Welcome To Motherhood

Our sweet little Willow has arrived, and so has motherhood! It’s only been six week so far (at the date of writing this), and our exciting journey together has just begun. Already however, I have learned so much from our sweet baby girl.

She had a bit of a bumpy road to begin with– a good number of hospital stays, nurse proddings, and more blood tests than some people have in a lifetime, but now that’s all behind us and we’re home sweet home!

Willow starts each day with smiles and gurgles on her changing mat where she has learned to pull mummy’s hair. Her neck muscles are rapidly strengthening and growing now, as is her desire to look around at her new colourful world.

People always ask me if life has completely changed now that we have our little Willow here in our arms. I always inwardly laugh at the choice of words as, quite literally, she doesn’t like being put down… ever. That’s certainly new!

Some Things Change, Some Don’t

I’ve been asked if being a mum has changed who I am and how I approach life. Given that its only been six weeks I’m sure more drastic changes will come down the road, but even with a new born baby, many things have remained the same.

Tim and I still spend as much time together as possible. We still go out to eat,  we still have music playing at all times in our house, we still watch our favourite shows, and we’re still chasing our dreams!

Many people talk about how busy a life can become after a baby, and while for sure it does get busy sometimes, it’s always important to remember that a baby doesn’t mean that your marriage or relationship has to suffer.

I think a part of the reason we didn’t experience some of the drastic life-altering changes people often talk about happening in the first few weeks/months of having a baby is simply because we were prepared and ready. Ready for Willow to come along and fill the Willow shaped place in our hearts and lives that we had already had room for.

You see, to me, I was Willow’s mum long before she was born on January 20th. She was/is a longed for, prayed for, dreamt of, desired baby girl. I have been becoming her mummy for years. There was no shock element part of it. With all that being said however, my daily life does look different. So what are those differences?

My Welcome To Motherhood!

To start, I don’t get out of bed, brush my teeth, make breakfast, and sit down with my husband to eat and talk about our day ahead,  like I used to. Instead, I wake up to breastfeed, change diapers, snuggle, and put Willow back to sleep multiple times before my toothpaste even hit’s my toothbrush.

I often times don’t get to eat my dinner while its hot – or even warm. If Willow’s little head begins to root and fling back and forth like a woodpecker, her dinner has to come first. Strangely, regardless of the planning that goes into making sure she is fed before our dinner is ready, she’s always somehow completely starving again exactly when it’s time for us to eat.

I don’t just jump in the shower whenever I want, I plan it and time it. I make sure Willow is fed, and that Tim is at a stage in his work or whatever he’s doing that he can take her. Strangely timed, while I’m having a shower, my new maternal superpowers always happen to kick in. You know, the one that makes you turn the water off every few minutes to hear if your baby is crying or needing you? Ya, that one.

I don’t get to wear whatever I want any longer. I have to plan my outfits around ease of breast feeding in public. My new stunning fashion collection pretty much consists of zip up sweaters with baggy tops underneath so I can just pull them down with ease. Despite all of our planning, this was one thing I happened to overlook; I had never even thought about things like this before she was born!

I have become very good at emailing, texting, and blogging with one finger – another mum superpower I suppose.

I spend a lot more time jiggling, bouncing, shaking, and rocking. Hopefully that’ll help with burning off all of the extra baby pounds!

Finally, one of the biggest daily changes… my new perfume! Um, well – more like, my new “scent”. I used to be known for always smelling good. Regardless of whether I had perfume on or not, people would always comment on how great I smelled when I was around. Well, I haven’t heard that in the past 6 weeks. Probably due to the fact that I am thrown up on at least 4 times a day, and baby puke seems to have a way of lingering around even when washed off.

I Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way

Ultimately, the greatest change in my life has been my perspective. Anything  that I do from this moment forward, I want to do it for her benefit. I want to be someone who she is proud of. I want to make her smile. I want to live every day passionately showing her just how much she is loved.

I always wanted to be a mummy… and Willow is a dream come true.

She is the cutest, sweetest, most amazing baby I could have ever imagined. Tim and I are so grateful for her in our lives. As we learn her ways and adapt to daily life with a new person, ultimately our lives are still the same.

We have always loved adventures. Traveling and exploring together is one of our favourite things to do. Now, we have just started the great new adventure and journey of parenthood, and together we will explore all that there is to know and see! 🙂