few days are a blur, full of awe and wonder over the little person you and your spouse created. Then, come the random, magical moments like these:

• Napping on the couch with her sleeping on my chest. Feeling her little body breathe against mine. 
• Breast feeding. Seems weird thinking about it now but back then it felt so natural and obvious.
• Listening to her breathe (maybe I'm obsessed with her breathing a little).
• Doing funny things with her like putting eyeball stickers over her eyes when she was sleeping.
• Feeling important taking her places like yes, I AM an adult, look at the baby I made, I'm cool.
• Maternity leave.
• My husband walking in the door, home from his first day back at work, and saying "There's my girls." Then he said he had been waiting 9 months to say that and it was the longest he had ever waited to use a line.
• Watching Lindsay (that would be me) try to feed her a bottle for the first time. So awkward (it was).
• Waking up in the middle of the night to breastfeed and my husband doing push ups and sit ups in order to stay awake with me.
• Feeling the explosive farts come out of her little body.
• Smelling her after a bath. (Thank you Johnson & Johnson bedtime bath and body wash.)
• Listening to her zombie noises while she slept.

Zombie noises! I completely forgot about those zombie noises.

More favorite moments to come later this week! 

Last Day of Summer.

Tomorrow marks the first day of autumn. So, on the last day of summer, I leave you with my favorite photos from the summer of my favorite people: 

I know I'm biased, but isn't that pouty lipped face the best?  

Fall Favorites

Last summer at my friend's bachelorette party, we all received one-on-one palm readings. It was a unique and fun and make us all say (out-loud, in unison) "Ohh!" when the hosts announced that our guest would be a palm reader (vs. your typical bachelorette party guest).

The reader told me that I had one child (ding!) had a "normal" life line (fine, I guess) and that I was the first "Earth" see had read all night.

I beamed as if I received a gold star. I didn't know what that meant to her, but I loved the sound of the phrase, "I am an Earth." She explained that I had an appreciation for nature and gravitated to flavors and textures found in nature (ding! ding!).

Let's be real though, she could have said anything semi-positive and would have reacted in the same way. After a few cocktails and phallic-shaped Jell-o Jigglers, I was all smiles.

Like most of you, I love this season. Beyond the pumpkin lattes, I love the welcomed change of pace. To slow down, read more and spend more time at home.

This fall, I'm excited to take Ingrid to the apple orchard (again):

And a few other things:

• Visit the pumpkin patch.
• Make a big decision. Carve or paint a chevron pumpkin?
• Or, I guess we could live on the wild side and do both. 
• Visit the zoo. 
• Sunday afternoon drives to "watch the leaves." 
• What the heck, let's make a stop in Cedarburg for a decadent caramel apple while we're at it. 
• Packer gatherings with friends. 
• Film on the Hill.
• Bake with pumpkin and apples. 
• Rather than bake an apple pie, just cut to the chase and buy an Elegant Farmer apple pie.
• Tour the Pabst Brewery and Great Lakes Distillery.
• Piece together Ingrid's Halloween costume. 
• Ingrid's first trick-or-treat. 
• Take a trip to the petting zoo for a hay ride. 
• Celebrate our second anniversary.
• And of course, get a few pumpkin spice lattes! 

Cheers (with your seasonal pumpkiny beers) and let us toast to fall! 

Your turn. Share your fall favorites! 

16ish Months

When did my baby start playing with babies?

Everything is now a baby. The Glow Worm and stuffed animals are wrapped up in a blanket like a baby. Even the sippy cup gets the swaddle treatment.

We've entered the land of Toddlerville. It's hilarious, weird and taxing.

Last summer, I would hold all fifteen pounds of her and try to imagine how life would be in a year. She would have little thoughts. I would be able to hear her budding voice. Understand her quirks. Know her favorite foods. Plan her sweet little outfits.

12 months later, her thoughts center around Harper, pictures of her cousin Wayne, babies, yogurt, slides, plastic cupcakes and - as embarrassing at it is - Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Her little voice is slowly perfecting her favorite words. Harper responds to "Hahpa" and I'm thankful she proclaims "EAT" when she's ready to eat.

My favorite Ingrid word, hands down, is "Wayne":

 


(Try not to get too jealous of that cutting-edge phone.) 

Least favorites words include: "No", and "Buh-bye!" as I'm leaving for work.

She loves to sleep with her over-sized stuffed unicorn and is afraid of the vacuum. She gets a kick out of sweeping alongside of us in the kitchen. She helps to get dinner on the table by working in her little kitchen (I know, I know, must not perpetuate gender roles...).

She's becoming a little kid who grow out of her 18-24 month clothes and understand that purpose of the toilet in the near future.

I don't think there's been enough distance between the baby stage and toddler stage to fully appreciate how wonderfully snuggly those short precious baby moments truly are - because I'm so loving her as a bubbly little 16ish month old.

Even though I'm so tired at the end of the day that I might accidentally slam my head on the keyboard if I don't go to bed soon.