csa12
04-12-2003, 12:57 PM
Hi everyone!
After lurking on these boards since August and after reaping so much valuable advice, I 'd like to introduce myself.
My name is Cheryl and I am 30-year old 1st time mom to Liam who was born on 1/24/03. (He is napping now so I actually have time to write this!) I have been married to my DH Jason since 5/99 (dated since we were freshmen in college 1991--so that makes it 8 years before we got married-yikes!) :)
I am a SAHM but used to work in Television as a producer in DC and Raleigh. I also was planning to go back to graduate school and pursue an academic career in the liberal arts right when we found out we were pregnant last year. AS of now I plan to stay home for a year and then decide whether I want to continue on with my schooling to get my doctorate--who knows!! My Dh is a second year resident in Orthopaedics at Duke and so I never see him. Just kidding, sometimes it feels that way. If there are other wives/partners of residents we should start our own support group b/c I am finding it to be tough!
I am a NC transplant originally hailing from Maine-which I miss very dearly. My mom is still there so I try to visit her often in the summer.
I have to admit I had a very very rough time with becoming a mom. Labor adn delivery were not as difficult. My membranes were stripped on the 1/23, my contractions started early morning the 24th, I got to the hospital 6am the 24th and pushed for 45 minutes and Liam was born. It was not until we got home that I was like okay what do I do now? I read everything about strollers, car seat, cribs, but nothing about breast feeding and caring for a newborn which left me completely overwhelmed. Plus my Dh had the whopping 1 week paternity leave so he was back to work and I was alone with a little baby to take care of.
In no way to I intend to make this sound like a whiney sob story. Things are definately better now and I love love my son and love being with him. I now feel bonded to him and actually cherish nursing him in the wee hours of the morning. It's nice because its just me and him bonding further.
My whole point I guess is that during my darkest times when I felt like I couldn't be alone with my baby or could not bear with being a "mother" anymore. I would log on and find other moms in the same boat and realize that what I was feeling was normal. I also go to a new mothers group which has been tremendously helpful. No one ever tells you what to really expect partly because you have to experience it to realize it. I am so thankful for finding this board not only because now I know that I want to get a MBUS instead of a MBST-hahaha and I now know all the I ever needed to know about CDing !! :) but also because its normal for my DS to be fussy while breastfeeding just because and that its normal for me to have meltdowns about the littlest thing due to hormones and sleep deprivation.
So in a nutshell THANK YOU for the support and making motherhood a heck of a lot more fun than if I muddled through it alone. As mentioned in the subject line, I ask a bunch of questions and "take" a lot of advice off these boards and rarely offer any ( b/c this is all new to me!) so I apologize and am working on it! :)
Liam is stirring and waking up so I have to run. Thanks everyone and especially to the Fields for providing such an invaluable forum for us parents to get together!!
Cheryl :)
After lurking on these boards since August and after reaping so much valuable advice, I 'd like to introduce myself.
My name is Cheryl and I am 30-year old 1st time mom to Liam who was born on 1/24/03. (He is napping now so I actually have time to write this!) I have been married to my DH Jason since 5/99 (dated since we were freshmen in college 1991--so that makes it 8 years before we got married-yikes!) :)
I am a SAHM but used to work in Television as a producer in DC and Raleigh. I also was planning to go back to graduate school and pursue an academic career in the liberal arts right when we found out we were pregnant last year. AS of now I plan to stay home for a year and then decide whether I want to continue on with my schooling to get my doctorate--who knows!! My Dh is a second year resident in Orthopaedics at Duke and so I never see him. Just kidding, sometimes it feels that way. If there are other wives/partners of residents we should start our own support group b/c I am finding it to be tough!
I am a NC transplant originally hailing from Maine-which I miss very dearly. My mom is still there so I try to visit her often in the summer.
I have to admit I had a very very rough time with becoming a mom. Labor adn delivery were not as difficult. My membranes were stripped on the 1/23, my contractions started early morning the 24th, I got to the hospital 6am the 24th and pushed for 45 minutes and Liam was born. It was not until we got home that I was like okay what do I do now? I read everything about strollers, car seat, cribs, but nothing about breast feeding and caring for a newborn which left me completely overwhelmed. Plus my Dh had the whopping 1 week paternity leave so he was back to work and I was alone with a little baby to take care of.
In no way to I intend to make this sound like a whiney sob story. Things are definately better now and I love love my son and love being with him. I now feel bonded to him and actually cherish nursing him in the wee hours of the morning. It's nice because its just me and him bonding further.
My whole point I guess is that during my darkest times when I felt like I couldn't be alone with my baby or could not bear with being a "mother" anymore. I would log on and find other moms in the same boat and realize that what I was feeling was normal. I also go to a new mothers group which has been tremendously helpful. No one ever tells you what to really expect partly because you have to experience it to realize it. I am so thankful for finding this board not only because now I know that I want to get a MBUS instead of a MBST-hahaha and I now know all the I ever needed to know about CDing !! :) but also because its normal for my DS to be fussy while breastfeeding just because and that its normal for me to have meltdowns about the littlest thing due to hormones and sleep deprivation.
So in a nutshell THANK YOU for the support and making motherhood a heck of a lot more fun than if I muddled through it alone. As mentioned in the subject line, I ask a bunch of questions and "take" a lot of advice off these boards and rarely offer any ( b/c this is all new to me!) so I apologize and am working on it! :)
Liam is stirring and waking up so I have to run. Thanks everyone and especially to the Fields for providing such an invaluable forum for us parents to get together!!
Cheryl :)