Little Miss Rosie Pearl

 

 

Roosevelt has definitely changed our lives for the better. I love learning about her every day. As I write this she is 5 weeks and one day old. She is starting to sleep good stretches through the night which is nice. We are still trying to help her learn to nap during the day but overall we are thankful for her consistency at night. Right now she hates taking baths, unlike her mama who would take baths multiple times a day if I had the time. She still lives in her swaddle from the hospital because it's the only thing we can get tight enough around her strong little arms. We tried the pretty Muslin ones or the ever convenient velcro ones, but she breaks through them so easily. (She thinks she wants her arms free from the swaddle but she can't handle her them so they scare her. It's so cute to see her shoot her arms in the air and then stare at them like where the heck did that come from) She is a feisty little girl (wonder where she got that), and super strong. She's been holding her head up almost since birth and she can army crawl already. Even the pediatrician joked when she was getting her newborn testing at 2 weeks how she was crawling away from her on the table because she didnt want to be poked and prodded. (PS It was a tie on who cried more at that appointment ...her or me)

Rosie is super alert when she’s awake and smiles a lot when she's sleeping. We think she's dreaming about milk. She loves nuzzling herself close and snuggling with her mama. Despite the fact that some days I feel like a house slug since its where I have the last 6 weeks, I know these times where I have no obligations or tasks to accomplish but to love the heck out of this little girl will soon become a distant memory so I'm trying to soak it all in. I love you Rosie Pearl.

New Mom Observations

New Mom Observations

ADDISON BELLE LOVE SWADDLE - Similar Amazon // METTRE SUR L'AMOUR "PUT ON LOVE" PILLOW - SEED 

I won't pretend to know how to adequately describe in words the emotions I have been experiencing the last several weeks as a new mom. And actually I don't even have to because my good friend Maggie Philpot, fellow brand-new mom, already did so in her beautifully written post here.  However here are a few of my initial thoughts and observations of month one of being a mom.

 

 

1. The hospital is your friend. Due to having a cesarean we spent the first several days in the hospital. By the third night you start to kind of feel like you have a little bit of an idea of what you're doing, but only when you get home do you realize that you had round-the-clock nurses & lactation consultants taking care of you your husband and your baby at the touch of a button. Apparently it's not protocol for them to accompany you at your home to help you transition...who knew? The first night we were home was nothing short of an abrupt wake up call that my husband lovingly refers to as “hell” and I remember standing in the bathroom in tears thinking, where are the sweet nurses at the hospital when you need them most? Thankful that his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) and we lived to tell about the hardest New Years Eve of our lives.

 

 

2. Family is everything. We could not have survived without the help of our family. If your family offers to help say yes! Having someone offer to do a diaper change, take a night shift, let you take a nap is a treasured gift that should not be turned away. Jamey and I were so lucky to have help from our families and thanks to them I brushed my teeth and ate real meals. I am so incredibly grateful for their sacrifice to help us survive our first few weeks of being parents.

 

 

3. My husband is a rockstar. Literally. Not only can he rock on the guitar, he also rocks at being the best daddy in the world to our little girl. Due to recovering from my surgery he had to learn to do it ALL and learn he did. I am so thankful for how hands on he is and how much he loves our little girl. He can handle a ‘blowout’ with confidence and grace that can only come from God Almighty. When your hormones are out of control and you start to feel overwhelmed because of how much change has occurred in this short amount of time, you start to feel insecure and alone, or at least I did. However I feel like I have the perfect partner in this new venture of parenting and there’s no one else I’d want to do it with. He reminds me everyday that Im not alone and that we are in this together.


4. Time is a gift not to be wasted. Everyone says you have no idea what you used to do with all your extra time once its gone and its so true. I wonder all the time, “What did I used do with all my free time?” Now that I have a limited amount of time in each day (an understatement) I have learned to guard it ferociously. This has not come easily from someone who suffers from FOMO (fear of missing out) and who does not like to disappoint people. I have had to say no a lot. Even to people or things I love for the sake of protecting time currently designated to my two highest priorities right now: my sanity and my family. I wish I could say that each time I say no it gets a little easier, but it still has a little sting, especially if you dont like disappointing people or have a tendency to place your identity in what you do. However, the exercise of saying no is good because it is teaching me that behind a hundred no’s is always a very important yes. Right now that “yes” is a tiny human who needs me more than anyone or anything else does. Two humbling truths I’ve learned: the world will go on without me and people will recover from my no’s.

 

Roosevelt's Birth Story

HEART ONESIE - Baby Gap // BEAR FLAPPER HAT - Baby Gap (sold out similar here) // MATERNITY HOSPITAL GOWN (custom) - Etsy  // EYELASHES - Amazing Lash Studio 

I am learning quickly through motherhood that things most likely will never go as planned so prepare to be flexible and dont make anything too precious. Parenting is simply loving and protecting the precious gift of that child and doing whats best for mom and baby.

Plans are my jam. I love to make plans and know plans and make plans for my plans. God know this about me so my entire pregnancy and birth story is ironically refining. My scheduled csection was set for 8am December 29th. This in and of itself was not apart of the plan. I wanted a vaginal birth and been planning accordingly for 8 months when I found out my little stubborn girl was breech. Despite my efforts, and chiropractic appointments, and acupuncture and crazy exercises where I practically hang myself upside down off my couch while my husband holds a lit cigar next to my pinky toe (I’m dead serious - its an ancient chinese method called moxibustion ... google it) only to have her stay breech the rest of my pregnancy. However, I tried to stay positive and did so by counting the benefits of having a csection, namely not having to experience a painful labor, despite knowing I’d have a painful recovery.

The night before my scheduled csection Jamey and I were headed to bed at 10pm to get a good nights rest when we remembered I had to take off my rings for surgery. Until we discovered that they were literally stuck on my swollen sausage fingers. So for an hour we tried to get them off with a combination of soap, olive oil, coconut oil, lotion, floss...you name it we tried it! They wouldnt budge. This was also not a part of the plan.  Finally after an hour and a half we gave up and went to bed at 11:30PM resolving that getting 5 and a hlaf hours of sleep is better than none at all. At 1AM my water broke while I was in bed. This was also not a part of the plan. My midwife encouraged me to get a few more hours of rest before coming but I was so anxious and continually leaking (yikes...too much?) so I decided to instead shower and curl my hair. Nothing like a little hair therapy to get you through the contractions you werent supposed to be having. And if you are picturing someone in their bathroom at 2AM hot tools in hands, hairspray in another, hunkered over and breathing heavily through contractions, yes that was me! My midwife eventually had me come in around 4AM. The contractions got stronger and stronger until I got some pain meds but not an epidural so could still feel them pretty intensely. My fingers, if this is even possible, were more swollen than before and my wedding rings eventually had to be soldered off completely by an ER technician. Shortly after that they wheeled me in for my csection. I was so nervous and excited all at the same time. It all happened so fast, all I can remember is my sweet husband whispering prayers and encouragement in my ear as we listened to a worship birth playlist I had made and next thing I know she's here in all her chunky glory!

Looking back I guess God wanted the “planner” in me to lay my plans at the altar of his. Parenting this little one he’s entrusted to me will take a lot more than my silly planning, but rather a deep-rooted trust in her heavenly father who knows whats best for her and whats best for me.