The first time around

Well, I'm back.  Kind of.  I'll warn you.  I've been operating for the last 46 days on not much more than a series of 2-hour naps, so my posts may not be the most coherent of my life for a while.

I made it through Wyatt's birth back in January, and I feel like I've physically recovered pretty well.  I've been taking it easy these past six weeks, as instructed.  But lately I've been wanting to get out more and be more active.  Toward this end, last Thursday I made it around Green Lake for the first time since having Wyatt.  I was worried that I'd feel achey or like I over did it, but no.  It was invigorating and I felt great.  It didn't hurt that I went around with a friend who also just had a baby two weeks before Wyatt.  Here's photographic proof of our first time around the lake with kids.

Carrie, Will, Wyatt (not exactly pictured), Amy

All of us, albeit a bit blurry.

In other news, I've been attending a new mom's group for the past couple weeks at the hospital, which I'm finding helpful.  It's nice to have a resource for asking questions and learning how to be a mom.  Plus, the other women are nice and I find a couple of them to be really interesting and good conversationalists.  I miss that -- Wyatt, although above average I assure you, isn't talking so much yet.

There are about eight of us in the group.  Wyatt is the youngest baby.  As much as anything, the group gives me an occasion to get out of the house and feel like a bit of a normal person for a while.

I'm beginning to feel more competent at this mother thing now that I'm into the sixth week.  Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot to figure out. But I can feed him, bathe him, usually find a way to soothe him and get him to sleep.  Any non-Wyatt time I get is dedicated to showering, eating, laundry, boob management, eating . . . and did I say eating?

I'm liking my new role, and I'm feeling very supported by my spouse, good friends, and some really helpful books that I've discovered.  As a first-time parent, I've learned a lot from reading. Here's what is by my rocking chair these days:

• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by the La Leche League Int'l
• The Nursing Mother's Companion by Kathleen Huggins, R.N., M.S.
• What's Going on in There?  How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life by  Lisa Eliot, Ph.D.
• Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina, M.D.
• Heading Home with Your Newborn, From Birth to Reality by Laura Janna, M.D. and Jennifer Shu, M.D. 

For now that's all I've got.  I'm learning a lot every day.  And for my first time at this, I think I'm doing all right.