The Ever-Changing Journey

That positive line appears and the excitement begins! Nine months of nausea, heartburn, and a never-ending groggy feeling. It may seem like a long time. You have so much time to get things accomplished! *BLINK* eight months had already gone by before I realized. We made the decision not to find out our baby's gender and it turned out to be the best decision I had made! At 37 weeks, after two weeks in a row of high blood pressure, I had blood work done and was called the very next day due to mild preeclampsia to come into the hospital to be induced. Uncomfortable beds, stuffy rooms (of course, you can't open a window!), and being strapped up to what felt like 8 million wires and machines just left me wanting to get the heck out of there. A day and half after being checked in at the hospital it was time. The decision had been made from the start for an all natural birth. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards for me. As the pushing began our baby's vitals dropped. My heart stopped. The vitals returned to normal and we tried again. Our child was visible and ready to say hello but again that wasn't in the cards. With the second push, vitals dropped again. I wound up with a C-section and it may not have been the way I wanted it to go but I knew it was best for my child.

There she was! A beautiful baby girl! Adelina Noelle was born at 12:08 PM on June 30, 2017. Weighing 6lbs 9.8oz, I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't know what the future would hold nor do I to this day. Each day is an adventure. One second you think you are getting the hang of things and she switches things up on you. In all forms, I got lucky. Addie is rarely fussy, put on weight without hesitating, took immediately to breastfeeding, and by one month old was sleeping seven to eight hours straight a night.

Now, I have spent so much time with kids of all ages I thought I would have this mom thing figured out. Wrong! Each day has proved to be more and more of an adventure. At three months we are right back to wanting to be awake every ten minutes throughout the night, taking only five to ten minute power naps throughout the day, and going through spurts of refusing to eat. She gets overly exhausted and that just makes her even more fussy than she started out.

Each day is an adventure. We are all human and even if you think you have it all figured out think again! It's important to remember that you will never have your little one all figured out because you will turn around and they will have changed it up on you. As moms (or dads) we need to remember that everyone makes their own decisions for their child. We all have different ways of doing things and not one certain way is right or wrong. Do what you believe is best for your bundle of joy and stand together as moms. No one has it figured out but no one knows your child better than you do! In the end, it doesn't matter whether you bottle feed or breastfeed, make them every meal or go out for dinner once in awhile, use cloth diapers or disposables because no matter what you are your child’s number one, their super hero! So make your own decisions and embrace the wonderful journey of parenthood because tomorrow they may not want every waking moment of your time and attention.