Baby 2.0: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of Postpartum Life

It's now been 2 weeks since I had my little Remy! Each day is more and more of a joy to see her little movements, smiles, and expressions. Remy is my second child and having an almost 2 year old running around at the same time as taking care of a newborn can be exciting. Fortunately, I have my in-laws here for another few days to help me out while I heal up from my c-section.

With that being said, I am 2 weeks into postpartum life and I feel that I must have blocked a lot of this phase after Aiden because many new things I am experiencing I don't remember having with him. With that being said, I thought I would write a post on the good, the bad, and the ugly of this phase.

The Good

No Longer Pregnant- Of course this would be number one! I love being pregnant but the last few weeks of being large and uncomfortable, the heartburn, and the lack of sleep due to a baby partying hard at 3am makes it tough. Having her out is very nice!

Baby Faces- The look on a newborn when they have a full belly after eating is priceless. It's a combo look of almost being drunk and happy. Sometimes we will get the largest grin on her face, I know it is most likely gas, but it does truly melt your heart.

Big Brother Fun- Her brother, Aiden, is still somewhat unsure what to do with her, but each day he gets better. We have to work with him on touching her soft and being gentle, but I am sure he will learn that soon enough. It is very sweet to see him kiss her on the head and quite humorous when he mimics her cry. Each day is a new adventure with the two.

The Bad

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Emotions- This comes with all pregnancies. Some women have it worse then others, but I just keep reminding myself that it's just hormones adjusting and I won't let them take over my life. If I feel like crying, I do and when people ask what's wrong, I just tell them it's hormones. If I get mad, I trying to calmly remind myself that it's hormones and this too shall pass. Basically, I probably say "it's just hormones" a couple times a day to myself to keep myself calmed down. I will not let the hormones control my life.

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Lack of sleep- Going on 2 weeks now with not sleeping more than 3.5 hours at a time has been rough. Not as rough as it was with my first child, but rough still. I have a policy that up to 2 weeks you feed them at least every 4 hours at night and every 2-3 during the day. I have to practically strip her naked to wake her up to eat at night, but in the long run, I know she needs the nutrients more then her sleep. After her 2 week checkup we will see if the Dr. oks me to start trying to let her sleep through the night on her own....I hope so!

The Ugly

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Menopause- Well not really, but I feel like I could be on a commercial for a woman going through menopause. I have hot flashes and cold sweats at night. It's horrible. I wake with my pillow soaked and have to flip it over when I get back to bed. It's getting better each day, but I am praying for the cold weather right now!

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Hives- BY FAR THE WORST! I did not have this with Aiden, but I think it is somewhat common with women. I had a friend who broke out in hives for months and then found out she was pregnant and it was a side effect. I am experiencing this postpartum and it is very uncomfortable. I try my hardest not to scratch them and take benadryl each night to help out.

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Body Image- There is a little known secret (really known quite well) that even though the baby comes out, it doesn't mean that your body goes back all at once. In fact, it takes up to 2 months for all your organs to return to their normal spots and your women parts to shrink back to their old size. (I like the pic above because it shows how your organs change.) I think I blocked out this part with Aiden. I was calling myself Humpty Dumpty in the hospital, as I felt like my stomach was long, big, and awkward just like the sketches you see of Humpty Dumpty  In addition, I made the stupid mistake of weighing myself yesterday. There was a little part in my mind that hoped I would step on that scale and have only 10 pounds to lose, though I am not one of those lucky women. I gain the weight with my pregnancies (50 pounds with both) and will have to lose the weight again like I did with my first. I honestly should have waited to weigh myself until I was a full 2 months postpartum, because the damage on the scale might not have been so bad :)

Well, that is my postpartum life--the good, the bad, and the ugly. Although there are two negative categories (bad and ugly) I don't want to detract on how much I am so happy to have this new little girl in my life. I love being a mother and the good, bad, and the ugly all come with this task. I would take all the negative (and more) for all the positives that come from my children any day!

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