She's here! Well, she's been here since March 30 :)
I've now been a mom for 2 weeks and 5 days and I am happy to report that she is healthy and seems happy for the most part and that ICM and I am still alive! This post is titled "WOW" because that is the way I feel about my experience so far. Before she was even born there were already a lot of seemingly important decisions to be made. Never would I have imagined how hard and how emotional it all would be, so that's the first wow. Second wow - it is hard...harder, more tiring, and requires more patience than I had imagined even after all the warnings and experiences other moms and dads have shared. The crying is unnerving and the constant feeding can sometimes leave me feeling as if I am just a milk machine but one of the hardest part is feeling bored and lonely when I am so used to being surrounded by lots of people and having a lot of freedom to do whatever I want. Good news is that this will get easier as she grows and by then, I am going to wish that she was still a newborn so I could cuddle with her all the time. Third wow - the human capacity to figure out how to take care of a newborn and how you find energy to do it even though you have never had so little sleep in your life. Obviously, we are animals so it is our instinct, in our genes, but it doesn't mean I can't be surprised by it still. Thankfully, E sleeps well at night, so ICM and I haven't been walking around like zombies since the first week or so. Last wow - how much we already love her even though most hours she is just eating, pooping, peeing, farting, staring at us as if she despises us, or crying as if she is a victim of child abuse. HA.
Of course, there's still a lot (A LOT) of adjustments that need to be made, i.e. how do I find me-time, hang out time with ICM, time with friends, etc etc but I am sure we'll figure it out because there is no other way!
