3 Weeks Old!

Our son is now 3 weeks old and has brought so much joy into our lives in the short time he has been in this world. It is scary how much he has changed over the past three weeks though and it has made me realise that children really do grow up too fast and so it is important to cherish every moment.

Here is a picture of him from this morning:

Earlier this week we attended a baby settling class run by our local, private Hospital and it was fantastic. It armed us with some more tools to assist in settling our baby and also confirmed that we were doing some things correctly (like putting him in his cot while he is still awake so that he can learn to settle himself). We are very fortunate to have a very content little baby who only cries when he is hungry or has a pain in his belly.

Anyway, the things I have learned from my experience as a mother this week are as follows:

I need to toughen up - I need to learn how to either say "no" to visitors coming or be tough enough to tell them to leave. Don't get me wrong, I do like visitors... but it seems that everyone wants to come on the same day! To make it worse, we don't see anyone all week and then everyone wants to come and visit us on the weekend and it is exhausting!

Breastfeeding is hard... so very, very hard - Anyone that has issues with breastfeeding and perseveres deserves a medal. I have been very close to throwing in the towel this week due to under supply issues and I have to say that breastfeeding has been the most stressful thing I have EVER had to deal with. When you're holding your baby who is screaming because you can't supply him with enough milk, you can't help but feel like you're failing. But, we are persevering and we are getting there... slowly. Which brings me to my next point.

Don't underestimate the importance of having a supportive husband - If I wasn't married to the most beautiful, supportive person in the world then I would have given up breastfeeding this week for sure. But Matty has sat by my side for hours, holding my hand and telling me that it will all be ok. Together we have brainstormed different techniques to try to increase my supply and I am beginning to think that we might be ok. I honestly couldn't have gotten through this feeding issue without him.

This coming week I am trying to build up my confidence with going out alone with the baby and also with breastfeeding in public. I am not sure that I'll ever whip out the boobs at the local McDonalds, but I am hoping to be able to breastfeed at places we frequent a lot - like my parents house.

Anyway, I am going to go and have some cuddles with my little man before tucking him into bed for the night.