Adjustments

Whew!  It's been a crazy couple of days in our world.  Sure, childbirth is a rough experience, but I maintain that the postpartum recovery period combined with the family adjustment period is far more difficult.  Combine the sleep deprivation with a couple of big brothers whose attention allotment just got slashed, sore boobies, and a pretty painful set of hemorrhoids, and you've got a perfect storm for a strung-out momma.  Ah, the miracle of birth.  Nobody ever said it would be pretty.

And pretty it is not.  In fact, our lives have been nothing short of chaotic since we arrived home with Thomas.  At the same time, it's pretty amazing.  I'd forgotten what it was like to hold someone so tiny.  Did you know newborns have a smell?  It's intoxicating.  And they squeak.  It's adorable.  My boys are head-over-heels in love with their baby brother.  Sure, it means trying to keep them from constantly poking him in the eyes, pulling on his fingers, or rubbing his head, but at least I haven't seen any resentment from them as of yet. 

Our first night at home, Thomas kept me up from 12:30 am to 4:30 am.  On the bright side, I have a smartphone this time so I was able to play Solitaire, update my Twitter feed, and watch about 75% of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest on Netflix.  He did much better last night and we had a good rhythm going of wake, feed, sleep, wake, feed, change, sleep.  I felt like much less of a zombie today. 

Speaking of not feeling like a zombie, I discovered a fabulous way to boost your self-esteem about ten notches.  Do your hair, put on makeup, throw on a pair of SPANX under your maternity jeans (because let's not kid ourselves into thinking the regular ones are going to fit quite yet) and head out on the town to run errands with your three-day old.  Oh. My. Word.  I got so many comments like "Wow!  He looks pretty new!" and when I would say he was three days old, it was typically followed up with something like:

"Oh my goodness!  You look amazing!"  OR

"You're out and about after only three days?  That's incredible!"  OR

"Wow.  You really look fabulous!"

Talk about an ego boost.  SCORE.  Needed that one, right there.  Especially considering these people had no idea that my boobs felt like boulders now that my milk has come in and that my postpartum baby flab was being kept under control by some serious shapewear. 

My mom was a huge help.  She had to handle the two big monsters while Evan and I handled the little one.  The boys, as always tried to play her like a grandma-shaped fiddle, but I couldn't have done this without her.

The key to our survival and adjustments over the last couple of days has most certainly been Evan.  Hands down, my husband has been absolutely crucial in maintaining relative peace and sanity around here.  He's cooked meals, handled the kids, cleaned, gotten up in the middle of the night to see if I need anything, and any number of other things.  He's been a rock star.  Thank goodness I had this baby right before Labor Day weekend so I get him home for an extra day!  Love you, sweetie.  You're a rock star!

More to come soon, including more photos of Thomas.  It was pretty overcast and yucky today so I didn't get to attempt the amateur photo session I was hoping to sneak in.  I really need to get his birth announcements made, so hopefully I will get that taken care of tomorrow.  Just forgive me if I don't keep up as much over the next couple weeks.  I promise to do my best!

By the way, the winner of the official baby pool was........

...Evan!  Daddy comes in first place with Dawn in second!  If you entered, check to see how you did HERE!

One more thing!  Have you seen my maternity photos???  If you'd like to check a few of them out, CLICK HERE!  Jenn really outdid herself on these, people.  She managed to make me look good at 38 weeks pregnant!