HerBaby: The first three months

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WOW!
These last three months…it’s hard to capture the magnitude in a few words! I could honestly have written you a full blog every week on the events, challenges, developments, learnings and emotions – if only I had the time!
There has been laughter, tears, poo explosions, so much baby talk, mummy-brain and overall a complete abundance of love. I wasn’t sure what to expect from my maternity leave but I can tell you that I am absolutely loving it.
We spent two nights in the hospital before we returned home and for me I was so ready by this stage. Every nurse and midwife changed my breastfeeding technique and the hospital was loud and had THAT smell. Strapping George into his car seat and Andrew driving us home (me sitting in the back with George) was the most surreal experience – the bubble had burst and the reality hit!
The first few weeks we went through a massive adjustment – George is a pretty chilled out little guy, but there were definitely times where we had no idea what was upsetting him and those times were really hard. But as the weeks went on, they became fewer and fewer, and we got to know each other. He became more alert, and then started interacting with us, to the point that now we have babbly conversations filled with lots of smiles – this is my favourite thing right now.
At the start, our CATCH midwives visited us at home, then the community based midwives. I also attended some sessions at the community health centers focused on breastfeeding and sleep.
George now sleeps through most nights – amazing. Getting a good nights sleep makes anything seem more possible. When we are out and about he looks like such a serious little man, taking in the world, but lay him down on his play mat and he becomes a smiley and chatty little guy. He doesn’t cry often, but likes to be a part of things so will often battle going to sleep. Andrew is taking some time off to be home with us which has been a huge help as he is much better at putting George down at times.
We had booked in a newborn photo shoot with Kelly Gladwin and I am so glad I did! Kelly is amazing with newborns, she has a beautiful nature and George was comfortable with her and tolerated much more moving about and being posed than what I was expecting!!! The photos were just beautiful and cherished by all the family.
Medical
George had to have blood tests at days 3 and 10 due to my low functioning thyroid. This was probably one of the most horrible experiences of my life – the nurses literally bring out a teeny tiny tourniquet – but how the nurse found his vein in his teeny arm was amazing.
While he didn’t like it at the time, George recovered quickly – little champ, whereas Andrew and I were so upset and took a while to recover. It then turned out that the hospital had failed to do his heal prick tests (which was meant to happen before we went home) so he had to have that done on day 10 also – my poor boy!
The good news is that he’s in excellent health. He is feeding well and growing – some days it feels like you can just about watch him as he does it! My GP is great, she does his developmental checks and we get his immunisations done by the nurse. It was hard to see George get upset with his shots but after a feed and a cuddle the world was good again.
Breastfeeding
This really took some time – we always managed to establish a latch but at first it is just so foreign. You’re learning and your baby is learning and you muddle along together.
In the early days George would cluster feed – essentially want to feed all afternoon – which drove me mad, but we seem to be getting much more efficient about it. Other mothers have told me about all sorts of difficulties and the best advice I can give is that if you’re having difficulty, talk to a midwife or a lactation consultant.
There are loads of tricks and techniques to try. A number of friends have also recommended lactation cookies (cookies designed to help increase your supply, and not, as one friend thought, cookies made from breast milk!).
Support
Other mothers are amazing. When we first got home my parents and some good friends dropped around some precooked dinners which was a huge help in those early days – the hours would just disappear!!! As we don’t have either of our parents here we are really lucky that Andrew’s aunt and uncle are happy to babysit.
On direction from our midwife we are having a date night once a month without George, and the goal is to talk about other things – which is hard! He is our favourite thing to talk about!!! But we are getting better.
I am so grateful that I have a range of lovely women who don’t mind me asking what at times feel like really silly questions. I have several friends who have children and we have our own informal mothers group which is one of my favourite things to do each week. George and I will start at our formal mothers group this week.
We also found our GP and our midwife really helpful. In those early days we definitely called our midwife when we weren’t sure what to do. The thing I have learned is that it’s totally fine to check in and ask questions – it’s totally worthwhile for the peace of mind.
We started getting out and about from that first week – staying home all day would drive me crazy. At first it was often just for a walk, but has slowly graduated up to being able to make coffee dates at set times (though we are often a tad late!). Learning to live life on George’s schedule took time and in those early days did cause me frustration, but now we know each other better it is getting to be more second nature.
Exercise
I was champing at the bit to get back into exercise! By the end of my pregnancy and the first few weeks with George I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin. While most people had said I would drop a heap quickly once he was born, this really wasn’t the case for me.
All up, I put on around 20-25kg over my base weight, and I felt gross. As soon as George was born I was in contact with my bodybuilding coach Kyle Webber at Nutrivolve, and he wrote me a diet plan to support my breastfeeding and increasing activity.
At first I went for walks, and then started a physio lead exercise group at the Canberra hospital. Once I had my six week check and was all cleared by my GP (and my physio from some previous injuries) I was back in the gym and so, so happy to be there.
I increased my gym membership at Gold’s in Gungahlin to include access to the crèche. George and I are there most weekdays – the ladies in the crèche are just lovely and the gym is usually quiet during the crèche hours. Knowing he is in good hands I get stuck into my workouts and it is absolute bliss for me.
Now that my base fitness is getting better I am trying out some classes – both in the gym and elsewhere – and will share some more details with you soon!
Read more about Bronwen’s pregnancy, birth and baby journey here.
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