Week One

I don't believe it, but my calendar probably is more reliable than my sense of time these days, so I guess baby B really is officially one week old today. I already can't imagine life without her, but I also can't see how that much time has passed... Please stop growing up little girl! I would keep you at this age forever if I could.

I can now officially join the masses of mothers who say things like "All the sleepless nights are 100% worth it, don't worry" and "You can't understand how much you're going to love your kids until you have them." It's true. I didn't know I could so instantaneously and completely love something(one) the way I love my daughter. I also understand what parents tell you about getting duped into having multiple children by the first one - our baby B certainly has us hooked! She's not fussy, she cuddles all the time, and she's even let me have 7 hours of sleep the past two nights in a row. She nurses like a champ and has since she was one hour old. Already daddy is saying things like "Lets have 14!" (It took her about 24 hours to have him completely wrapped around her little fingers.)

All-in-all, this is one of the top two life experiences yet - the other is being married. I love being married. I'm just as hooked on being a mom. I even left the hospital saying "That wasn't so bad... I'd do it again to have another one" - and that was after a 33 hour labor! (That sounds worse than it really was, I promise.)

For any other new moms or soon-to-be new moms - here's some stuff that I've found invaluable during these past seven days:

Swaddle blankets by Aden + Anais - I love these! They are a lightweight but warm material that breathes really well, so I don't have to worry about little girl getting too hot or too cold in them. Plus the material has the perfect amount of stretch to it so that daddy (the master swaddler in this house) can get a really snug wrap.

Swaddleme swaddler - Daddy is the master swaddler here, but I'm not so great at getting a tight fit. Since I don't want to wake him up every time I nurse in the middle of the night to re-wrap baby B, I switch her to this. It is perfect for late nights because it only takes about 10 seconds to get her in it, which equals less time for her to get really upset with me for fiddling with her, which means she can fall back asleep a lot more quickly. My only concern is that the material is pretty lightweight, so I'm not sure it would be warm enough in the winter months.

Boppy pillow - Even though baby B nurses like a pro, I've found this pillow extremely useful. It keeps my arms from getting so tired when I nurse/hold her and also makes it easy to lay her down and adjust things when I switch sides with her while nursing. Also - to you soon-to-be moms out there - it's a comfy thing to sit on the first few days after labor if you're not using it for nursing. Just sayin'.

Keeping my fingers crossed that time slows down and week 2 takes longer to pass - I want to cherish every single second of this period of our little one's life. Even the 2 a.m. feedings.