OMG We had a baby!!!

Baby has arrived! I have been pretty MIA these last 6 weeks due to spending some very precious time with our new little bundle of joy. “Mr Meatball” joined us at the end of October and has been a wonderful addition to our family unit. He is a chunky one for sure!

I had forgotten how consuming having a newborn can be. Getting 2 meals in a day while nursing and going on very little sleep was a serious accomplishment for my husband and I in those first couple of weeks for sure! But among all of that was the abundant snuggles and heart melting coos and baby noises and precious bonding that made every moment worth it. 

Actually there were a few things I had forgotten about. So here is a list of the top 5 things I did not anticipate:

How much we would NEED premade meals. I mean we had meals in the deep freezer but I didn’t realize how important they would be. If you know someone who just had a baby in the last 3 weeks, make them a meal or two. The kind that they don’t have to do anything other than heat up. Drop it off, and then just leave. (Parents of newborns do not want to entertain you – they are too tired and their time is too precious.) Cooking an entire meal was out of the question.   

Post-partum care packages can be great – they can make a new mom happy because it means she doesn’t have to go to the store to get things AND it makes hubby happy because he likely isn’t thrilled at the idea of having to shop for these items either... Just Sayin…  (Ideas: mesh panties… yep super sexy (stock up on them at the hospital). Ice packs for south of the border, Witch Hazel, Large pads, peri-bottle, numbing spray, Epsom salts, LavenderEssential oil, other random toiletries.)

How messy a house can get in that first week – you will not have time to clean it. Period. The up side of that is you will probably be too tired to care (or notice). And then there is the laundry (OMG the Laundry!) I went from doing a load of my personal laundry 1x a week to 1x a day. Not to mention the rest of the family’s laundry (Thank goodness my husband handles that like a boss!)

Nursing Tanks… These are GOLD. You want these. You need these. You just don’t know it until after the fact. Can we say hello Boob-City? Yes, you may as well just change your address to this.

Colic… So I sorta scoffed at this when I had my first baby. He was SUPER easy. Yeh… not a joke. I now understand why it has been called “The Witching Hour or The Arsenic Hour” by some. Lucky for us, he is beyond cute and he has trained us well on what he likes so Daddy and Mommy know the routine now… Sorta.

Slowly but surely life has returned to a more normal routine and pace. I began canning again (ahhh happy place), made a bunch of baby food pouches, went to appointments, and visited with family.

OK funny story (rabbit trail here) I had made a dentist appointment scheduled for what ended up being a week after Mr. Meatball was born (what was I thinking?!). I was SO sleep deprived (he nursed every hour that first week) that I fell asleep during my dental cleaning. How do I know I fell asleep? I woke myself up snoring. Yep. I was pretty embarrassed and apologized profusely. To which the lovely tech said “Sweetie you just looked so tired I just let you sleep and kept working. Your teeth are all set and you are good to go. It actually happens more often than you would think but usually with our older patients.”... Best nap I had in a week. So that happened.

Life with Mr. Meatball has been a wonderful, snugly, heart captivating, roller-coaster of joy full of blessings.  I wouldn’t change a thing.

Merry Christmas!!!