Skip to main content

Wanting it All

Week 7.
I can't believe it's been 8 weeks since this little one was born. It seems like yesterday but also feels like it was so long ago. Every day had been an adventure and I'm enjoying watching her do new things every day. As she explores her little voice, I wonder how her personality will develop and at the same time I cannot imagine her being any bigger than she is now.

Motherhood is strange like that. I want it all - I want her to sleep, but I also want to spend time with her awake. I want her to meet new milestones but I want to freeze time. I want her to need me forever but I also want her to be the amazing, independent woman she is destined to become.

I feel emotional thinking about all the changes there are to come and I feel an intense wave of sadness thinking there will come a time that I'm not the only person she will need in her life. The thought of something happening to her scares me to no end and is heightened by my anxiety.

In one of my first posts I talked about "enjoying what is". I find that I'm still struggling with this. And I know it's because of my constant need to be prepared for every scenario. When will I learn that I can't possibly be prepared for everything? After all, there is no way I was fully prepared for birth, post partum or early motherhood.

The challenge I'd like to give myself is the following:

1) Focus on the positive.
2) Stop trying to find a reason for everything.
3) Work with what I have. Getting advice from others is great but my child is not the same as their child. What works for them might not work for me.
4) Realize how lucky I am.
5) And last, but certainly not least. Stop Googling shit. It'll only make my anxiety that much worse.

I'll continue to enjoy every smile, coo and hi I get from my favorite little girl.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It's Been a While

Month 7 Wow. I haven't written in almost four months. I'm upset with myself because I fully intend to keep track of every week. But of course that's a new mom's wild fantasy. This not-so-new new mama understands a bit more now; how life can take over and what you once dreamed of doing is a distant memory. It feels like yesterday that we brought Z home from the hospital. The attention and excitement has long passed and we've entered into our new normal. Two full-time working parents who have less time for each other because all of their physical, mental, and emotional time is spent raising a full-time 7-month old and a part-time 8-year old. I didn't know life could be so complicated. Each phase of your life you think: "this is so hard", "I wish I could be young again",  and "life used to be so easy". It makes me wonder what life will be like when I'm 40. Or (eek!) 70. Isn't it supposed to get easier? At least it's more f...

The Stress of Daily Life

Week 8 and 9. It hit me hard at 2 a.m. I'm not sure if it's considered postpartum depression or just a mix of pre-existing anxiety and a lack of sleep. Whatever it is, I can't sleep and I can't stop crying. It seems that all the changes in my life just hit me at once; my fears and worries of parenting an emotional, active step-child with ADD, maintaining a marriage, and raising a newborn all just became so incredibly overwhelming. I want to run. For the past hour, I've been day dreaming (night dreaming?) of putting my 9 week old daughter in the car and driving to Rochester. I'll be safe there and I miss my cousin anyway. Plus, if I'm anywhere but here, I wont have to deal with the stress of a step-son who I worry will hurt me, or worse, my daughter when he's told he can't play video games. I wont have to worry about enjoying my time with my daughter because there will be nothing to stop me; I'll be less focused on pleasing everyone else and wor...

Wow!

Week 10 (I wrote this weeks ago, but had to rewrite it because my phone is acting up!) What a difference even a week or two can make. Z is 11 weeks now but week 10 was so great I didn't even write about it. I cannot believe it's been 2.5 months since I birthed this beautiful angel. She is all smiles and talking up a storm! She has taught me a lot about slowing down and enjoying the little things. I am most surprised that I seem to notice colors more. It is the strangest thing... trees are greener, the sky is bluer (more blue??). Z is still waking up very often. Mama is exhausted and looking forward to even a straight 4 hours of sleep. Right now I get 1-3 hours at a time. Thank God for coffee! At the end of the day the lack of sleep is definitely worth it. I am so in love.