Two Weeks in

Two Weeks in

We came home to our dogs wiggling their tails and being very excited to see us. After a week it was great to be home, with the dogs, and in my own bed. I did struggle to get up our front steps into the house; the movement put a strain on my c-section wound.  

A midwife gave me a great tip – when you cough, laugh, walk up or down stairs or feel a bit sore. Drop your arms to your sides, gently bring your hands together and cross them over each other, and pull your hands towards your abdomen. It looks a bit like your hands are holding your gut, but your shoulders need to be relaxed, so your not lifting your post bump, your just supporting it. This helped so much!  Learnt very quickly I needed to be ready to do this quickly otherwise it could be very painful just to laugh. 

 After we give the dogs some attention, Archer goes down for a nap and we run for our bedroom to have a sleep in our own bed. It felt so good, I don’t think my bed has ever felt so comfortable! 

We start to get into a bit of a routine. Archer wakes up, nappy change, feed, burp, and back to sleep, I pump, then sterilize the pump and bottles, try to get something to eat or drink, then its time for Archer to feed again. It was a tiring routine, while I was trying to balance the pain and recovery and reducing my pain meds too. Lucky for us, my sister stayed with this during the 2^ndweek to help us adjust and also with the dogs. It worked perfectly. The dogs could go to my sister and hang out with her while we tended to Archer. They got attention, and we were able to focus on our son. Having a baby in the house was not just an adjustment for us, it was also a major change for the dogs too. We felt it was important that they had somewhere quiet to go should they not want to be around Archer. Our guest room became their haven while my sister stayed, and they seemed to welcome Archer openly because of this. 

I learnt I needed to accept help, I kept trying to refuse and wanted to do everything myself. I found it hard to let go and wanted to clean the house, do all the laundry and everything else too. My family kept telling me to just sit back and let them help. I ended up pushing myself too far. I burst into tears and was shattered; it was time to accept help and stop trying to live up to this ‘Super Mum’ character. I’ve learnt over the past few months that Super Mum is this insane character that we are expected to live up to. When all we need to do is look after our children and create a safe and happy home for them. 

During the second week Archer started to refuse my breast, which was stressing me out. He refused all positions; he wasn’t latching and started biting down on my nipple – OUCH!!!! He was starting to show signs of colic and this was adding to my growing stress about - well everything!

We finish the week with a trip to our favourite café and grab some brunch. It was great to go out as a family and do something we used to do before Archer arrived; it made things feel normal while it was chaos at home. 

The second week was a whirlwind, and we couldn’t have done it without our friends and family helping out. Christmas was around the corner and I was looking forward to celebrating my favorite time of year as a family of 5. 

Love

Mrs R

x