What I’d Forgotten About The Newborn Stage

Pretty much everything to do with breastfeeding: the pain, the cracked nipples, how the right one leaks when feeding from the left and vice versa… The first time around I remember being pretty shocked that nobody had told me what a tough old journey breast feeding could be (imagine barbed wire being fed through your nipples… Yep) and I’ve been similarly surprised this time around. IT HURTS. We have conquered it though, Hux loves the boob, and im really proud to be feeding him breast milk exclusively. Because of Elfie’s health problems she went onto a diet of pumped breast milk and formula within about a week and I always felt sad I wasn’t able to feed her longer.

The size of my boobs: They are huge and literally exploded overnight. Seeing Will’s reaction to my brand new DDs was hilarious; instant boob job. It’s just a shame they are keeping me from being able to sleep on my front.

The cuddles: Huxley likes to be cuddled all the time, including night time if possible. This would be lovely if all I had to do all day is focus on him and watch Masterchef whilst breast feeding  (ahh, lovely summer 2010 memories of Australian Masterchef when Elfie was a new born) but I want to make sure that Elfie has as much attention as possible. Luckily she has warmed to her little brother although the amount of toddler tantrums have gone up by about 200%, I’m hoping once Will is back to London full-time that she’ll feel happy, secure and loved, and that we can calm her compulsion to give Huxley big huge squeezy cuddles (cute but lethal).

The nights: Hux refuses to sleep in his lovely co-sleeper cot and instead favours the spot beneath my armpit. This is lovely as theres nothing better to wake up to than his squashed up face, but I’m not quite relaxed enough to fall into a deep sleep with him so within squishing range. Co-sleeping does make it easy to feed though and I’ve started going to bed topless (much to Will’s delight, though not so sexy is the muslin I fashion into a boob tube to prevent leakages) so I don’t even have to make the effort to get undressed when feeds through the night.

The Toast Diet: I named my blog ‘More Than Toast’ because it was all I had time to eat after Elfie was born, and just shoving stuff on to a bit of bread is near enough the easiest meal you can do. What did we have for lunch today? Scrambled egg on toast. The Toast Diet is back.

My time: I seriously have no time to do any frivolous things that I liked to do before, such as blow dry my hair or go on the computer. I have tried writing blog posts on my iPhone/iPad but they always end up sounding like complete nonsense and it’s only thanks to some great apps that I’m managing to keep on top of my online shopping habit. So if I owe you an email please expect a response by December, I should be able to get through my inbox by then.

The smell of a baby: the top of a baby’s head and the creases of their arms, mm, they smell divine. But I’d completely forgotten about the other smells that come with newborns; the sickly sweet milky nappies that need changing all the time, the smell of Sudocrem all over my fingers and most of all the smell of milk over all my clothes/sheets/kids.

Everyone else’s obsession with baby: of course I know that my baby is The Bomb but apparently everyone else thinks so too. Which is amazing, and not just because this means he’s had tons of presents. Huxley Harold rocks.