Monday 16 January 2012

Making it out of the house

Two weeks post birth and I am starting to venture out more and more. Getting out of the house with my young man is vital for my mental health and I think it does him good too.

Getting out isn't easy however. Right now it takes me about an hour to get moving. By the time I have checked the changing bag is fully stocked, breasted him to make sure he isn't hungry and got him into a going out outfit time has flown by.

Today we were brave and had our first trip on the bus into town. I was scared but it went pretty well. Riding the bus was a bit hairy, the area for prams is badly designed, forcing you to stand up through the whole journey. Another Mum and I struggled to share the space, lucky my buggy is small. It is expensive too, the whole journey cost me a fiver.

Getting round town was better, people were helpfully and held doors and so forth and me little one was an angel and slept the whole time.

Saturday 7 January 2012

A day well spent

We have been parents for a week now and we are slowly trying to adjust to the major life change. So far my plans to stay organised and stick to a meal plan have largely worked. This is mostly thanks to my husband who has stepped up to hold the baby while I am cooking and sometimes cook a meal himself.

The past few days have been hard as we have struggled to get little man to sleep. He is generally a very sleepy baby which is great, however he will not sleep unless he is being held and refuses to sleep in a cot or a Moses basket. He won't even 'side-car' he has to be held. This means we have been forced to co-sleep which is something I really didn't want to do. I fret about the potential risks we face, but in reality our hands are tied. It isn't exactly healthy or risk free to leave the baby to scream for hours which he would do if we were not with him. Studies have shown that babies left to scream undergo high stress hormone levels causing their brains to develop differently, making them more anxious and affecting their behaviour in later life. These studies suggest that on the other hand babies who are well attended and not left to cry are calmer in the long run and become less clingy and more confident. With my history of anxiety issues I don't want to run any risks that might lead the little man to develop anything similar.

Fretting about doing the right thing is so hard when you both just want the best for this little person you love so much. We help each other by talking through our decisions, as well as with our families.

I Really don't know what I would have done without my husband. He has been the best husband and father I could possibly have asked for.

I was feeling a little concerned about how our days are going. It is now early evening and it feels like we have only been up for a few hours. all I do is feed the baby, cuddle him and try to do a little housework. For a few days I felt bad aBout this, but then I was watching a TV programme about the Amish. the Amish have a saying, a'a day spent canning vegetables and making quilts is a day well spent.'I t made me reflect that what I am doing is perfectly acceptable. Right now all I need to do is care for my baby however or whatever form that might take. My life is simple now and there is nothing wrong with that.

Sunday 1 January 2012

It happened

I finally gave birth to my little boy.

It's been a wonderful experience and I'm very happy he is safely in the world.

I'm sat writing this while he has a doze on his Daddy. My husband has been very hands on and loves getting involved with his care.

I never got the chance to finish writing about my resolutions but I'm still trying to put them into practice. Keeping on top of the housework has been hard over these past few days . Everyone who I spoke to about this sort of thing said you have to relax the rules and let stuff go. However I don't agree with this because I feel that if I didn't try to keep things organised we'd be drowning in chaos.

I feel so much calmer knowing that I've left his room in an organised state and that I know where things are within it. It takes a few more moments to put things back 'just so' and 'everything in it's place' but in the longer term it's worth it. I'm sure it saves me lots of running around.

Of course things have slipped during the day and I can't pretend you could walk into my house and find it looking as organised as an army barracks - but I do find that doing little and often and then doing a big tidy up before bedtime is working for us.

I managed to get online today and do our big shop. As part of Resolution 3 - Eat healthy meals most of the time we planned a weekly menu that we are going to stick to for the first few months at least. I managed to get everything I needed for this and the plan starts tomorrow - so lets see how that turns out!