Getting out of the house

I remember when I had my first child 5 years ago, it was a complete chore to get out of the house. When my mom left after being with me for the first week and a half of my little bean's life, I felt so helpless and not able to function. I was so tired. I have never been up that much in the night before in my life. In college I just never went to bed but going to sleep, waking up, going to sleep, waking up was a lot different. And I wasn't 19 anymore and there was no alcohol involved. Now, I was responsible for another little human being. I had to get her dressed, feed her, change her, make sure she didn't fall off things. The responsibility was a little overwhelming. My sisters who all are older than me and who already had a few kids by then told me, "Just try and take a shower every day and get dressed". Then they said, "Just try and get out of the house at least once a day". That is what I did. I just tried to get out of the house. I remember the first time I tried it on my own, I got her all dressed and bundled up for that cold November weather in Nebraska... got her in her car seat and she threw up everywhere and had a blow out diaper all at the same time. I started to cry. But I powered through, got out of the house and things got better. My daily trip was to the drive thru Starbucks down the street. I remember pulling up and not remembering why I was there or what I wanted to order. The lady at the window just kind of chuckled and gave me a free latte on the house. And I started to cry again. It's amazing what people will say to you when they know you have a new baby:

"Oh Honey.... you look so tired" - REALLY??? THANKS FOR POINTING THAT OUT. I DIDN'T NOTICE WHEN I LOOKED IN THE MIRROR THIS MORNING.

"Make sure to sleep when she sleeps" - REALLY???? I DIDN'T THINK OF THAT. USUALLY I JUST RUN AROUND THE HOUSE DOING JUMPING JACKS WHEN I GET THE KID TO FINALLY SETTLE DOWN.

"It will get better" - REALLY??? WHEN??? CAUSE IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT WILL

It does get better. The fog of new motherhood fades after a few weeks. Sometimes your baby doesn't sleep through the night (as my second one didn't sleep through the night until she was ONE), but you get used to getting up and going back to bed for a few minutes and getting up again. You discover that caffeine is your friend. You learn to really nap when the baby naps and you settle into a routine. You get her dressed and get into the carseat and into the car and you make it out the door. You get your Starbucks and you get on with your day. I used to take my little bean INTO Starbucks with me and enjoy a cup of coffee in an actual MUG and get a scone and sit there for an hour or so. You don't have to do much, but just get out of the house. I went out to lunch and dinner a lot with my running buddy since my husband was traveling for work a lot. We took the baby with us in the carrier. This kept my sanity. In addition, I offered to let her new puppy out everyday at lunch and feed her. This forced me to leave the house. I also committed to getting a shower and putting on some makeup (well tinted moisturizer) every day (seems like a simple task but for me with my first one it was always a chore). If I didn't do that I would literally stay in the same clothes for days on end and look like I got hit by a mack truck. That is when the crazy people at the grocery store stop and ask you if you need some help because you look like hell on wheels.

As for the second and third child, well things get a little tricky. The world does not stop when you have a baby. The oldest child still has to go to school, you still have to get all the kids up, dressed, fed and in the car by a certain time. I guess I'm not as tired with this child as I was with the first one. I also DAYDREAM about only having one child and how easy it would be to only have one child who was in the little infant carrier to take care of. Truth is, grass is always greener on the other side. The hardest time of day for me is the 5am-8am time period. It's the time when you just stopped feeding the third child when the first and second child start to wake up and need to get dressed, brush their teeth and hair and get out the door in one piece. THEN you still have to go back upstairs and get the baby dressed etc. But I'm assuming I'll get into a grove in a few weeks and I'll forget how frustrating I was at first. 

Bottom line is, don't get discouraged in the first couple weeks. It's not going to be easy but you will survive.  Just have one goal per day. One day it might be: Okay, today I'll get dressed. The next day: Today, I'll blow dry my hair. Tomorrow, I'm going to put on some makeup and go to the grocery store. Baby steps to getting your life back on track. All of a sudden it will all come together and you will be back before you know it!

Happy Baby Thoughts:)

R