There is NOTHING ergonomic about caring for a newborn. When the baby is crying and wants to be carried in a certain position (over your shoulder or like a football on your LEFT side - heaven forbid we switch to the right), you carry the baby in said position. No matter how much your back or shoulders hurt you contort your body to make your baby comfortable and happy. When your baby is fighting you to nurse, you must maneuver your body to meet her demands and fight her squirming body. Even the best "equipment" on the market - the boppy pillow or the "BrestFriend" - don't make being a mom ergonomically-friendly. I still find myself supplementing my baby's comfort when she's using the best baby products out there. And at the end of the day, my body is broken down and tired.There's also the host of activities I've had to learn to do one-handed because the baby refuses to be in the bouncy chair, the pack-in-play, or her bed: preparing and eating food, loading the washer and dryer, pulling my hair back, making the bed, etc...
The highlight of every day for me (physically) is getting my back cracked and rubbed by David after dinner. Although my little one is one a slight eight pounds, carrying her around and keeping her comfortable and content is taking a toll on my body. My neck hurts from looking down on her while she is nursing, my shoulders and back are sore from carrying her around (especially when she's fussy), and there have been days when my sides hurt from my bouncing and twisting with her in my arms. I also have to carry her in her carseat and the stroller down our front steps each day just to go for a walk. The objects are awkward and, even though we have the lightest stroller available, it is still heavy and burdensome.
It is tough work. I'm using muscles I didn't know I had and strengthening my deltoids and biceps on a regular basis.
But it's all worth it. Yesterday afternoon my little pumpkin fell asleep on my shoulder and then managed to curl up on my chest, resting in one arm. She slept for hours there and I just enjoyed her presence. And this morning she's sound asleep in the Baby Bjorn. I love it.
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DC Celebrates: More than 93 percent of the Districts residents voted for Obama on Tuesday. After the results were announced that evening, the city went crazy. The Washington Post has some great pictures of the celebrations at the White House and on U Street, NW. In our neighborhood, we had a fireworks display and some LOUD excited neighbors cheering Obama's victory. Luckily for us, it started to rain in the middle of the fireworks display and the celebrating stopped.
1 comment:
I wholeheartedly agree! I usually run errands while he's at daycare just b/c I'm so much more efficient that way, but when he was sick Tuesday, he tagged along and after awkwardly hauling the stroller out of the car for the 5th time, I was thinking, "Uh, this really isn't easy." And I can't stand carrying him in the carseat--even just from the car to the house. it's so cumbersome that I have bruises on my legs from where it bangs against me.
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