Adjusting To Motherhood - The First Few Months

Just like that, we have a 5 month old. The months have seriously flown by! It feels like only yesterday I was in the delivery suite about to experience one of the most amazing things a woman’s body can go through. The last couple of months have been life changing to say the least but worth every minute.

I remember the day we came home from the hospital so vividly, placing Estée in her Moses basket in the living room and sitting there thinking ‘now what?’ All first time parents can relate, right? You’ve gone from just the 2 of you to now 3! You have this perfect newborn bundle of joy that you have to care and protect for, for the rest of your life. I was very fortunate that my partner had a few weeks off on paternity leave so I had all the support in the world through the night feeds, meltdowns and me just being a hormonal mess in general.

The first month of Estée’s life was by far the most challenging. I had the most traumatic birth which left me in hospital for days after having her. I just wanted to be in the comfort of my own home and make up for lost time I had with her straight after birth. This was followed by sleepless nights. Estée would wake up a good 2/3 times for a feed which was exhausting but a great bonding experience at the same time (even if it was at 3am!) As soon as paternity leave was over, I was a bag of nerves. What if I didn’t do something right? What if something went wrong? What if I wasn’t good enough? Mums, you know where I’m coming from. The first week by yourself is SCARY.

It wasn’t until the second month where I truly felt like I had it together and was ‘winging’ it (I think). We started to introduce a bedtime routine at around 4 weeks old. She would have a bath, followed by a bottle and then bed usually between 7:30/8pm. We found introducing a routine has worked wonders for us! We’ve carried on the same routine since and we haven’t had one sleepless night, she’s an absolute dream! Recently we transitioned Estée into her cot thinking it would take some time for her to get used to it but she loves it, especially with all the space she now has!

Since then we’ve experienced ups and downs, teething and the dreaded immunisations. God they’re horrible. I remember her first lot at 8 weeks and I think we both cried more than she did! Followed by her second lot where she didn’t make a peep! (If anything she just sat there giggling at the nurse). Then her final lot at 16 weeks and it was such a relief knowing that was it until she’s a one year old.

Fast forwarding to now, she’s 5 months old and we see changes in her every single day. She is getting the hang of sitting up (even if it is just for a few seconds but she’s getting there!) as well as rolling over. She’s always talking away to herself, us or family. She’s starting to say ‘mumma’ (what I like to think is mumma anyway). When you tickle her she will giggle non stop, hearing your baby’s laugh for the first time just melts your heart. She also weighs a whopping 16lbs, crazy!

I still feel like I’m in the newborn bubble and I never want to get out of it. I can’t wait to see what the next few months bring for us as a family.

Laura x