I keep having these vivid flashbacks to Priscilla’s early days, and at the same time have forgotten so much. It’s crazy to me that I had a newborn less than two years ago, but so much is gone from my memory. Ah, mom brain. I used to get frustrated when I’d ask my mom questions about early motherhood or labor and she’d tell me she had forgotten. Now I understand.
{itty bitty Priscilla by Kimi Coopet}
I do know there are some things that I want to do differently this time. Being a first time mom, even though I felt prepared, was a huge transition. I am certain having two will also be a giant transition as well. As of today, here are a few things I plan on doing differently:
Being honest about how I am feeling and asking for help | Seth stayed home nearly two weeks when Cilla was born, and I felt so spoiled by that. On his first day back at work I wanted to prove to him and myself that I was fine and handling things well. I remember standing in our closet, he’d called me at 10am, and telling him I was fine while sweat ran down my body. I was mostly mentally intimidated, but still, I wish I would have just told him I was feeling overwhelmed. What did I have to prove?
Say “no” to visitors as much as I want to | Even though we were pretty low key when it came to visitors, I still ended up feeling overwhelmed. Thankfully we live a bit farther out this time, and people don’t like to drive into Stillwater so that will help.
Start good sleep habits early | I made the mistake of nursing Cilla to sleep for every nap and bedtime during her early days. I just didn’t know any different. For our family, that proved to not be a good way of doing things. A while back I took a newborn sleep course from Taking Cara Babies and plan to really implement a pacifier this time. Baby brother already has his own sound machine, the hatch, that is set up and ready to go.
Going slower, no need to rush back into real life | I believe Covid-19 has done this for all of us, but I do think I jumped back into playdates, big errands, trips, and visiting others too soon after Cilla was born. I plan to take things more slowly this time, I pray I can have the self control to do so.
{Photo by Abby Jean Photography}
