First Month of Life as Mommy

Just wanted to remember a few discoveries I've made since becoming a mom a month ago. Can't believe Corbin is already one month old. Time flies when you are staying at home oohing and aahing over your baby.

1. Motherhood is indeed a full time job, just like my own Mom warned me. Couldn't have imagined it till I experienced it myself. Like most things in my life.

2. You really do need to enjoy your sleep while you can. Another bit of advice I was given that I didn't really believe till I lived it. The irony is that you can't really sleep when you are pregnant either.

3. The world will not end if you don't get laundry done that day. It's really hard for me to accept that I can't get everything done in one day. I want my house clean everyday but it is now filled with so much baby stuff. And the laundry piles up way faster than I could have imagined. You'd think just adding some baby clothes wouldn't really make a difference but I didn't realize I'd be changing him and myself several times a day sometimes, plus the blankets and things that get spit-up and pee on them.

4. One of my friends told me once that what surprised her most about motherhood was how fun it is. I'd have to agree with that. I couldn't believe how much love filled my heart as soon as I had Corbin. I really just couldn't take me eyes off of him.

5. Having a baby totally changes the dynamic in your relationship with your spouse. As much as I loved Corbin and just wanted to stare at him and cuddle him all the time, I noticed a part of me mourning the loss of my newlywedhood. Taking care of the baby was all-consuming in those first weeks while I figured out what I was doing, and one night I just realized how badly I wanted to eat dinner and watch Bones with my husband. It's something so simple that we would do together, but I suddenly missed it once it was gone. We've figured out how to make time for one another again, but it definitely requires more planning than it used to.

6. Being pregnant was another thing I wished I would have enjoyed more. It still seems so strange to me how you are pregnant for so long, you feel like you're gonna be pregnant forever, and it kind of comes to be your identity. And then one day to the next, you aren't pregnant anymore. You are a mom. Your baby exists independently of you (well, minus doing everything for them...). One of my friends says that just means I'll have another one.