Month One: We survived!

I officially firmly believe that this is the reason why there are parents who constantly post photos commemorating every single little thing their children do: it's a sign of survival.

Believe me, if I didn't think it would be crazy, I would do the same thing.

To speak of every little detail and take commemorative images of my son's first everything is like telling the world: I'm here! I was able to survive what I thought to be impossible to get out of alive!



My son, husband, and I, we hit a milestone today. We survived Llew's first month. Using a lot of patience (and believe me, this does not come easily to either myself or my husband), research, and good humour peppered with the occasional snapping, we pulled through. We are here to tell the tale of our first child's first month.

Did I expect it would be this stressful? This tiring?

Oh my goodness yes.

In fact, it was all far, far worse than I thought it would be.

I'm stuck at home all day, I barely get my chores done, I can't work (remember that I work from home), I can't play with the cats, I can't walk the dogs, and the only way I can go online and have any contact with the world is through my iPhone--a highly incomplete online experience and no Sims 3.

Am I complaining? I don't think you can call what I've been doing anything else. Yes, I'm complaining. Because activity means I don't get aches and pains from sitting or standing too long or carrying 7+ pounds in my arms for stretches of fifteen minutes to three hours.

It doesn't end with the complaints though.

Because complaints aside, I have been watching my son slowly grow and develop. I have seen his first smile, I'm there whenever he cries to be held, fed or changed.

It's a balance of gripes and joys, this new life--our personal apocalypse. We realised actually that it is no joke that we called him an "apocalypse baby". Any baby, I suppose can be considered an apocalypse baby because they change so much in their parents' lives.

We survived his first month and even though things will keep changing as time passes, I think we've gone through the worst bit of newbie-hood. It won't be smooth sailing from here on, but we already know we'll make it.

Happy first month baby boy!