Six Weeks

It's been just over six weeks since I became a mommy.  What a wild little ride it's been so far!  Josh miraculously got to stay home until January 12th thanks to some Army inefficiency in getting him plane tickets back, so he got to spend every day of Ethan's first month with us.  It was amazing getting so much unexpected time with my husband, and I'm thrilled that he'll be home in two short months!

I must say that being a single-but-married parent is a bit more challenging than I imagined it would be.  It's tiring on all levels to be the only person to respond to a child's every need, but I'm hanging in here better than I thought I would.  Physically for me, it's really been one thing after another since Ethan was born.  First was recovering fromt he birth, then I got a sore throat/cold/cough/hacking-up-stuff illness that lingered a over week, I got some vomity stomach bug that lasted a day, and now Ethan and I have thrush! 

Ahh the joys of thrush. After every feed I have to feed Ethan antifungal medication through a dropper and rub antifungal cream on my nipples, we can't reuse towels or burp cloths or bras anything else that comes into contact with my chest or his mouth, I have to wash all our clothes with an extra rinse in a cup of vinegar, and I have to boil his pacifiers after every use and my breastpump and bottles if I happen to use them. It's all a huge hassle, but I'd rather do all that for 2-3 weeks than have this mess keep coming back for months on end. (Darn that stubborn yeast!)  As soon as this clears up and (if) I continue on a path of wellness, I think this mommy thing will seem a little easier. (If nothing else, it will be less painful!) 

I always imagined I would be able to get a lot done around the house while the baby naps, but... I was wrong.  It's all I can do to simply keep myself clean, fed and clothed (and the dishes cleaned and laundry washed) during that wee bit of down time.  It's a great job, but man is it a JOB!!  When I was pregnant and working, I kept thinking of little projects around the house that needed to get done.  I'd dismiss them with the thought, "Oh, I'll do that when Ethan's here and I'm at home all day."  Hah! What a joke that's turned out to be.  Maybe when Josh gets home there will be time for all that.  (Feel free to laugh with me.)