Hi everyone, long time no see! It’s been a crazy couple weeks of new parenthood at the Summerfield house, but I found a little time to myself and wanted to check in!

New Parenthood

So, what have we been up to?… The short answer is, “a whole lotta baby stuff!” With a newborn, your time is basically never your own. The first few weeks of parenthood were filled with many doctor appointments, FaceTiming with friends and family, and waking him up every three hours to feed. Needless to say, we were running on fumes for a while. But, at our last check up, our pediatrician said we can let him tell us when he’s hungry, so we’re able to get longer stretches of sleep at night! (It’s crazy how excited you get over a 4-hour stretch of sleep as a new parent, haha!)

Jack doesn’t really have a set “schedule” yet, and my days are very much centered around feeding him, changing him and then resetting the house while he naps. We started adding in a little awake/play time after our feedings, which includes tummy time, talking with mom and looking at high contrast photos.

If I’m being honest, being at home all day with a newborn can get pretty grueling. The only time I seem to get to myself is to run through the shower or put in a load of laundry while Jack naps for 30 minutes. Brian is so helpful when he gets home, and during the night-time feedings, but I can still feel pretty drained by the end of the week. I know the pesky newborn phase won’t last forever, and the cuddles and smiles I get from Jack make it all worth it.

Jack is 7 weeks old!

Jack turned 7 weeks old yesterday, and I can’t believe it! Time has flown by, and stood still all at the same time, and it’s crazy to think that we’ve had him home for almost 2 months already. Here are some things Jack has been into lately…

• Looking at high contracts photos and objects. He loves the large black picture frames we have in our dining room.
• Going on walks with mom and dad. He falls asleep on almost every walk we take him on.
• Making lots of noises. And I mean LOTS! Almost any chance he gets, Jack is grunting, cooing, or chirping (even when he sleeps). I love how vocal he is, and we call him our grunty baby.
• Smiling! Probably my favorite trick yet! It’s so hard to get a picture of it because he gets very distracted by our phones, haha, but he loves smiling and smirking at mom and dad.

He’s already growing up too fast, and it makes me sad to think that he’s not the tiny baby we brought home from the hospital. (If you’re interested in Jack’s birth story I wrote a post on it a few weeks ago.) But, as he grows, a little more of his personality shines through, and that’s one of the most exciting things about parenthood.

My recovery journey

My recovery is going well! I had my 6-week postpartum appointment last week, and my doctor gave me the “all clear” for exercise and everyday activities. Although, I would be lying if I said the appointment went the way I thought it would… I really like and trust my doctor, but women’s healthcare, especially postpartum, in the US is basically non-existent and patients really need to advocate for themselves. I’ve mentioned it before, but I don’t think I would have know what to ask for during my appointment if it wasn’t for Expecting and Empowered. Their exercise guides are great, but following their daily posts and stories in Instagram really helped me take charge of my own physical and mental health during pregnancy and postpartum. I’d highly recommend checking them out of you’re a mom/mom-to-be.

Regardless of my appointment, I feel pretty good and have been doing pelvic floor recovery exercises along with starting up some light workouts. My body is slowly, but surly, getting back to feeling “normal.” I also asked for a Women’s Health Physical Therapist referral during my postpartum appointment, and am excited for my first appointment in a few weeks. This is something that I had to ask for during my pp appointment, and I highly recommend every woman does the same! I’m going because of a few issues with my pelvic floor that haven’t resolved yet, but I also think most women don’t know how their pelvic floor is even suppose to work (I know I don’t!). So I’m really excited to get examined and know that everything will be in working order soon.

On a “non-medical” related note, I’m very anxious to get back into jeans and regular clothes again! I know we’re all “not wearing jeans” right now, but I haven’t worn “normal” clothes in almost a year and I really think putting on a pair of jeans and a shirt that’s not oversized or maternity will make me feel like a new woman. I’m trying to give myself some grace and not put pressure on myself to get back to “pre-baby” size, so I ordered a few pairs of jeans in my “new” size and a few t-shirt nursing bras just so I can feel human again, haha. We’re also scheduling a family photoshoot soon, so I need to get some clothes that fit my new found curves (thanks breastfeeding, haha).

Quarantine fatigue

I know we’re all feeling “COVID fatigue” lately, and we’re soooo ready for the warm months ahead. Being pregnant and starting your parenthood journey during a pandemic isn’t easy… We’ve been taking a lot of extra precautions, which basically meant not seeing our family or friends indoors once the winter hit. But, with Spring on the horizon, and the vaccine roll-out picking up, Brian and I are hopeful that we can return to somewhat normal with our family and close friends this summer. In the meantime, I am buying more patio furniture and a few things to spruce up our backyard so we can be ready for visitors when the time is right!

As the warmer months start to roll in and parenthood gets a little more doable, I am excited to get back to work and create more travel related content! I have a lot of exciting ideas, and can’t wait to find the time to actually execute them soon! Stay tuned for more travel guides, as well as advise on navigating travel and COVID this summer. And if you have any special requests in mind for content, please let me know!