Naturally

I never even changed a diaper before Charlotte came into the world. Now I find myself completely alone, being stared down by a needy (and absolutely adorable) infant. Although I have two nieces whom I love dearly, I wasn't one to babysit without recruiting the help of super nanny aka my younger sister Natalie. When I would express my concern of potential motherhood inadequacy, moms reassured me that it comes naturally. 

After Charlotte came into my life, I was only working with the couple skills that I picked up during the first week—breastfeeding and rocking. There were a small number of times that Charlotte overate because she had a tummy ache. To my surprise breastfeeding on demand didn't equal feeding her for hours at a time, even if she thought that was what she wanted. Now it sounds silly, but at the time I just thought she was still hungry. 

Thankfully, I've learned to decipher when she is hungry from when she has gas, is bored or just wants to be cuddled, rocked and sung to. Being able to determine what she needs and the ability to keep her happy has actually come naturally to me just as all those moms had said it would!

I feel like a different person. Her and I are completely in tune with when she's ready to nurse, and I know what to expect in her diaper over a 24 hour period. I'm grateful my own mother has given me more guidance and advice than I could have ever hoped for. How else would I know how hot to make her baths and tricks to get her to fall asleep when she's fussy? She is getting more aware and smarter everyday, and I know that she's well taken care of. 

Now if a new mom confided her worries to me, I'd give her the same advice I received—motherhood will come naturally. And it rocks!

Mama's Girl

Having a newborn is a new experience. I have been staying home with my young daughter, and I am her primary caregiver 24 hours around the clock. I wouldn't have it any other way. Choosing to exclusively breastfeed, Charlotte and I have found ourselves attached at the breast every one to three hours.

Before having a child and taking on the greatest responsibility of my life, I imagined that my baby's father would be able to provide me with relief by helping with the baby when he comes home from his responsibilities late at night, however that is not possible yet. Despite Josh's greatest efforts, our baby prefers to be rocked while cuddled up to her food source (that's me!) anytime after 7 p.m. It's safe to say that as of right now she is a mama's girl.

Now that Charlotte is five weeks old and has established a predictable eating and sleeping schedule, I have decided to start taking a little time away from my new best friend. I know that in the mornings she is never fussy and typically requires nothing more than a feeding and cuddles to go back to sleep when she wakes between 1 and 9 in the morning. The last couple mornings I nurse Charlotte when she wakes up at her 5 a.m. feeding, and then I softly place her to sleep. Where do I head out for the next hour or so? The gym.

Yeah, so I walk the dogs during the day with the baby, and I have also more at-home DVDs and work out tools than is necessary. Maybe it would be better to save money every month when I can get a perfectly good workout for less, but the truth is . . . I love going to the gym. Not only is it a great excuse for me to get away from being a mom for an hour every day, but there's no better motivator to get my pre-baby body back than by ensuring doing so is my shot at "me time."

I will admit however that throughout my entire workout I'm pushing myself hard so I can get home to the little girl that I miss so much. I also worry constantly that she has woken up and is refusing a bottle because she wants the real thing. Thankfully, I'm always happy to return home to see that she is still asleep where I left her. I guess I really do know when she is guaranteed to sleep. That must be why I leave during the hours that I do. Either way, the day that she does decide to wake up and mom is not there to nurse her back to sleep, I know her sweet and compassionate dad will do just as an amazing of a job with a warm bottle of breast milk and a beard. Maybe only then she'll get her chance to see how great it is to be daddy's girl too!

A New Member in Our Pack

Preparing to bring home a baby is a lot of work. One of the biggest concerns Josh and I had surrounding the arrival of Charlotte was how our dogs were going to react to having a baby in the house. We have a four-year-old Jack Russell mix named Chuck and a two-year-old Chiahuahua mix named Mila. It's safe to say that we are slightly obsessed with our dogs. Before Charlotte, we often referred to them as our kids. Expecting our first human child, our new responsibility was ensuring the transition into having a baby was smooth for everyone in the household, including our precious pups.

The first order of business was getting Chuck and Mila in formal training, because watching back to back seasons of The Dog Whisperer wasn't cutting it anymore. We signed them up for the City of Upland's beginner dog training class and crossed our fingers in hopes it would be enough. 

   

For over 10 weeks, Josh and I each left work early to ensure we could make the weekly sessions with our pups in tow. Thankfully, both of our dogs amazed us and graduated from the training with flying colors. The teacher didn't even believe that we had behavior problems at home, because both dogs were so well behaved during class. She also said Chuck and Mila would do great with the baby, because they would accept her into our pack.

We were extremely satisfied when not only did our dogs learn to follow basic commands like heal, sit and stay . . . we were also able to establish that Josh and I are the leaders of our pack. That learning was going to be essential if we planned on convincing the dogs that our baby Charlotte is also a pack leader. 

Now that Chuck and Mila successfully completed their training, we were anticipating our upcoming due date with so much excitement, ready to put our learnings into action. The day after Charlotte was born, Josh and I learned that we were going to be kept for an extra day because my blood pressure was still dangerously high. That being said, Josh went home to shower and check on the dogs (who had been under the care of my sister Natalie and her boyfriend while we were away). Josh brought a baby blanket that Charlotte had been swaddled in to the house to introduce the dogs to Charlotte's scent. 

I received this picture from Josh:

                                   

It may seem a little unorthodox how Josh swaddled Chuck in the blanket to get him to smell the baby, but either way the dogs seemed interested to meet the babe. 

When we finally got the go ahead to take Charlotte home, we were so excited. Not only was I feeling desperate to get away from the constant interferences by the hospital staff, I was also beyond excited to see my dogs after days apart! 

We arrived at our house, and Josh was the first one to enter. He greeted the dogs and gave them some love while I waited outside with the baby. Then Josh instructed me to go inside to say hi to the dogs and give them some love. I grabbed some dog treats and let Josh know we were ready for the big meeting. He walked in with the baby, and the dogs were immediately interested. They both approached the baby, and Josh lowered her feet by their noses so they could get a sniff. Once they smelled her and remained calm, I was sure to praise them and give them each a treat. We repeated this process many times to encourage their positive, calm interactions with the baby. 

Since then, the dogs have exceeded our expectations behaving well with the baby. They are sure to give Charlotte and me space during breastfeeding. When they do decide to cuddle up, it's never directly with the baby, instead it's closer to mom and dad. Whenever she is laying on the floor doing tummy time, they are curious enough to check on her grunts and movements, but they give her the personal space she deserves. 

As Charlotte grows, she is going to need our constant supervision because her interactions with the dogs will change. However, I'm no longer worried about those days because it is clear that Charlotte has already been accepted as a new leader in our pack.