On December 7th I gave birth to a perfectly healthy and beautiful little girl, named Olivia Anne Stewart. After an easy and healthy pregnancy, and a not-so-easy 14 hours of natural labor, she came and completely rocked my world. As a matter of fact, my world was no longer mine. It's our world now. She is, by far, the most important thing. Making sure her needs are met is my full-time job. So my last 10 weeks have been spent learning about her, about me, about my husband and I as parents, and about how to juggle being a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a wife. As of Monday I'm now back to work full-time, so added into my juggling act is manager, co-worker and employee.
And though that all may sound like a lot to handle, it's been blissful. Yes, it's a challenge, and at times I'm sure I fail in one area or another. But I never fail at being mommy, and I never will. I now realize that this role is one I've always wanted, and I wear my mommy badge proudly. But it's important for me to mention that next to my mommy badge is my wife badge. Before having Olivia my happiest week was the week I spent in Mexico with family and friends, marrying my husband. And let's face it: without happily marrying the man I fell in love with when I was just 19, I wouldn't have the happy family I have now. Doug made me a wife, and now he's made me a mother.
The first 2 weeks at home were the most challenging, but in a good way. I was lucky enough to have Doug home with me, and together we learned about caring for our girl. After Doug went back to work it was just me and Olivia during the days, and the bond that we formed during that time is truly unbreakable. We figured out a great routine (thanks to the BabyWise book and theories), allowing enough sleep and playtime for her, and enough time for me to work, straighten up the house, and workout. I've learned how to do many tasks one-handed and how to change lyrics to children's songs to fit the mood (last night I changed the "clean up" song to a "clean your butt" song while changing a poopy diaper). I've mastered cloth diapering, pumping, bagging and freezing breast milk, and folding tiny onesies. I've also figured out how to make my little girl smile, coo, and even dance to Reggae music.
I finally ordered a baby book from Target so I can keep track of all these tiny, yet very important milestones. At five weeks we saw her first true smile, and at six weeks she began "talking" back to us during her very happy times. Around 8 weeks she started to sleep 6 to 8 hour stretches during the night. At 9 weeks she began intentionally studying her hands, and on Sunday I'm pretty sure she grabbed a toy in her play gym on purpose. All of these things are huge developmentally, not to mention they are SO STINKIN' CUTE.
But by maternity leave is over, and although it's only been a few days I already miss my first 10 weeks at home with Olivia. They were some of the most special times in my life, and I'll never forget them. The thought of missing out on her special moments each day make me sad. But I am very fortunate in that my little sister has moved in with us to be our full-time nanny. It's very reassuring knowing that Olivia is getting loving individualized attention everyday, is in consistent surroundings and is following the same schedule everyday that works best for her. My sister, Emily, is very respectful of the way we want things done and because she has an emotional attachment to Olivia, she does it all the same way I do- with LOVE.
I can't think of anything better than our little baby surrounded by nothing but love.
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