Mommy Brain

The other day I was reminiscing about what it was like to have a newborn.  I looked back at some of my journal entries and had to laugh.

Being a new mom is hard.  Sleep deprivation will do interesting things to a person.  I'm pretty sure there were times that my husband and loved ones thought I was completely insane (and probably still do).  

Here are some of my finer moments from Liam's first few months:

• I left my wallet in checkout lanes on a regular basis.  Apparently it was just too much for me to keep track of my shopping bags, the diaper bag, my wallet, and my baby.  I also left it on a shelf in the middle of Target once.  Luckily, it was always returned to me, safely, with all of its contents,  and there was only one time when I drove home before realizing it was gone.  At least it was the wallet that I kept forgetting and not my baby...

• Self-care fell to the wayside for awhile.  I was very lucky to have my mom stay with me for the first month.  But once she was gone, I struggled to navigate how to complete basic tasks in the presence of a newborn.  There were days when Andrew would come home from work and I had yet to shower or brush my teeth.  Gross.  I know.   Showering was just too scary because, you know, showers are loud and what if I couldn’t hear Liam cry?  Not to mention the fact that sometimes he slept for 3 hours and other times he slept for 47 seconds.  Finally, after a couple of weeks, I came up with a revolutionary idea…I put him in the bouncy seat on the bathroom floor while I showered.   Genius, I know.

• Once, I started to open the door for the UPS man with my top around my waist.  If you’ve ever breastfed, you’re not surprised.  I mean, really, who needs a shirt?  Thankfully, I caught this one before I opened the door.  

• I took Liam to a doctor’s appointment wearing two different shoes.  This was the same appointment where I cried in the pediatrician’s office for the second time.  Great…I am not only the mom who always cries…but now I’m the mom who cries AND wears mismatched shoes?!  Hot mess.

• I sat directly in front of my window when I used my breast pump.  I struggled with a low milk supply and in an attempt to build it up, I was put on a regimen that required that I pump 12 times a day.  Yes, that’s right…12 times.  This was in addition to nursing Liam.  I guess my neighbors might have seen something…but really….if I’m going to have to sit hooked up to that thing for hours, I might as well soak up some vitamin D while I’m at it.  I finally stopped this craziness after my husband begged me to give it up.  Pumping 12 times a day turns a person into a total. friggin. lunatic.

Source: Pinterest

• At 5 months-old, we decided to move Liam out of our room and into his nursery.  Thanks to my sister-in-law, we have this awesome video monitor, which I love.  At first though, it seriously freaked me out.  For two nights straight, I laid awake just staring at the monitor. And if you’ve ever seen the movie Paranormal Activity, you know why. Night vision cameras are weird and scary. What if I saw orbs floating around his head or something?  I even wore my glasses to bed so I could see him clearly, but then, a very wise friend of mine suggested that I just turn the video off.  If he makes a noise, all I have to do is hit the little button and then I can see him.  Ah....another moment of pure genius.    

I have other stories.  I just can’t remember them right now.  And now I have to go find my keys which are probably in the refrigerator….or even better…still in the front door.

As Liam gets older, I'm slowly becoming less scattered, but I still have my moments.  Thankfully, I also have a sense of humor.

What about you? Do you suffer from Mommy Brain too?