My Postpartum Journey with Baby Camille Thus Far!

Wow, here I am almost one month postpartum. Can you believe it? I can’t! I feel like I just announced that Baby Camille was born to you guys and now she’s almost one month old. Time truly does fly! As some of you may know, newborn life is no joke. I am one grateful but tired mama! Bringing a new baby home is one of the happiest moments of a person’s life BUT the days/weeks to follow can be TOUGH! You see the precious newborn pics but not everybody candidly talks about the aftermath of giving birth. In these social media days it seems like everyone just “snaps back” two days later, breastfeeds like a champ, have zero bags under their eyes, toss the baby into their current lives and just keep it moving so easily right? You may even be thinking that about me from what I’ve shared so far. But keep in mind, social media is a highlight reel. Meaning, people mainly share the positive moments of their lives. So don’t compare a rough moment you’re having to someone else’s highlight!

If you’ve been a follower of mine or my blog for a while, you know I like to keep it real. There’s something so powerful about women being authentic and open with sharing not only their highs but tough times as well. It shows us that we aren’t in this alone. Motherhood is one of the most rewarding jobs there is but also one of the toughest. So I figured I would share my postpartum journey with you guys up until this point. I get a lot of questions about breastfeeding, juggling everything, my “snap back”, and so much more. I will try and cover everything you guys ask but if I miss anything I’ll do another blog like this in a few weeks/months! Let’s jump right in…

Breastfeeding

The number one topic I get asked about is how my breastfeeding journey is going. I’m happy that in 2019 a lot of moms are really trying to breastfeed. Breastmilk has so many benefits for babies. BUT I want to start of by saying that as long as your baby is fed and loved you’re doing an amazing job mama. Breastfeeding can be one of the biggest stressors when just having a new baby. I wished people prepared moms beforehand letting them know it may not come as naturally as we all probably think it should. That would save a lot of heartbreak. My first daughter wasn’t breastfed for long because I was just young and uneducated on breastfeeding at the time, so I gave up easily. My second daughter was exclusively breastfed (through pumping) for the first year (and they both turned out healthy and smart by the way.) Now with my 3^rd daughter, I find myself on the pumping journey again to exclusively give Camille breastmilk. I really desired to be able to nurse and pump this final go round because exclusively pumping is NO JOKE, but we had latching issues in the beginning. Now that she’s gotten used to the flow of milk from the bottle, when I try to latch her she just cries because it’s not coming quick enough for her liking. I told myself I wasn’t going to stress over it. I’m just grateful that I’m one of the women that produce a lot of milk. My body reacts great to the pump, so I’m able to still provide Camille with all the nutrients that breastmilk offers whether it’s from the breast or bottle.

My biggest advice for moms wanting to breastfeed whether it’s through pumping or nursing, would be you have to be CONSISTENT in the beginning with feedings. A lot of moms think they struggle with low supply when in reality they aren’t pumping or nursing enough. It’s extremely time consuming in the beginning. You need to pump every 2-3 hours round the clock or feed on demand, which will probably be even more frequent than that! Where moms mess up is taking extended breaks from feedings when baby starts to nap longer or you have enough milk to get baby through multiple feedings. You still need to stimulate your breast every 2-3 hours. Breastfeeding is supply and demand. When you start going longer stretches without removing milk from your breast, you’re telling your body that it doesn’t need to produce as much milk. That’s when you’ll start to see a drop in your supply. Once your milk regulates, you’ll be able to go longer stretches in between feedings…like 4-5 hours as opposed to 2-3 hours. But it takes a little while for your milk to regulate so don’t rush this, just be patient.

Introducing Baby to Siblings

As most of you know, I already had 2 daughters before bringing baby Camille home. Carrington who is 6 and Channing who is 1. We were most concerned with how Channing would react because she’s still somewhat of a baby herself. She didn’t really comprehend the changes that were about to occur when I was pregnant. I was also concerned with Carrington getting the attention she needs and deserves as well because juggling a toddler and a newborn can be A LOT. I didn’t want her to get overlooked in all the chaos.

So far, both of my older girls have truly exceeded my expectations with bringing the new baby home. Channing is OBSESSED with Camille. She’s the first thing she mentions when she wakes up and comes home from daycare. She’s always asking “where is Camille Mommy?” She wants to consistently feed her, give her the paci, and hold her. It’s the cutest thing ever. The toughest part is actually trying to get her to give Camille her space at times and trying to get her not to be so rough. She stills want to tend to her even when I’ve just put Camille down for a nap, lol. When I tell her “not right now because the baby is sleep,” she’ll fall out in to a tantrum. Gotta love toddler life, ha!

With Carrington, she’s old enough that I trust her holding Camille while I use the bathroom really quickly or make Camille a bottle, etc. The toughest part with Carri is that she gets over that pretty quickly. She’s excited to hold her for a second but then she’s asking me when am I going to come get her, haha! She has been a HUGE help though. I’m so grateful for her.

My biggest advice for moms bringing a baby home with other children would be to be sure to still try your hardest to give them all individual attention while explaining to them that babies require a lot of mommy’s attention but it won’t last forever. Also, let the other siblings be involved with helping with the baby. That starts to build a bond with their younger sibling early.

