Missing the Good Days...

...don't look too much into this title!

I love my life :o)

I also miss the good days, though. No, not these days, specifically, the ones before we were married. I don't know if I ever miss those!
I'm talking about the 14 days my supermom was here, right after Nathan was born. She seriously got here 24 hours after his birth; couldn't have been more perfectly planned if we'd tried! She was the perfect help, and we miss her every day!
She cleaned our house while we were in the hospital, which we were so grateful for. See, Nathan was born on a Tuesday, which is usually a day reserved for chores. Needless to say, I felt guilty leaving my chore list out on the counter, where she eventually found it a day later and did it alllll. She's the best.

My mom also took Mitch (and later Nathan and I) grocery shopping for all kinds of fun things. Our college budget doesn't allow for many things like chips and cookies, so this was fun! She fixed tons of meals, helped us find delicious, diet-friendly recipes for Mitch, and kept it all organized.

The most vital thing she did for us was probably taking night shifts on a regular basis, or taking Nathan all night a few times! The woman doesn't sleep much, she never has! So, she and Nathan became great friends in the wee hours of the night/morning. It was amazing, and SO needed.

There was one night where I'd laid Nathan down in his bassinet and he (almost) immediately woke up, wanting to be held or rocked or something...who knows.
There was no reason for him to be crying and it was VERY late.
We'd only been home a couple days and I was trying to wrap my mind around:

-this new, crying life that needed me all the time,
-what my body looked like the week I'd had major surgery, and trying to recover from it
(it's all kinds of depressing seeing your body after a c-section...),
-trying to move around, get up, or lean over to the bassinet after said surgery,
-getting a handle on breastfeeding...and how much it hurts!, and
-dealing with all the raging hormones that made everything harder.

Needless to say, I pretty much felt like a basket case, and the baby blues had hit me hard. Thank goodness we're finally coming out of that! I never crossed into the postpartum depression range; no dark or harmful thoughts, but I definitely dealt with a lot of despair. That's really the only word for it.

I remember saying to Mitch, "I can't do this tonight...i'm SOOOO exhausted!" He walked around to my side of the bed, kissed me on the forehead, took Nathan out, talked to my mom for a minute, then came back in and said that he and my mom were giving me the night off. I had probably had a combined 10 hours of sleep in the whole first week after we'd had Nathan, and I was definitely at the end of my rope. There is NO break after you have a baby! Life just starts and you have to deal with it!

It was probably one of the nicest things I remember anyone doing for me. The two of them were just wonderful. It's exactly what I needed. I probably slept a solid 14 hours that night, only getting up to pump so Nathan could eat while I slept.

I miss having my mom here terribly. She and Mitch don't agree on absolutely everything. All the important things are agreed upon, though. They get along well. He has said over and over that she was a ton of help, and told me how grateful he was for her. We didn't expect to need much after Nathan was born, but I guess that's the point, and that's why we have mothers who know what we'll need and are willing to be there to give it. It was very humbling; our mothers have been there! They can see past the things we think we know and just serve wholeheartedly.
Nathan and I are planning a trip to Kansas City this January, since my family couldn't make it up to where we were for Thanksgiving. They have to meet this sweet little boy, and I can't wait to show him off and see everyone again!