Month 2 of Motherhood – Be Prepared

We wrapped up our second month together on Thanksgiving and it has been absolutely mind blowing how quickly things change. Day to day there is always something new. Rough days are followed by great days and the only thing that’s the same is nothing is ever the same.

Baby Update 

Baby boy had his two month appointment with the pediatrician at the end of November. Chief weighed 14 lbs 5 oz and measured 24.5″ long! 90th percentile in weight and 96th for height. He’s a big dude with an average size head – 77th percentile for head circumference.

During his second month of life…

He celebrated his first Thanksgiving and first trip to Chelsea. And first time to wear shoes… because, necessity.

Met his Aunt Meghan and Aunt Erin and played footsie with baby Reese.

The Cubs won the World Series! He can’t figure out what all the hype is about. He’s like “Guys. It only took them a month of my life to win the World Series, what’s the big deal?!”

Donald Trump won the presidential election. He was so into the election results he wanted to stay up ALL NIGHT to watch them!

Decided to roll over.

Found his tongue.

Had our first public blowout.

This guy has some pretty impressive diapers, he can fill one up with the best of them. Chase and I had taken Chief out to eat a few times, but we always planned it around when he was going to be sleep. On this particular day we decided to be brave, take him out while he’s awake. Immediately after we ordered, I heard it. A dirty diaper. I knew it was a good one. I picked him up and was greeted with a small pile of poop in the bottom of his car seat – this was going to be fun. We rushed to the car for a diaper (and clothing) change. Thankfully I had a towel in the car that I draped over my back seat – poop everywhere. I completely stripped him down – poop down his legs, up his back, now on his feet and hands, it was pretty impressive. That little man smiled at me the whole time, he knew he had a done a good job. It took us 10 minutes and 20 wipes to completely clean him up – he thought it was the greatest. When we got back into the restaurant I passed him off to the Carnivore so I could eat my sandwich. As I’m eating Chase says “you dropped mustard on your shirt.” No honey, that’s poop. Poop on my shirt, poop on my sleeves, and I couldn’t have cared less. Who am I?

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Mama Update

I wrote last month that the first month of motherhood for me was all about survival. Let’s change that to the first 6 weeks were all about survival. Whew! Those first few weeks are no joke but there is light at the end of the tunnel! I don’t know if it was Chief that changed so much during week 7-8 or if I just knew how to handle things a bit better, but it was a night and day difference! I began noticing patterns in his day, recognizing hungry cues versus sleepy cues and when he wanted to play. We still had some rough days but they were few and far between. And he smiled at me! Intentionally. Ah, it was such a relief to know he liked me. I was beginning to wonder…

I came down with my second and third round of mastitis during month 2. The second when little Chief was 5 weeks old, the third when he was 7 weeks old. The only thing that kept me going with breastfeeding was the fear of even worse mastitis if I stopped! I said it before, I’ll say it again – breastfeeding is hard.

The second round of mastitis was the worst infection I’ve had yet. All the flu like symptoms came back, but this time I couldn’t express any milk out of my right side for 3 DAYS!!! 3 DAYS. I looked liked I was carrying around a bowling ball under my shirt. It took a visit to 2 lactation consultants and my OB to get this under control. In addition to antibiotics, my OB gave me a prescription for a hospital grade breast pump – that thing is like a Shop-Vac! After 36 hours of pumping stuff that didn’t resemble milk in the slightest, I was finally able to start moving milk again. I’ve never been so relieved in my entire life. I should buy stock in Tylenol and Motrin – I’m pretty sure I kept them in business during month 2.

This month I got the itch for more intense workouts. I was ready! I had been walking since maybe week 2 or 3, but that was the extent of my fitness regimen. I would start to feel more like myself and then I would get hit with mastitis and would be laid up for a week. At my 6 week postnatal visit I got the OK to return to exercise with the exception of core work. I still had some separation in my abdominal muscles and my doctor advised that I wait until 12 weeks to put any type of strain on my abs.  I returned to HIIT style body weight workouts (when I’m feeling good) – a quick way to work strength and cardio, and I can be done before nap time is over!

Lesson learned Month 2 – Be prepared. I now keep a towel, extra diapers & wipes, and 2 changes of clothes in the back of my car. I also always have on hand Tylenol & Motrin for Mom – it’s the only thing that will break my fever when the mastitis rears it’s ugly head.