a journey in motherhood

We’ve gone to all of Charlie & Dan’s basketball games this summer. It’s been a great activity to get us out of the house, support them, and expose Elliot to the game. This week is the last 2 games and I must admit I’m sad to have them over. I’m already looking forward to the fall season. Here’s a pic of Elliot watching a game with Grandpa.

Each week Grandma Sherry watches Natania so we get to see her! Last week we gave them both a bath. It was so cute to watch Natania splash away and Elliot to just watch in awe. She would grab his feet and play with them - it will be so fun when they are a bit older and can play together!

Postpartum has broght other weird things too. My fingernails are now longer and stronger than ever - kept waiting for that to happen when I was pregnant, but I guess it’s happening now - course I have to keep them short now since I’m taking care of a baby. My hair is growing more quickly too - also something I thought was part of pregnancy. The weirdest thing though is my alergic reaction to milk products. Now, whenever I eat a lot of cheese, drink a milkshake or a latte or anything that contains a lot of milk, my throat reacts. I get red bumps on the back of my throat and it swells in a line down the middle of the roof of my mouth, and my whole throat feels tight. it’s really weird and a bit scary - I hope my throat can’t swell shut and kill me. I’m trying to lay off  dairy products but it’s not fun. I hope it goes away soon. My wrists are still bothering me too, my right one is in a brace most all the time and so far there is not much improvement. I feel like I’m falling apart!

what I don’t like about being a mom is this awful body I’m left with. Granted, I’ll gladly accept it anyday for what I have in exchange, but I must admit, as fun as adding the pounds was during my pregnancy it’s not fun at all getting them off. I should do a belly shot now except no one would ever return to my blog! jellowey mushey stretchmarked rolls is what remains. I’ve always been thin so I’ve never had to deal with feeling fat or losing weight and I admit I don’t like it. I can’t fit into my old jeans - but it’s not even my tummy that is in the way - they won’t go over my thighs and hips. No one told me I’d need a postpartum wardrobe too! I’ve had to buy some new clothes because I don’t have much that fits. I am still enjoying eating for two though so the pounds really aren’t comming off - guess I’m waiting for serious  motivation to kick in for that. So I must not like it enough, eh?

Well the 2 month doctor visit has come and gone and Elliot got his first set of vaccines. Charlie held him down while the nurse gave him 4 shots - 2 in each thigh. my goodness those needles are long and they go all the way in, ouch! Elliot cried harder than we’ve ever heard him cry, I tried to nurse him right after to console him but he was too upset, actually what soothed him was daddy just holding him tight, by the time we were at the car he was fast asleep in daddys arms. I had gave him tylenol as a preventative measure and he had no reaction so that was good. He was a little more tired and fussy that day so we just cuddled and extra lot. As hard as it was to watch I had built it up so much in my mind that it wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined it to be. It’s certainly worth preventing all the diseases the vaccines protect against.

There’s not much more rewarding in life than the beautiful grin of your child. Good thing he’s smiliest in the mornings because when he wakes at 6:30 and mama is still sleepy his bright grin is what gets me out of bed! His expressions are so fun to watch and getting him to turn up those lips and give you a happy smile is quite a thrill. Doesn’t matter how tired or ‘done’ I feel, give me a grin and it’s all wonderful again. Something tells me it won’t remain that way forever, ha!

For the 4th of July we had a BBQ with Charlie’s family - first time all 5 cousins have been together! Us 3 wore matching shirts all with flags on them, here’s our family pic:

turns out theres some sick online site that is stealing pics of babies in their cloth diapers and using them for perversion - so I won’t be sharing any more pics of Elliot like that here. that’s why they’ve been removed from the albums. sick perverts ruin innocence.

but my sweet boy is still adorable, fully clothed

so I had my 6 week checkup. silly me expected him to ask me how I’ve been feeling, ask about my emergency room trip, maybe order blood work to make sure my levels have returned to normal, check to see if my stiches healed right, ask if I’m still bleeding, but oh no, he just walks in, feels to see if my uterus had returned to normal, tells me I can do “anything and everything I want” and says goodbye. Oh, wait he did ask me if everything went the way I wanted it to, and I said, well you remember, I delivered on the operating table - he gives me a lok that clearly says, I have no idea what you’re talking about - I thought about continuing but thought it wasn’t worth the effort. I left there for the last time NEVER to return. idiot.

last saturday we took Elliot swimming in my parents pool. I just held him closely to my chest and slowly went in deeper and deeper. he did really well, gasped a few times as we would get more wet, but never cried and really didn’t even seem upset. He’s not old enough to enjoy it and splash around, but it was fun to take him. We covered him in sun-block (don’t worry - it’s recently been approved to use under 6 mo.) and the funniest part is that the white wouldn’t come off of his cradle cap so his poor head was white for a few days, didn’t hurt him, but a slight blow to my pride when showing him off!

Later that evening we went to a movie with Charlie’s parents and Aunt & Uncle - no babysitter this time, we took Elliot with us. He did really well, although even a few gurgles and goos were enough for me to spend most of the time in the hallway - still watching the movie, just moving a bit with him in the sling. I wondered what people might think of this mother who takes an infant to see a movie - part of me wanted to defent myself - “He didn’t look at the screen, I covered his ears from the loud parts, and he won’t be watching TV till he’s ten!”  But I’ve learned that I need to be confident in my parenting decisions and not let what others think or might think get in the way of what we decide to do.