Baby Gavin is officially "full term" now. Our ped follow-up appt is next tuesday. Our homework for this week was to gain weight. He needs to be back to birth weight by tuesday. I'd like to think he looks chubbier but I'm not sure. He's still very tiny- he fits in some premie clothes still.
Some more random thoughts:
I guess I'm settling in to the role of being a mom. I still can't believe it and for the most part feel like I'm just going through the motions. But I am very surprised at how patient I've been with Gavin. When he cries, I don't think "shut up" like I've done in the past- however, I still think this about other people's kids (not newborns though). I've always had very strong opinions about parenting and I'm very quick to judge other parents. Because of this, I am very concerned about how I/we would be as parents. The one thing that I will "take back" is judging new moms on their time management skills. I pride myself on my time management skills- the more on the plate the better I do. I never quite understood how new moms seemed to do nothing all day but "take care of the baby". Now I understand a little better. I have yet been able to get up before 10am since we brought Gavin home. This makes me feel super unproductive. Since I'm teaching online, I can check in with the class and grade papers all while feeding Gavin which makes me feel better about not "wasting" time. We've been trying to go to bed early but no night has been perfect yet. Sometimes the 2 hour sleep increments are great and sometimes (like last night) they feel like 15 minutes. There's no way to plan ahead because it's really up to Gavin. Last night he decided that rather than needing a diaper change at the same time as feedings, he would wake up in between feedings with a poopy/wet diaper. This reduced my sleep time to 30 minutes increments rather than the "planned" 2 hours.
Overall, I'm impressed at myself for how I take care of him- how I WANT to take care of him. I thought taking care of a newborn would feel like a chore but I can tolerate it just fine. Part of me enjoys him being this little but a bigger part of me wants him to be just a few months older so he's stronger and more independent. This morning he smiled a lot and I know it's just a reflex at this point- not a real smile-but it still made me happy.
Gavin and I have been going on daily walks around the neighborhood. I haven't tried the jogging stroller yet because I think he's too little for it. I'm going to wait until he's 10lbs or so. The walks have helped me surpass my exercise cravings. I'm dying to get back into a routine. I'm feeling much better about my body. My stomach has flattened out much more than I expected at this point. If I suck it in, I can almost see my abs again. The waistline is another story. I'm still about 4-5 inches wider than pre-pregnancy waist. I'm confident I'll be able to get back into shape once I get my routine back. I just don't know if the "shape" will look the same as before.
That's all for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment