Life with Baby

About 3 weeks ago I gave birth to my precious daughter River. This post is an update on life after baby. I will post my birth story as soon as it's completed...I am still gathering the info from everyone who was there.

Updates...

Mom's Visit: My mom's visit was amazing. We got along way better than ever and it took a lot of surrendering on both of our parts. Something about having a baby changes the dynamics of the mother and daughter relationship. I thank God that her visit was positive. I miss her a lot and my heart breaks for her since she can't be here with River. I was shocked with how supportive she was with my natural birth, nursing, and cloth diapering choices. There were moments where she got frustrated but with my doula there to explain everything to her, it made things better. My mom had a completely opposite experience (non-natural birth, formula, disposable diapers) and it was neat to see her learn so much from mine. Even though I took a different route than my mom, I learned a lot from her and I wanted her to know that. My mom went through a lot while she was here and I appreciate all that she sacrificed for me. At the airport, when she was about to go through security and say "goodbye", we saw an Okinawan grandma say goodbye to her grandchild and both lost it. I REALLY lost it and it was hard. I am usually able to stay strong and save my tears for the car but not this time. I told her "thank you for everything" and "I love you". She just told me to "always pray" and to "stay strong." My mom is a very spiritual person and we are very much alike. We pray, read our scriptures, and try to live according to our faiths. The main difference is who we claim as God. I offered my mom a video from church in Vietnamese but she said, "no thanks, I have my god". I can only hope and pray that one day she'll accept Christ.

Baby Weight: So, like I've said before...River is the best diet plan I've ever been on. I got to eat like a crazy woman and she ate it all in the womb. Now that I'm nursing, all of that food is making food for her and it's awesome. I gained 10 pounds with her and she weighed about 8 and then I lost another 10 from nursing. I'm also eating like crazy...I promise. I'm not trying to brag...I'm just really shocked, happy, and hoping that this happens with every Bailey Baby :). The one thing I can't stand right now is now much "fat" I have...I'm so soft and it's driving me nuts! I've lost a lot of muscle and I can't wait to start working out and toning up.

Nursing: River came out of the womb ready to nurse. They placed her on my chest for the second time after cleaning her off and she latched on right away. I was blessed that she was so ready because I heard that nursing could be difficult. The two things that I struggled most with was her latch (she's really impatient and sometimes folds her lips inward) and the couple days before my milk came in (she was REALLY hungry and fussy, poor thing). Nursing is a lot easier now and my favorite position is the side lying position because well, River and I are both lazy and we get to relax the best this way :) One thing I love about Japan is that in the malls in the baby section they have a nursery where you can change and nurse your baby in a private room. When I am in the stores on base, I've found myself nursing in a toilet stall. I don't mind nursing in public but I get a bit self-conscience when I'm alone and surrounded by strangers who are single, male, Marines and Airmen.

Cloth Diapering: A lot of people have been asking me how cloth diapering is going and I have to say that I really enjoy it. For awhile I was doing a small load of laundry a day but now that River's also fitting her one-size AIO's, I can do laundry every other day. She's gotten a small diaper rash even with CD-ing but the doc says that it's not too bad. I love how I don't have a bunch of trash to take out with CD-ing...especially with Jamin deployed (he usually takes out the trash). I hear how many people say it's inconvenient but if you really want to do, you just do it...like nursing or anything else. I haven't tried my cloth wipes (made from old t-shirts) yet since I didn't want to overload my mom (we just used unscented baby wipes) but I just got a wipe warmer and wipe solution so hopefully soon.

Getting Around: Getting around has been challenging without a husband but I have managed to run a few errands. There are days where I don't get enough sleep and I wish that someone could drive me to my destination. Grocery shopping isn't too difficult with baby wearing but carrying groceries up to the apartment can be challenging. There are times when I feel intimidated to go out with a newborn without the help of a husband or friend but I suck it up and do it anyway...there are more difficult things in life and I enjoy the challenge.

Joy: Knowing the postpartum depression is very real, I thank God that I've experienced mostly joy since giving birth. There are moments when I wish that River would just stop crying or that I could have a moment to myself but I look at her and I can't help but smile and feel all warm inside. I actually laugh more than smile because she's such a funny baby. She's so noisy and dramatic and it's just hilarious. She grunts, whimpers, and sounds like a kitten when she cries :) Another thing I love about River is that there's someone to kiss and talk to around the house! She's keeping me company while her poppa's gone. We have Bible time together and I just love kissing and sniff-kissing her (us Vietnamese folk don't kiss babies...we sniff them and suction them up to our noses...it's the best kind of kiss).

I really miss Jamin and wish that he could be here and yes, it's sometimes hard to see so many moms with their husbands and babies with their daddies but frankly I don't have the time to feel sorry for myself. I've also been blessed by so many people willing to help is whatever way. I have over 2ish months to go before Jamin gets home and I can only hope that this joy lasts and that God gives me the strength to keep on going. I believe that He will ;)

***Cloth Wipe Update: So I tried out my recycled cloth wipes (mixed with distilled water and wipe solution) with a wipe warmer and I really like it! It cleans so much gentler and better than a baby wipe and I toss my wipes into a bucket later for washing. I'm going to try to keep this up at home (baby wipes while I'm out) and see how it goes.