Maybe Now I'm Brilliant.......Maybe Not

First of all, thank you to all of you who sent some words of encouragement after the last post. I just wanted to put the truth of my experience out there. Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone. Now for the point of the post.  I've learned so much over the last (roughly) 11 months. Just thought I would share some of my newly acquired wisdom.


1. It is possible to throw up so hard you bruise your face. Not a lesson I was thrilled to learn, but I guess somethings you learn the hard way.  I was on call and still in my first trimester. I got paged back to work on a Friday night.  I had only been asleep about an hour, but that was just enough to make my system think it was morning. Usually I could avoid vomiting in the morning by eating breakfast and taking a little extra time getting around.  Since I was anxious to go take care of the issue at work and get back in bed, I just popped up and headed out the door. Once at work, I started feeling a little nauseous. I thought I would just borrow a puke bag from The Children's Center and take it with me in case I needed it for the ride home. I got the bag and didn't even make it back to the pharmacy before I had to hit the bathroom.  I would have sworn that I was throwing up my toenails.  The next morning, I woke up with broken capillaries under my eyes - not quite black eyes, but close enough.

2. I can take more pain than I thought. If you have known me for a long time, you know that I am a total wimp when it comes to pain. When I was little I would scream bloody murder getting a splinter removed. Tanner warned me that I needed to expect the worst when it came to labor. He is so wise. He thought if I expected the absolute worst then surely the real thing wouldn't be so bad. He was right. Contractions hurt, but I'm glad I felt them. If it hadn't been for the vomiting that started coming with my contractions I probably would have waited a while longer before getting my epidural (which didn't hurt at all in my opinion).

3.  I don't mind being a dairy cow, but I don't just LOVE nursing. I know some women really enjoy breastfeeding their babies. They love the bond and the connection it brings. Maybe it's because we didn't get to even try for the first few days. I don't know.  One of my primary love languages (if you don't know what I'm talking about, google The 5 Love Languages - it will change the way you see all of your relationships) is physical touch. I love to hold hands, snuggle on the couch.....I still have very fond memories of laying on the couch with my head resting in my mom's lap while she gently stroked my face. Touch (by people I love, not creepy strangers) generally makes me feel calm and peaceful.  I guess this is why I thought I would love breastfeeding. Don't love, don't hate it. And I'm okay with that.

4. I have great genes. Not sure if I should thank my mom or my dad, but I survived my first pregnancy without getting a single stretch mark. I really like wearing a bikini (not that my body is ready to be seen in one) so I'm glad it will still be an option for the future. Maybe by summer I'll have my abs back (only 3 pounds left to lose)!

5. I have 2 blood types. Yep, that's right, I'm a freak of nature. When I got pregnant they tested my blood and it came back Rh negative. This meant I would need to get a shot of Rhogam in order to avoid possible complications in future pregnancies. I got one shot at the doctor's office and was told I would get another before leaving the hospital. Before giving the second shot, they tested my blood again. This time it came back Rh positive. My poor nurse - the lab called her and said that she must have mislabeled the blood sample. I knew she didn't because she asked me to double check that the label had my name on it before she put it on the vial.  She was freaking out trying to figure out what happened. They redrew the blood and reran everything just to be sure. Turns out I basically have Rh negative and positive blood. Apparently this is very rare and most often seen in people of Native American descent who live a specific region in Florida. So I got more Rhogam - better safe than sorry. Weird!

6.  Being a mom is really hard. I know you hear other moms say this all the time, but there is no way to wrap your mind around it until you experience it. However, I have also learned to function on much less sleep than I was used to. It's gotten a lot better since my angel of a mother came to stay the night with us a few weeks ago. Our nights (and days for that matter) had been pretty rough and it was really wearing on all of us. My doctor had called in some Reglan for me because I felt like my milk supply had decreased. I knew the side effects this could cause (drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and rarely uncontrollable muscle movements). Turns out I got the weird muscle thing - you should have seen me. I was exhausted, but so restless. My mom was taking care of Cooper (she got him sleeping in his own bed - woohoo!) so I would pump while she fed him a bottle. I couldn't even sit still to pump! I was marching in place holding the pump to my chest talking 90 miles an hour! It was insane! So....no more Reglan for me.  Side note: Love you Mom - thanks for all you did/do for me. I'm starting to see just how incredible you are (although I've always thought you were pretty wonderful - except for that one time when I was 14!) You are AMAZING!

7.  My husband is even more amazing than I ever thought.  I've always put Tanner on a bit of a pedestal. He is a great guy, loving husband and I always thought he would be a wonderful father. He has proven me right over and over. He is so helpful, doing anything to make things easier for me. And he is ssssoooo sweet with Cooper! Man, he loves that kid! I just love watching how he gently calms and soothes him. Tanner, you keep me sane and that makes me happy. I love you!

8. I learned today that turning 28 is no big deal. Honestly, I was dreading it. I'm not really sure why. But here we are, 28, and I feel no different. Actually, I got a pretty good night's sleep and Cooper has been happy for the most part. So my first day of being 28 is kicking my last day at 27 in the butt! Yeah for 28!

I know that there are endless lessons for this new mom to learn. Hopefully I will be humble enough to learn them the first time around instead of making the same mistakes over and over.  Who are we kidding - bring on the mistakes and maybe God will give me wisdom to learn the lesson.