Hello, my name is Hanna Marie Woodworth and I was one day old when my Crazy Aunt Becky took this picture of me at the hospital. I am now one month and two days old, but mommy needs to upload some more pictures.
Wow. This motherhood thing is incredible ... and, incredibly hard. Hats off to all the Moms I know, I honestly had no idea. I also had no idea the my heart would explode when I first heard Hanna Marie's cry ... one friend told me that I would fall even more in love with my husband after she arrived and I have. What incredible joy.
The path to that joy wasn't necessarily the one we'd laid out in our birth plan. I was induced because of high blood pressure, which meant constant monitoring, an earlier (and much needed) epidural limited my mobility. The pitocin drip meant taking me from zero to 60 in an hour or so, so the typical build up during labor was bypassed. What worked in the birth plan was having her given to me immediately to start nursing and she stayed w/ the Hub and me for more than an hour before going with him up to the nursery for a bath.
So, here's what I've learned in the last 5 weeks:
1. Cervadil is uncomfortable.
2. If you're induced, epidurals are a very, very good thing. (likely they're good at other times, but what do I know?)
3. 9 pounds 2 ounces hurts.
4. I get the sleep when she sleeps part ... but, when do I eat my breakfast & lunch?
5. I am actually in the 5% of the female population that does not produce enough breastmilk to exclusively breastfeed. So, I nurse, then pump, then HMW gets a formula supplement. Know anyone else with breastfeeding issues? I highly recommend the Breastfeeding Clinic at Mercy. We've received wonderful guidance and a good plan to maximize the amount of breastmilk HMW receives.
Anyone have thoughts on formula types? (powder or liquid)
6. Nursing is uncomfortable. So is pumping. Not sure which is more.
7. Disposable diapers for us. Still shopping for a favorite.
8. Excursions are good. We've been to lunch a few times and went to see Santa. Rookie Moms-worthy? Not yet, but we're getting there. The mall is NOT a fun excursion, but we went yesterday anyway.
9. Number of loads of laundry has increased. And, I have dishwater hands from bottle washing - two bottles per feeding equals a lot of bottle washing. (the Hub does a lot of bottle washing, bottle prep and bottle feeding, too.) Wonder what the water bill will be like.
10. Jaundice can make your first few days/weeks a living hell. Poor HMW baked away in her little tanning bed for 5 days while the Hub & I broke the 24 hour day into 3 hour shifts so she could get her 16 hours of light per day. We were so glad when that was over ... and, now I know a bunch of people who've had to do the same thing ... I had no idea.
All in all, I think our little family is doing pretty well. Today was hard - bad night's sleep and very few (and short) naps for HMW means I haven't showered yet today (hey, there are still 7 more hours left to Jan. 3, I'll get to it.) and might be the tineist bit cranky. But, we'll get through this day and move on tomorrow.
I'm so in love with Hanna Marie, I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. 6 week checkup is next week, so hopefully I'll get clearance to get back to exercising, etc.
