A Few Random, Postpartum Thoughts

When I was only about 5 months pregnant or so, my mom and sister took me shopping at a Motherhood store at the Battlefield Mall.  What a sweet thing they did for me...I was well dressed this time around!  But I'm not sure what I loved more: the fact that I had a few cute tops and a nice pair of prego jeans...or the fact that I found something on the clearance rack for $5 that I would use after I had the baby.  I saw my friend Bethany wearing one of these when she first had her baby girl a year ago, and I just knew that I HAD to have one!

It's a sleeveless pull down nursing tank...

Nursing?  Don't have one?  Get one! :)

 Seems simple enough, right?  Well, the neck pulls down under the breast, and I wear it under my shirts.  I'm not really a hippy breastfeeder, so even though I'm a big supporter of nursing in public, I'm not a fan of exposing myself (please don't be mad that I just referred to some as hippy breastfeeders).  I like to cover up the best I can, and this under shirt is FABULOUS!  If you were sitting across from me, you would not be able to see any part of my chubby belly, side, or even my boob.  I pull down my regular shirt to her face, and the under shirt covers the rest.  I. love. it.


And speaking of my chubby side and belly, I think I honestly forgot how long it takes for a body to get back to normal after having a baby.  I don't mean that I forgot how long it takes to lose the weight, I have about 25 to lose to get pre-baby (and that's not counting about 20 or 30 more after that to get to pre ALL babies).  I just mean...I forgot that my tummy would stick out and look pregnant for a while.  Not just fat.  Pregnant-looking.

Me...today.

This is the first pregnancy that I took pictures of myself week by week.  I looked through them, and I'd say this is about what I looked like at 17 weeks.

I have lots of work to do!


I found a product that I am LOVING to use with Leah.  It's called Halo SleepSack Swaddle, and it's just so neat.  I think we became pretty good at swaddling the old fashioned way, but there is just something about how snug she looks in this one and how it seems to help her sleep (and her feet never come out).  We received one when we left the hospital (it's really warm and fleece) and we also received one as a gift (which is made of a lighter material and I think it will be great when it gets warmer this spring).

I love this swaddling blanket thingy.

 It's sort of amazing to me how happy I'm feeling these days.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, I wasn't sure if I'd be overwhelmed and experience the normal baby blues (believe me, I've had them with the others and it's horrible).  But it's possible that I'm just feeling so excited about where my family is now.  And it's really easy when I see how much Caleb, Sarah, and Gabriel adore Leah.

She will be two weeks old tomorrow.  No matter how corny it sounds, I honestly can't imagine life without her.