Hi folks! It’s been a hot minute, AKA I have not posted on here in about a year. Hello! A few things have happened since my last post…
I got married in September 2018 and went on an epic honeymoon to New Zealand with my huz Mike in November. I had every intention of writing many blog posts about all of our NZ adventures (I AM OBSESSED WITH THAT COUNTRY) but I quickly found out I was pregnant after we got home! WHAT?! Shortly after realizing I was pregs I was hit with pretty debilitating first trimester nausea and exhaustion which made it very difficult to function day-to-day, let alone even think about le blogue. I came up for air by the time I was about 11 weeks pregnant and my energy started to return, but that’s also around the time my husband and I started house hunting (we needed a bigger space before baby arrived). We closed on our house in April (YAS), moved in June (WHEN I WAS 36 WEEKS PREGS… DO NOT RECOMMEND) and I gave birth to the most magical human in the world a month later. So yeah… things have been busy. Oh and I was working full time – well, more than full time – at my busy social media marketing job until I went on mat leave on July 5.
Anyway, here we are. On the other side of an insanely transformative year with glow up followed by glow up followed by glow up. Why not just do all the #adulting things at once eh? Jeez.
I’m writing this as my nearly-five-week-old son Gabriel naps in his baby carrier against my chest. I’ve been a mom for over a month now and have loved the wild ride and incredibly steep learning curve. It’s the hardest but most rewarding job in the world. It’s fascinating to watch a brand new human learn how to be a human. I’m honoured to help him figure it out.
My beautiful, magical, perfect, enormous son Gabriel was born at 9 lbs 10oz on July 23, 2019. I ended up having an emergency C-section after hours of labour because it was the only way to get him out. It wasn’t just his overall size that was an issue but the size of his head! As one paediatrician at the hospital put it after he was born, “38.5cm head circumference? There is no birth canal that this baby would have gone through.” Word.
So the last five weeks have seen me recovering from major surgery while also learning how to parent an infant on minimal sleep. I know about 25% of births end in C-section and that all birth is hard on the body and requires recovery and I’ve got to say, just wow. High fives to all of the new parents who manage to go through difficult recovery from birth while also learning how to parent. It’s intense and I’m amazed that we do it. I’m very lucky to have had incredible support from my husband, friends and family which has absolutely gotten me through. Seriously humans are pack animals, we are not meant to do parenthood alone.
Now that Mike and I starting to figure out a bit of a routine and I’m almost through my recovery, I’m excited to dust off #catscoffeecardigans and maybe become a mom blogger? IDK. I do know that I need some sort of outlet while I’m not working so I imagine I’ll be on here more frequently than I have been in the past. I have A LOT to say about pregnancy and parenthood (as we all do) and as I let those ideas percolate I look forward to sharing more.
In the meantime, hi! I’m a mom! Which totally rules. See you again soon probably!
xoxo
Rachel
rachelgbk 