Life as a new Mom ...

I know, I know, I never write! I’m sorry but if you had a husband who wrote like Dan, you’d hesitate to write to. Isn’t he wonderful? Many of you have commented about how great his entries are and I completely agree. I love reading them and am so thankful for his ability to appropriately share much of what we are going through. I seem to become little more than a sobbing mess when I even try to put my feelings into words these days.

However, sometimes a mother’s perspective is required.

First of all, Max was born on November 28 at 6:07 by cesarean section. He weighed in a 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 21.3 inches long. His head evidently was a little larger than most at 14 centimeters, as the nurses taking all the vitals double checked their measurements a couple of times before committing them to fact.

Max and I both are doing great. I feel wonderful (all things considered) and have really had minimal discomfort. The IV was the worst of the entire delivery process and while I’m moving a little slower than usual, I’m pretty much up and about as usual. The nighttime routine hasn’t bothered me too much. I’m not a great sleeper to begin with so getting up for an hour or two a couple of times a night, hasn’t left me feeling all that tired. It’s kind of normal for me to do that anyway. The nursing thing is going surprisingly well, too. I just can’t do it without getting naked. So, until I figure that one out, I guess I’ll be confined to Max’s room. Dan has said that it just won’t do for me to take my shirt off in the Outback or any other restaurant that we would frequent. Oh, well, I guess Dan will just keep getting some good practice sessions in the kitchen to pass along to Max someday.

Max has a very agreeable disposition so far. The only time he cries is when we’re changing his diaper. He HATES that. Otherwise, he sleeps peacefully, and patiently waits on me to feed him, then lies awake and alert for a short time usually filled with some meaningful conversation with his Daddy who is promising to teach him to play all kinds of sports, to learn all sorts of useless trivia (that came up during Jeopardy) and to cook because chicks dig it. (And when Dan says “chicks” he really means moms since we all know that my son is not going to be worried about impressing any silly girls for a long, long time!)

Now, let the faucets run as I write how truly overwhelmed with joy and happiness I am. I knew that having a child would be unlike anything else I had ever experienced. And I know the adage that you’re never given anything more than you can handle, but honestly, I always thought about that phrase in terms of dealing with negative things. I never dreamed I’d have to worry about being dealt more of a good thing than I can handle. I feel like I’m close to the edge, though. As if the birth of a completely healthy baby boy wasn’t enough, the sweetness and love of my husband for both him and me has completely taken me aback. Dan is just amazing and I cannot begin to express how this experience has strengthened what I already believed was a pretty strong relationship. Then, there’s all the love and support of our families as we have entered this new phase of our lives. They’ve all been so kind and helpful and we all know that sometimes family dynamics can be a little challenging in the face of stressful situations but everyone has made such an effort to be non-intrusive while we have tried to include them as much as possible in this joyous occasion. And of course, we have been shown incredible generosity by our friends in their desire to be encouraging and supportive. We honestly could not have made it through this experience nearly so well adjusted without all of you. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Enough of my babbling for now. Trust that I will be making sure that Dan keeps up the good work on the blog and I’ll post occasionally, too. Maybe after some of the hormones return to more normal levels, I’ll even be able to do so without going through an entire box of Kleenex!