Juggling Everything with a Newborn

For me, this has been one of the toughest things to do since bringing Camille home. With your first child you’re able to sleep when the baby sleeps or you can chill on the couch all day while breastfeeding and watching tv. Unfortunately, when you have other children and other responsibilities, the juggling act becomes a little tougher. In my case, I have a toddler who could care less about me being sleep deprived and a school age child who still has homework and extracurricular activities, etc. Not to mention, a household, husband, and my blog that doesn’t offer a maternity leave like my 9-5 does.

My biggest advice here would be to work smarter, not harder. Whatever you can utilize to make life easier, do it. For me this was online grocery shopping and having hubby pick it up curbside. Having a cleaning lady come in so I wasn’t stressed about trying to keep the house clean. Preparing crockpot meals that make big portions that’ll last a few days so I’m not trying to cook daily. We don’t have local help but if you do, accept it! Send older kids to grandmas for a day or two each week to get a break. Whatever it is, you have to realize you can’t do it all on your own or you’ll burn yourself out real fast. You must also realize that things will be different for a little while. So don’t come home trying to operate like the wife and mom you were before bringing new baby home. You’ll get back to that in due time. But for now, make the necessary adjustments so that you don’t run yourself in to the ground.

I also got a lot of questions about making time for hubby with everything on my plate. One thing that helps us is we always have a current show that we like to watch together. (he’s currently trying to get me into Game of Thrones…verdict is still out on that haha!) Each night after we put the older kids down and we have a 2-3 hour window while Camille is sleeping, we’ll spend at least one hour together, just us two, on the couch, cuddling while watching an episode of one of our favorite shows together. It’s not much or anything fancy but it gives us the opportunity to have some one on one time together after a busy day for us both. You have to take what you can get with this newborn baby life, ha! My husband is also very understanding. The newborn takes a lot more out of the mom than the dad with us going through all the hormonal changes, healing from delivery, and breastfeeding. So if hubby is neglected for a day, he’ll survive 😊

My “Snap Back” Journey So Far

First of all, I hate the snap back pressure a lot of moms have now mostly due to unrealistic expectations that social media has put on women. Like we all don’t know that people be out here photoshopping and getting plastic surgery like it’s nothing. Let’s just keep it real! I did have a very unrealistic moment where I thought I was going to fit back in my clothes for Camille’s two day doctors appointment. I had to change like 3 times. I had a moment of beating myself up. Thinking back, if I could’ve slapped myself, I would’ve lol. Like girl, you just had a baby a few days ago…you can’t be serious! I had to tell myself this is my THIRD child. Not to mention, I just had a baby under 2 years ago. It takes almost a year to get baby here, so what makes us think it would take any less time to get the pregnancy weight off?

Although, I’m in no rush to get my old body back (which I may never have again), one thing that does help is breastfeeding. You burn a ton of calories when you breastfeed. Try snacking on healthy snacks like fruits and nuts. Take walks around the neighborhood to get your body moving until you’re cleared to workout again. And wear a postpartum girdle around the house post delivery. It works for you, even when you aren’t doing much. I used the Bellefit Postpartum Corset and it was AMAZING! And at the end of the day don’t be hard on yourselves mamas. Don’t compare your snap back journey to anyone else’s. Our postpartum bodies represent the gift of pregnancy and bringing life in to this world. For that, we should always be proud of it!

Dealing with the “Baby Blues”/Postpartum Depression

I’m actually really thankful for how I’ve been able to emotionally handle bringing baby #3 home so far. If I’m completely honest, I was prepared to deal with some emotionally hard times during this transition. Going from one kid to two was tough for me, so I thought adding in the 3^rd would be even harder, BUT GOD! Not to say it’s been a cake walk, but I’ve been a lot less on edge this time around. A huge factor in this was having help for a longer period of time. My mother and grandma came and stayed for a week after I delivered. Then my husband was home for almost 3 weeks on paternity leave. So I had an extra set of hands for almost the whole first month of Camille’s life. It allowed me to ease in to newborn life instead of being thrown in to it right when getting home for the hospital.

Some other things that can help with your emotional help is simply getting off the couch or out of the bed. Get up and getting moving around, even if you can’t go far. For me, simply taking an extended hot bath, getting dressed in something comfortable, and putting on a little makeup helps me feel like my old self. Getting some fresh air makes a huge difference as well. Whether you take a walk around the neighborhood, go get your nails done, or even just go walk around target for a few minutes.

Also, each day I woke up I would also spend some quiet time with God. I played worship music and asked Him to grace me for what He’s called me to do that day. I asked for peace and patience to get me through the day with a newborn and other responsibilities. It’s a simple gesture but makes a big difference with feeling on edge all day. (P.S. seek a doctors help if you think you’re truly struggling with PPD)

Okay. This blog is ridiculously long. If you’re even still reading at this point you’re the real MVP haha. So I’m going to stop it right here. I hope this helps any new moms or mama’s to be. I will continue to keep you guys updated throughout my postpartum journey because it’s just beginning. Let’s all continue to help one another and pray for one another on this motherhood journey!

As Always…Love you All,

Courtney N. Williams