Things I've Learned My 1st Month of Motherhood

Why, hello! Welcome to the humble beginnings of our family blog. Ideally all of the pages and menu navigation items would be written, proof read, and ready for the world to see... but they aren't. This little project is a work in progress. Despite that fact, I really wanted to write this post, so here you have it. Perhaps one day I'll have some motivation to write about my water breaking at my baby shower, our 2 week stint in the NICU, and a whole host of other recap items, but not tonight. Tonight, this will have to do.

I can't believe it's already been a month since Silas was born. He's only been home with us for 2 weeks, so in my mind he's still a 2-week old (and his weight only adds to my internal confusion...he's currently at 5 lbs 12oz). Yet, here he is in all his one month glory. It's been a whirlwind of 4 weeks, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I mean... look at this stud!

To commemorate this one month milestone, I decided to make a brief list of things I've learned during my first month of motherhood. There's more, but these things stand out the most in my mind. In no particular order...

1. I will never be entirely clean for more than a few minutes.

2. My baby will never be entirely clean for more than a few minutes.

3. I don't have enough swaddle blankets or burp cloths, and I probably never will.

4. During the day, I really should sleep when baby sleeps. I haven't learned to do this yet.

5. Dr. Harvey Karp's "5 S's" are magical. Truly, magical.

6. The first few weeks, my job is to keep baby happy and healthy mostly by feeding him. When nursing, this entails far more than one might think. It can be very tiring, frustrating, and even boring, but it's a season, and I'm called to be faithful in it. (And it really does get better.)

7. I am now "that mom" who wants to show off every picture of every sweet moment her child has to the rest of the world, even though I swore up and down I would never do that. Believe it or not, I have restrained myself, but the struggle is real and somewhat unexplainable. The mom gene really does just kick on.

8. Taking meals to families with newborns really is clutch. I had no idea how big of a help this would be, but we have been incredibly blessed the past month to have so many meals provided for us. I'm stoked to do this for other families in the future.

9. The love between a mother and her child is completely different than any other relationship. That's not to say I love Silas more than my husband, I'm just saying the love is indescribably different.

10. Speaking of love, you need to love your pediatrician. We love ours and that is huge.

11. Cloth diapering is fun (for real)!

12. Vowing not to use a pacifier was a very unrealistic goal (at least for me). Sometimes babies just want to suck when they aren't hungry, and it's really not a big deal.

13. Asking people to use hand sanitizer before they touch/hold your baby is not rude. It's best for baby and totally worth the peace of mind.

14. My husband is not only an amazing husband but an amazing dad. There's nothing like watching him and Silas interact. My heart is always full.

15. The gospel comes alive in completely unique way when you have a child. One of my recent(ish) Facebook statuses was this: "The more I look at, hold close, and pray over Silas, the more I love him. And the more I love him, the more overcome I am with the fact that God gave up his only Son, making him who knew no sin to be sin that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Parent or not, let that sink in."

There you have it - a few of the things I've learned (and embraced) since our sweet little man came into the world. All the hard stuff is worth it. So completely and utterly worth it.