Finally, five minutes to write something. Anything! It’s been a while, I know, but I have a good reason this time, and it’s called motherhood. One month ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, weighing in at 7.1 lbs. Her name is Luna (if you want to know why, refer to the Thailand Chronicles 2008: Full Moon Party, Kho Phan Nhang) and she has single-handedly turned my life upside down in countless ways, all wonderful – and all utterly and entirely exhausting.
Where does the time go?
Since Luna was born, her dad and I have had to navigate the unfamiliar and intimidating waters that wait to welcome every new parent as they learn how to keep another little being alive. There has been so many “eureka!” moments during this time that I feel as if I could already write a self help book along the lines of “how to survive the first month of parenthood” (“surviving” is really the key word here) – if only I’d had ten minutes to sit down at my computer and actually write (this post was an accumulation of 2 minute intervals over the course of three weeks, I kid you not). Such is the paradox of my current situation; finally off “work”, without a minute to spare. I can, quite honestly, count on one hand the number of times I’ve blow dried my hair in the last month, I can’t tell you what day of the week it is, and I’ve officially sworn off checking my voice mails (text me and I may write you back, but don’t make me dial in to retrieve a recorded message – it’s not going to happen.)
Time as a concept has in fact taken on a whole new meaning to me (or lack thereof). For the past month, the hours have blended together to form a kind of continuous cyclone that revolves around feeding times, diaper changes, burping, fussing and bath time. I eat when she sleeps and I shower as my husband is slowly waking up to get ready for work . And I sleep for around 4 hours a night in between feedings when Luna decides she’s still in the mood for a snooze. In short, I have no sense of time. I don’t wake up and go to work, I stay at work, for 24 hours a day. It’s the strangest thing really, but I’ve realized that when on Mat Leave, the only thing you leave behind is your sanity, the rest simply gets bumped up ten fold. This is, of course, a temporary condition, one that I have no doubt I’ll soon move past gracefully and one which I’m sure I’ll remember fondly (the little dear is after all now 8 lbs of sheer cuteness when her head isn’t spinning around like something from the exorcist). So, do I plan on never returning to work? Will I stop blogging, running, socializing etc? Heck no! I can’t wait until I figure out a routine that allows me to write between feeds – but until that happens, I’m afraid that posts, jogs and social calls will be few and far between. Trust me, the countdown is on.
For now, here’s a little insight into life with baby, one month in. Continue reading “One month in and it’s time to introduce the baby blogs”
