So I'm just getting the blog up and running but I wanted to take a little bit of time to tell my story. That way there is something to read on here while I get things in order the way I want them! So anyway, I'll start by saying that my husband Seth and I were blessed with our beautiful son, E, on April 15, 2009. I delivered at 39 weeks and had no complications. He weighed 7lbs 10oz and was 21 1/4 inches long (which is a pretty good sized baby for me, considering I am only 5 feet tall and 110 pounds!)
After E was born we were enjoying having him in our room but noticed that alarm in his crib was continuously going off. Sometime the next morning it was brought to our attention that he would need to be admitted into the Special Care Nursery due to temperature instability. Now...on one hand I was devastated. I had just given birth to my beautiful baby boy and I wanted him with me...in MY room. But on the other hand...I knew that something much worse could be wrong, so I counted my lucky stars and watched as he was wheeled out of the room.
We stayed in the hospital for as long as we could since I wanted to breastfeed and we traveled down the hall to the nursery every 3 hours to do just that. When my hospital stay was up, we were told that E needed to remain in the nursery. His temperature was stable but now he was jaundiced...my heart was broken. How could I possibly leave my little boy? How could I go somewhere else while he just layed in a crib in a nursery with other babies that needed what may be considered more "urgent" attention? Needless to say, I cried many tears...but we do what we have to do to have healthy babies. So since the hospital E was in was 35 min. from our house, and my mother lived only 10 min. from the hospital, we decided to stay with her for the next few days until he was released. So, like clockwork, every 3 hours (except for when we got the occasional phone call from the nursery nurse, with E crying in the background and her saying "You're baby's hungry early!"), we made our way into the hospital, day and night, and savored those precious moments with E.
This was an utterly exhausting period of my life. I had just given birth and now I was spending 45 min. breastfeeding, 15 min. travelling back home, sleeping for an hour and a half, and then waking to do it all over again. And that was our life for a few days. But it was well worth it. E was finally released after 5 days in the Special Care Nursery. He would need some follow-up tests, but all looked well. And his health has been fine ever since. He had a rough start, and we all had a rough time with it, but he has been a pure blessing!
So as a first time mom, I had visions in my head about what it would be like to raise a baby. I knew that no one could really predict what motherhood would look like in your house, with your family, in your life. Not even you! It can't be understood until it happens. What I do know, is that what is the reality of motherhood, is not much like the picture I had in my mind. Of course, I knew that there would be diapers and laundry and spit up, and I knew that after I finished breastfeeding there would be bottles and highchairs and bibs. We know all about the practical things that are to come. But there is so much that I did not expect. That is the reason I wanted to start this blog. From the incredibly strong bond that I have with E and the kind of love that I never knew before, to a kind of isolation that comes with being a stay-at-home mom. I want to discuss it all. Even if no one ever reads this...I want to put it out there. Plus...I figure...if other moms do end up reading this and have any suggestions or practical tips...who can't use that?
I give E Mama Hugs all day every day, but this blog is my way of giving a Mama Hug to myself as well as to anyone who reads it.
