Lifestyles of the not so rich and famous

So, last week when I called my mother and said, "Can you come get me this weekend?" I totally thought it was an awesome idea. I mean, it had been 3 and 1/2 weeks since the Little Man's arrival and I was totally psyched that I had kept him alive this long. Figured I deserved a little R&R. And once I go back to work, who knows when the next visit to Virginia will be.


Now I am rethinking things.


I am a walking, talking, living, breathing advertisement for Murphy's Law.


We arrived late Saturday evening with minimal travelling complications. Awaiting us were my mom, my sister and her 2 adorable children. We talked and laughed. I fed the baby. We enjoyed our visit. I noticed that my niece had a bad cough, but my sister reassured me that they had been to the doctor--it was the results of a sinus infection and she had been on antibiotics since last week. So life went on.


Sunday, my sister returned to mom's with her kids in tow. After an hour or so, my sister mentioned that her little one wasn't really eating or drinking. After a few more hours, she was coughing her little head off. I started to get a little nervous, but my sister reassured me yet again that she had been on antibiotics and any infection that she may have had would not have been contagious at that point.


Then, Monday morning happened.... When I opened my bedroom door, I was overwhelmed with the scent of bleach and lysol. On her way out the door, mom told me that my sister had called. They had taken my niece to the ER during the night where they diagnosed her with RSV - an extremely contagious disease that effects mostly babies and children - complicating their breathing. For infants, the disease is very dangerous.

Of course. Of course. Of course.

Techy was in no way happy about this visit to begin with. Now the "I told you so" oozes through the phone everytime we talk.

As difficult as it is to be home alone with a newborn, it is even more difficult to be away from home alone with a new baby. It was one thing when I was coming to spend time with my family. Now, my mom is spending her days at the hospital with my sister and the baby and daddy is at work. Oh, what luck I have.

The Trek

Today is a monumental day.

Less than 28 days after I delivered the Little Man, we made our first journey.

Lessons learned:

-Travelling light is not possible with a baby. I packed like I was moving to a different country.

-Breastfeeding at roadside gas stations is VERY interesting. Thank God for tinted windows!

-When travelling with your historically minded father and you need to stop to breastfeed your newborn, expect to hit up the nearest Civil War battlegrounds and enjoy the AM 610 information station advertising said battlefield.

-It has been approximately 12 hours since I left home and I miss my hubby terribly. Truthfully, Techy was less than enthused about my journey. (For those of you who know how ridiculous he has been, it is probably only because with me and the Little Man in Virginia, he can't control who does or doesn't get sprayed down with Lysol and hand sanitizer before coming within 3 yards of the baby.)

-While I spent the day making a 6 hour drive an 8 hour drive, Techy was sincerely mourning my departure. He spent the afternoon playing video games with his sister's husband. Good to know I am missed.

-If you are planning to go out of town after having been home with your dog every day for several weeks on end, you should not leave his bag of treats where he can reach them. He may spend the day drowning his sorrows by eating the entire bag. Pretty sure that we are going to find out just how sick "sick as a dog" really is.

All in all, we have learned that making sure that family has enough time with baby is very important, even when it isn't easy. Over the last week, we have gotten to spend a good bit of quality time with Techy's sister, who travelled across the country with her 18 month old little girl to meet our little guy. Last night, her husband flew in and we got to introduce our little guy to him this morning. And then we turned around and travelled to Virginia with Pappaw to introduce him to the rest of the family.

With all that excitement on top of feeding every 3 hours, I need a couple weeks to recover and sleep non-stop.

How much longer until I get to sleep through the night again?

Crying without the tears

As I stated previously, of late my life has been a storm of dirty diapers, midnight feedings, minimal naps, and tons and tons of visitors. All well meaning, all full of love, generosity, friendliness, concern and all greatly appreciated. But can I just say...it is so hard to be a new mommy with people constantly on your doorstep.

For those of you who are expecting in the next few months, no one warned me about the onslaught of visitors. Or maybe they did and I didn't understand. For the record, you need to know that after you deliver your precious little bundle of joy, everyone who has been a part of your pregnancy, all the people who care about you and love you will want to be there to love on your new little one. It's so tough. You will want these people to be there and to be involved. I, personally, miss my friends. I want to see them and I want to spend time with them. But lots of people don't understand the concept of timed feedings and schedules. If you are planning to schedule your baby, visitors are a factor to take into account. Let me reiterate - it isn't a bad thing, but it is something you will need to take into account when planning your day to day, hour to hour activities.

Obviously, I am breastfeeding, and that adds a whole different set of complications to the mess. Had I been bottle feeding, visitors would not have been such a complication. I mean, in that case, I could have thrown my baby and the bottle at the visitor and tell them when to burp the little guy. But if you are going to breastfeed or you have breastfed, you probably understand that unless you feel comfortable enough around your visitors to just whip out the "nip" in front of anyone, you will have to try to hide your engorged boob and nipple behind a blanket that is probably far too small to accomplish that task.

(For those of you who think you would not be phased by the sight of me breastfeeding, don't speak so soon. You don't understand the size of these things. All I am going to say is that hiding behind the blanket is as much for your benefit as mine.)

Anyway, the blanket situation only serves to make the Little Man so pissed off that before you know it he is flailing his arms like a bird trying to take flight and jerking his head around in what we have fondly termed "Poltergeist Head". (To help you visualize - the little head bobs in all directions face scrunches up and turns an odd shade of reddish purple, and the little mouth is wide open with the tongue clicking around searching for its intended nutritive source - all the while, Little Man screams profusely, frustrated by the lack of immediate satisfaction)

That being said, I cannot wait for life to calm down a little. I can't wait to have my boobs back to myself. I can't wait to be able to leave a room without checking the baby monitor a thousand times a minute. And I can't wait to see people again.

If you are reading this and have been or want to be a visitor to us, please know that this is not a complaint against your visit. I relish the opportunity to see you again and catch up on life, BUT be aware of my own personal terror at the possibility of you catching a glimpse of my enormous udders. I may not be able to look you in the eye again.

Now allow me some bragging ground.... For all the lack of personal space these days, this Little Man is totally worth it!

Living in the whirlwind

So the new life has begun.

And it's incredible. It completely revolves around the Little Man that I am holding right now. But I don't mind too much. A few things to note:

-I have been peed on more times in the last week than I care to admit.

-I thought bladder control was an issue before....

-I get excited by poop in general.

-Sleep in 1 1/2 hr increments is super fun.

-I thought I was emotional before....

-I have no modesty anymore. I find myself whipping out body parts with no thought or shame.

-I thought my chest was large when I was pregnant! I went from carrying a watermelon around in my belly to carrying 2 of them around on my chest.

And I know I said it before, but I am more in love than I ever imagined. And not just with the Little Man. I am more in love with his Daddy than I ever thought possible. I can't believe how lucky I am to have him. And although he would never use the terminology, he is just as in love with the little guy as I am--possibly more.

With life swirling around us these days, we are super exhausted just learning how to live. Between doctor's visits, family and friends stopping by and feedings, there is little time left to relax. We are merely surviving. But would we ever take it back?

What do you think?

Never.