Where do I begin? Month #1 will be complete in 3 days. The first month seems like a bit of a blur. Bringing our daughter home was truly life changing. Going from David and Michelle to mommy and daddy 24/7 was eye-opening (literally, because you don’t sleep with a newborn). I thought I would be ready for anything. Why? Well because I had taken care of babies before of course. Who was I kidding? Most days I can barely throw myself together. I look like a hot mess most of the time. Getting ready these days is jumping in the shower, letting my hair then air dry, and throwing it up in a bun. I have become the “frumpy mom.” I will have to work on getting out of this mode sometime soon.

I have made dinner 3x in the last 30 days. Each time wondering where I got the energy to throw a meal together. Breastfeeding is a whole other blog post in itself. It is truly the most time consuming (yet selfless) thing you could do for your child. I am one of the lucky ones though. It hasn’t been all that painful for me at all, just takes a ton of time. At times I feel as if all I do is feed her. In the first week or two, she needed to eat every 2 hours around the clock. Talk about feeling like a zombie! Recently, I started pumping and allowing others to help with feedings. This all happened right around week 3. It’s definitely helpful when others feed her, but unless I want my boobs to feel like a ton of bricks, I still need to pump every 3 hours, which means I still have to wake up nonetheless. I soon came to the realization…what’s the point of having David wake up, heat up a bottle of stored milk, when I could just roll over and get the job done myself? Yep, so I find myself still feeding her 95% of the time. It’s exhausting but I truly do enjoy the bonding time I get with her…just not so much at 1am and 4am (wink wink). However, sometimes during those hours are when I see the most precious smiles and hear the most adorable sounds from Giuliana. I grin from ear to ear each time–which makes those early morning feedings much more enjoyable.

On top of the sleepless nights, and the constant worry that your baby is still breathing at night, you then have family and friends who want to come visit. I am always trying to plan a visit around feedings and nap times to make for a happy and presentable baby when visitors are here. Haha it is the truth. The last thing you want is a screaming baby when others drive near and far to meet your precious little jewel. After all, she is as perfect as seen in all those pictures you post on social media, right? Well to me she is : )

We are still working on getting her used to the car seat and infant carrier. As of now, she cries bloody murder in both, unless she has just been fed. Again, base outings around feedings and nap times. I still have yet to run an errand with her by myself…still working my way up to that.

All in all, it’s a learning process right? I’m loving it though. Looking back on this month makes me realize how far we have already come (without really realizing it). If that even makes sense. My constant worry is due to being a new mommy–I’m sure. I just want her to be happy, smiling, and healthy like all the time. Is that too much to ask?

Grateful for all the help from my mom. Wednesdays and Thursdays are her days off and partially mine too. When she comes over to spend time with Giuliana, it allows me to run errands, work a little bit from home, or even just sleep! Especially this last week when I came down with some sort of bug. It was like overnight I had developed a fever, body aches, chills, and night sweats. You best believe I was more than thankful when my mom showed up to care for Giuliana. It allowed me to rest for almost 5 hours straight–which would have been impossible without her here.

Closing out month one pretty satisfied as to where we are now. Still so much to learn and adapt to. But I have to say, I think we have done a pretty great job so far. It’s already so amazing to see the changes in her features and motor skills in such a short period of time. I am loving being her mommy and so looking forward to everything in the future.

I can’t wait to read this post back after a few months to see how far I’ve progressed from today…motherhood is a constant work in progress, but the most rewarding work on earth and I am blessed to experience the journey.