Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Postpartum Thoughts I Didn't Anticipate

I knew before Will was born that I would have overwhelming emotions during the postpartum period. I knew I would fall in love with our baby and be tired and sore, but I've found myself having some thoughts I did not anticipate. Here are a few.

I miss feeling William moving around and kicking me.

How can I feel so energized after giving birth and also so exhausted?

I'm still starving every two hours.

Going to the bathroom is the absolute worst.

Am I ruining my life and Will’s if I let him sleep on my chest at night?

These diapers don't actually smell bad.

Sneezing and coughing might be as bad as the bathroom.

Thank heaven Ty is happy to get up with Will so I can sleep a little more.

Those are some really stinky toots coming from such a small body that only consumes breast milk.

All I've done today is breastfeed.

Sitz baths are directly from heaven. Also witch hazel.

This tiny human is dictating everything now. I don't even mind.

How many pictures is too many?

Thank goodness Ty has four weeks of paternity leave.

How am I ever going to do this alone?

I can't believe this baby used to be inside my body.

Is it physiologically possible for my breasts to explode?

There's so much room in my bed.

Between breastfeeding and my jelly belly, my body takes on a new shape every few hours.

All my baby carrying muscles are so sore… I didn't even know some of them existed.

Is there anything better than baby smell?

I can sleep and nurse at the same time. Multitasking for the win!

I'm simultaneously more hydrated and more thirsty than I've ever been.

Oh yeah, baby boys can shoot pee at you while you're changing their diaper. I had forgotten that.

Breast milk stains.

I'm a horrible mother; I gave my child a pacifier when he was only a few days old.

Follow up: he's a nursing champ. Take that nipple confusion people.

I'm never going to get anything done again.

When I was pregnant I couldn't sit in the same position for very long because of discomfort, that's still the case but for very different reasons.

My husband is amazing. There's no way I could make this transition without him.

It's fun to have young siblings when you have a baby.

Why am I crying?

I'm taking more pills now than I've ever taken before.