It has been a while since I've written anything in this blog. I had the baby on December 6th, and she is beautiful! In fact, she has her own blog, ChickinBaby.
What can I say about parenthood so far that doesn't sound like a cliche? Having a baby does in fact change your life, that is true. My priorities now center around her. But what they don't tell you is, you will still find some time for yourself. It may be only 20 minutes to take a shower at first, but eventually you will have more and more time. I can read or watch tv at night for an hour after she goes to bed, and before I have to head to bed, so that's not too bad! News flash: life doesn't end when you have a baby, despite what some melodramatic parents may have told you. If you have certain hobbies or interests, you will still find time to do them, just not as much. And life takes a lot more planning than it used to. My head is constantly spinning to anticipate what baby will need and when.
And the other thing that people tell you but that I think will still come as a surprise--how little you care about the lost personal time. That baby will win you over, believe me!
I think people who let themselves die out in order to take care of baby are doing both themselves and their baby a disservice. I want my baby to have interesting parents! I don't want her to look back and say, 'oh this is what mommy was like before me--she gave it all up.' My husband finds it especially difficult to stomach other people's comments on new parenthood. The cliche for women is that they get fat and become babycentric. The cliche for men is that they get fat too, b/c who has the time to work out once baby arrives? Well, my husband does. He is an acknowledged addict with working out, and works out 5 days a week. Instead of stopping or cutting down his workouts, he simply switched them to the mornings before work instead of nights after work. While it has been a tough transition for him to break a 25-year habit of nighttime workouts, he is doing it, and is proof that it can be done, IF something is as important to you as working out is to him.
I still have 15 pounds to lose, so I will return to working out next month, albeit gradually. My gym membership kicks back in, so I'll start going to classes a couple of nights a week at first. I can go at night b/c I will be the one getting up with baby in the mornings and bringing her to daycare while he works out, so a couple of nights I can leave to workout for an hour while he cares for her. It's all about cooperation and compromise.
The first few weeks at home with a newborn were difficult, especially for me. Recovering from a section, my body sore from adjusting to not being pregnant, plus lack of sleep equaled a near-fugue state. But things have evened out a lot, and now this is week 10 and I am amazed at how far we've come. Baby naps in the morning and the afternoons, and for the most part, sleeps at least 6-10 hours at night! We are lucky to have a fairly easy baby though, from what I hear. The next stage is to transition back to work for me and to daycare for baby, which I'm sure we will both conquer with flying colors, though it will be difficult at first.
The best advice I could give to a new parent is: it gets easier. Try to enjoy the early days because they don't last long! You will feel more like yourself with every passing week, but with a difference.
