8 days ago, Jon and I were at Salem Hospital, giving birth to Maddox Jaesun Heller.  It’s been a heck of a week – I’ve experienced elation, a completely new kind of love, intense sleep-deprivation, confusion and worry and just about everything in between.

There’s been a lot to learn.  For starters, neither Jon nor I have ever had much to do with small children or babies.  Everything was new – diapering, holding the baby, feeding the baby, keeping him clean and comfortable.  The other night, we thought he was sweating excessively and might have a fever, and it turned out that the new diapers we’d purchased were larger than the ones from the hospital, and they just needed to be hiked up and fastened higher.

I’ve done at least 2 loads of laundry a day since we’ve been home, which means 12 loads so far, and I’m going to stop keeping track now, or it’s going to get depressing.  You know how I’m really into task management software?  With a baby, everything is a recurring event, so you’re actually never done.  But, it is entirely worth it.  Plus, now I always have clean socks.

Jon’s family came up from Ohio to visit for the first week.  While they were here, we took Mads to the store (he and Dad waited in the air conditioned car, since it’s a little early for enclosed, populated spaces), to the park, and with us when we got ice cream.  Jon went out with his family a couple of times, and I called my friend Kate and forced myself to go out for an hour and a half so I would learn how to deal with separation anxiety.  (I cried for about 20 minutes before being able to leave him.)

Feeding him was challenging at first.  We were both learning, and it was a literally painful experience.  I finally called my sister and a lactation consultant from the hospital, and they gave me some sound advice and got me using Lansinoh, which is soothing for me and safe for the baby.  We’re getting better at it, which is good, since he feeds every 2 hours or so.

All in all, it’s great to be a mom.  Maddox is such a good baby – he only cries when he’s hungry or needs to be changed.  Otherwise, he’s very chill – good with other people, car trips and even bath time.  It’s amazing to see his different facial expressions, and Jon and I can spend hours just watching him.

Image credit: lansinoh, pampers and Dreft.

Tags: breastfeeding, laundry, maddox