Re: BTDT Moms: What is it like the 1st week with your newborn?

Re: BTDT Moms: What is it like the 1st week with your newborn?

Just remember to also take care of yourself! If you have visitors and feel tired or just want to be alone...do just that. Ask them to leave and come back at a better time or go to your room with the baby and just sit quietly. I spent most of the first week home with Molly in my room with her. I wanted to hold her all the time and just bond with her. Don't be afraid to take care of your own needs and you and DH's needs. This will be a huge adjustment for him also and you will want to just sit on the couch together with the baby and soak in what you created! Visitors can wait...

Re: BTDT Moms: What is it like the 1st week with your newborn?

Like alot of the other ladies, the first week and the next few weeks were so hard and terrible on me. I feel so bad saying this and feel so upset wiht myself how i wished that time away, but it was hard. We came home from the hospital with this little, tiny baby who was SO much work. I had to do bottles all the time, laundry, diapers all on NO sleep. DD hated to sleep in the beginning. She would only sleep about 1-2 hours a night in a row without waking up to either eat or just cry. I remember being angry at DH that he could have an hour on the train to just sleep or relax and not be with the baby. Or just being upset about how much my life had changed and I was always going to have this baby.

I had family and friends visiting but to be honest, I liked the distraction. I think it just depends on what type of person you are - I was so scared to be alone with DD so visitors were always welcomed.

But it DOES get better- and I never ever believed when people would say that to me, and I would get angry and thought I would never get sleep again. Lack of sleep was a HUGE part of me being so depressed. But around 6-8 weeks, DD started to mellow out and not cry so much.

And around 3 months she started to sleep through the night. And at 4 months, I cannot imagine my life without her - she is the best thing I've ever done!

Re: BTDT Moms: What is it like the 1st week with your newborn?

The first week for me was pretty easy. DH was home. (DH being home was a huge factor in why it went so smooth.) We were alone for the first week. It was over Christmas and I was perfectly happy hibernating in our home going through the routine of feeding, changing, holding and admiring our newborn. Of course, I was worried that she wasn't getting enough BM because you couldn't physically see but I was comforted because she was dirtying enough diapers each day. The recovery from delivery was the worst part.

Weeks 2-4 were probably the hardest. MIL came for a portion of it and she was a great help. But emotionally, I started to breakdown. Any time to myself was a thing of the past, which was hard to accept. I couldn't get a decent meal in or a shower, much less do any duties around the house. This also put a lot of strain on DH and I's relationship. He thought he would get a hot meal when he got home but instead I'd hand her over with tears in my eyes. He finally did understand how I was feeling and how hard it was and he became more supportive. It was a learning period for all of us to say the least but it did get easier!

As for wishing she was older, I did that for a split second. She changes so much from day to day that I realized quickly that I needed to savor these moments and burn them to memory.