Changing all the time...

It's amazing to me how quickly things change with babies. Every day there is something new.

Physically, Judah is growing like a weed: the last four weeks he has gained 10oz, 15oz, 10oz, 12oz (in that order). He now weighs 11lb 5oz, and he is also so tall! We've had to  adjust his car seat straps twice already and he's only 6 weeks old! He's moved out of newborn stuff and into 0-3 month clothing.

He's also becoming very aware.  He's awake more now (and not just sleeping or eating). He looks around a ton and tries to figure stuff out, he loves to look out the car window when we're driving. In the past week he has started following Brett's voice and watching us intently.  It's so nice to feel like this little person is equally as interested in you as you are in him.

Another thing this week is that he has started smiling! There were a few times when we thought perhaps he was smiling but since Saturday we've got picture proof.  His brows are so expressive and it's so great to see the smile and not just the terrified or skeptical looks that we'd been getting.

It's so exciting to watch him grow! 

Another new thing this week, Brett put Judah down in his crib for a few minutes to run downstairs, when he came back and Judah was asleep and peaceful. We hadn't thought about transferring him from the bassinet by our bed to the crib in his room this early but he seems to like it! The last four nights he has slept in his crib, quite happily. In fact, last night we put him to bed after eating and he cooed happily for an hour before drifting off! He looks so little in there:

The good, the bad and the ugly

There are things no one tells you about pregnancy, the birth process and new parenthood. The reason for this (I now understand) is two-fold: first, because it is impossible to share it all and second, because there are some things you just have to experience.

There are some things I can share though:

1) Pregnancy was hard but people are right, you totally forget about all of the crap when they place that little baby on you and you look into his eyes for the first time: it's just amazing. You forget the sickness of the first few months, you forget about food aversions and peeing ten times in the middle of the night, you forget the uncomfortable feeling of having feet in your ribs, you forget about waddling around, you forget about the swollen ankles and fingers and you just stare amazed at this life you have created (as Brett says, "This is what our love created!") Amazing, truly amazing.

2) The birthing process is ROUGH and in my case people were not right, this I will not forget or get over. It was traumatic (physically and emotionally), I will not go into details but let me tell you, it's honestly the hardest thing I've ever done (also, let me just say, get an epidural...always get the epidural). But it does not end at birth...labor is rough, the birth is rougher and the recovery is the roughest.  I'm still recovering after over a month...and it's not even close to over yet. I am not exaggerating...this process (for me) was the worst. I know this is not the case for everyone, but it does happen. If you are a pregnant lady and want to talk about this, feel free to contact me and I'll share.

3) I am now in the mommy zone, I (like many mothers before me) think my baby is the cutest and the sweetest and the smartest baby.  I want to share pictures of him all the time. I want to talk about the cuteness and the faces he makes and really just everything about him all the time. I totally get it now, but that's why I have this blog.

4) Crazy pregnancy hormones flow immediately into crazy postpartum hormones. I truly could not stop crying the first few days, sometimes almost hyperventilating. That has slowed down at this point but even still, for me, it's a lot of crying that's happening. I have been told by many people that this is normal. I sure hope so because I feel crazy.

5) Breastfeeding is hard but totally worth it. Besides the obvious benefits for baby of breast milk, the bonding time that I get with baby is beautiful and even though I sometimes get overwhelmed because of how much he needs to eat and how I feel like a milk jug, I would not trade the time for anything.

These are just a few of my insights...more to come.