Being a Mother: What I've learned so far

I've only been a mom for 15 days, but it is amazing what you learn in 15 days when you are the main caretaker of a newborn!

• Nursing. Oh man! 
• Harder than I thought. It's definitely not what I thought, which was to put the child up to your chest, he latches on, and he goes to town! Even if Chris successfully latches on, often he won't stay there. It's not hard all the time, though! Sometimes, it is exactly what I imagined.
• I used to think nursing was a 15 minute ordeal. Nope! It may be when he's older and can eat faster, but as of right now, it's 30 minutes to an hour. Especially in the night, when he falls asleep so quickly, I have to keep waking him up to get him to have a good feeding. If I don't, he'll just be up in another hour, and I value my 2 hours in a row! 
• The Boppy nursing pillow is a must. No other pillow in my house will do the trick of propping Chris up like I need him to be. It really was a great investment.
• Milk coming in.... so painful! It was a terrible day, the day my milk came in. It was strange, too. Luckily, the pain lasted only one day.
• In the beginning it always made me exhausted and tired, and currently in the night, I struggle to stay awake. Snacks are a must in order to keep me awake. 
• Go to the bathroom FIRST! It's much better for Chris to cry a little longer because he's hungry, rather than he cry much louder and is much more unhappy because I have to pause his meal because I have to go to the bathroom. WORTH the delay.
• After showers, it's a race to get my clothes on. If I wait too long, let down begins and I start dripping milk on the floor. 
• Umbilical cord and circumcision are gross, but at the same time sure cool looking.
• I knew that he would create a lot of diapers.... but seriously, it's usually at least 10 a day. I have such a complex about it sometimes, too, because sometimes, he just has the teeniest bit of poop in the diaper, and I want to just leave the diaper on because I know I'll just be changing his diaper soon and I don't want to waste a diaper, but I don't want to be a bad mom and leave him feeling uncomfortable! One day, I guess I will either decide that an extra diaper is worth it, or I will decide that he can deal with a little poop for a little while. We'll see which way I lean.
• Speaking of diapers, the Huggies newborn diapers are amazing! They have this little yellow line that turns blue when the diaper is wet! I can even tell sometimes that he only pooped and didn't pee. It's amazing. Especially because (did you know this?) newborn's pee in the beginning is clear. Yeah! So it's a little difficult to figure out if the diaper is wet just by looking at it. Now I can just look at the outside and I know!
• Our Pack 'n Play is amazing. They have a newborn bed attachment which is where Chris sleeps for now until he's big enough for the bed. I love it because I don't have to go check on him. He stays in the same spot in his bed and I can put a blanket on him because I can tuck it around the bed attachment, so I know it won't cover his face at all and suffocate him. One of our best buys!
•  Baby blues. What a whirlwind of emotions and hormones I have had in the last two weeks. The nice thing is, I'm not moody like I was with the whole pregnancy, but every once in a while, I get a HUGE mood swing that cannot be helped. The nice thing is, almost always, the best thing to make me feel better is Jed hugging me and cuddling with me, and then sleep. It works well to get rid of the baby blues, and it's easy to get! Let's just hope next time they come, Jed's not in the middle of work or class!
• Along with the baby blues, I've had my moments of frustration. It's all been with nursing, and when combined with my baby blues, nursing seems impossible and something I don't want to do! Thank goodness for Jed to give me a break; thank goodness my baby will eat out of a bottle to give me a break; thank goodness that after a break, I can't wait to cuddle with my adorable baby! He just is so kissable. Just as fast as the baby blues will come, they'll leave just as fast. Plus, I know that nursing will be very worth it.
• We do a lot of laundry... We used to do it once a week or week and a half. Now, we still do our laundry around then, but we do Chris's laundry every 3-5 days. He leaks through his diaper because his little legs are so skinny, he spits up, my milk leaks when he's nursing, etc. and all this makes a lot of laundry! 
• Going out to do things is a hassle. Maybe I'm just lazy? But it just takes so many steps to go do a quick run to the store, and so quick runs are no longer something I do. I am excited for a bigger baby, too, when he will be able to sit in the grocery cart or I'll be able to carry him more easily, so that I won't always have to lug around his car seat when I go inside places. 
• My husband is amazing. Obviously, I get up in the night with our baby. But if Chris gets up in between feedings, I just ask Jed once and he's up and helping the baby. He also still cleans a ton and will do whatever I need him to when I ask him. Then, add in that my husband is super cute with our baby, kisses him so much, laughs at his cute faces, and overall just shows so much love for Chris, I just feel blessed to have a great husband so is making out to be a great dad.

So maybe this is a little long of a post, but just as I hoped that my pregnancy posts would help some of you know a little more of what you could expect, I hope this helps you know what to expect afterwards! I had no idea what being a mom would be like, but so far, I love it. I love our little guy so much and I'm so glad we have him!