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Tying Rafts Together
Yesterday I posted the following on Facebook, which seemed to resonate with fellow moms and women in general: If I could give any advice to new mothers it would to tie your rafts together. When the waves get high, don’t cut each other loose. Those friendships are precious and there will be a time when the waters calm and you get to float for a bit and sip your margaritas, but don’t go at it alone when times are hard, because nothing is sadder than drinking alone when times are good. Early in motherhood, probably in the first six months of my firstborn’s life, I felt isolated. Whether this was…
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The Slaughter of Silence and Sleep
After tears of confusion, much drama, pain, clinging, drooling, gnawing, and the slaughter of silence and sleep, Wookie has pushed two teeth through. There is no picture because there isn’t much to see yet, just two little white lines on his bottom gum line. I suppose I should be mourning the impending loss of his sweet gummy smile, but babies with just their two bottom teeth are quite adorable too. Last week, Wookie and I visited my family in Chattanooga (technically it is Ooltewah, but usually no one has heard of it). The youngest of mom’s two older brothers passed away, and I wanted to keep her company as we…
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Bag it.
This morning as I was getting my son ready for Mom’s Morning Out, I pulled out some fresh pull-ups and he promptly told me, “No, I want to wear these” – these being his Lightning McQueen and Mater underpants. This was a pretty big moment because ever since the baby was born, Scooby has resisted underwear showing a strong preference for the pull-ups, even preferring them over being naked. I thought all little boys preferred to run around naked, but not this kid. So I swung into gear getting his backpack ready now with two extra pairs of underwear, pants, and headed into the kitchen for a plastic bag for…
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The Professor of Poop
Let’s all do the group groan… yes, you knew it was bound to come at some point – Wookie’s first poop story. My number one job is mom, but my number two job (bahahaha) is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Bio and Ag Engineering. Several weeks back I was approached by one of my students to serve on her graduate committee, and after hesitating and throwing the “I have a baby and toddler” excuse, she told me just to bring them along. Have you ever tried to have a two year old sit still for an hour? HERDING CATS. The first meeting came around and Scooby had school, so it was…
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PPD and Me
For the sake of learning to be more transparent and hopefully so that other new mamas don’t feel alone in their struggle to adjust to a new “normal”, I’m going to keep journaling my experiences with postpartum depression. Newborns don’t give a mama much sleep. I knew this, I’d done it before. I probably could have used some help last time as well, but the difference is that with the second baby, you don’t have the luxury of napping when they nap. There is another kid that demands attention as well. My best hope was to go to sleep at 8:30 and try to find several hours of sleep between…
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Final Belly Pic
