FRIDAY Q&A

Happy Friday! This was my most action-packed week since having Teddy and I am very ready to take it easy this weekend. In addition to making two trips into the city (one with Teddy and one without), I also survived my first night alone with him while Will was traveling for work. Single moms (and twin moms) are heroes in my book. ?? Thank goodness for grandparents who live down the street! I’m hoping we can squeeze in a family nap or two — it feels like winter has already arrived in Connecticut and I’m all about an excuse to stay inside, snuggle, and start decorating for Christmas early. ? I hope you all have a great one!

design darling friday q&a

1. How are your nights going? My one month old has decided to only sleep for hour long stretches…

Ugh I’m sorry! Ours are definitely still hit or miss so you are not alone! On a good night, he’ll go to sleep around 9:30 p.m. and wake up to eat around 2 a.m., 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., but there are nights when he’s wide awake an hour or an hour and a half “early” so we just roll with it and try to get him to sleep a little longer for the following stretch. I talked more about our current schedule in my post about breastfeeding if you’re interested! I’m a little skeptical that he’ll be able to sleep through the night in another month and a half, but I’d love to be wrong about that! 

2. What helped you most during labor?

Trusting it would be over soon, ha! For me personally, I don’t think a playlist or mood lighting would have helped make it any more enjoyable. Having both my husband and my mom in the room to cheer me on and remind me that we were so close to meeting Teddy were the only things keeping me going.

3. How is your recovery going? Thank you so much for sharing your story!

Thanks for asking! I can’t believe how much better I feel now at seven weeks postpartum than I did in the first and second weeks home from the hospital. At the time I was convinced the pain I was experiencing would never go away (I didn’t know any better!), but around two and a half weeks, I could start to see a light at the end of the tunnel and I’ve felt a little more like myself each day since (which I’ll now know to remind myself of the next time around!). Of course my body will never be the same as it was before giving birth — and I still wish I’d gotten a better idea of what to expect after my delivery experience — but I’m incredibly thankful for how much better I feel after a relatively short period of time.

4. Are you feeling better from a nausea standpoint?

100% better! My hyperemesis completely disappeared as soon as I gave birth.

5. Morning sickness / nausea recommendations please!

I wrote about my experience with hyperemesis in recaps for my first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester — highly recommend checking those out if you’re experiencing extreme nausea or vomiting. I really wish I had a magic cure but I stayed on my Diclegis prescription all the way through giving birth. I took it first thing every morning (I would throw up if I went even 15 minutes without it) and then again after dinner. I’ve heard from other moms-to-be who are taking it as many as four or five times a day so it’s important to work with your doctor to find a dosage that works for you. I went from throwing up as many as 10 times a day without medication to throwing up maybe 15-20 times in my entire second and third trimesters with it, so the difference for me was night and day!

6. What has been the hardest part of motherhood vs. what has come more easily?

The hardest things have been my own physical recovery, getting by on minimal sleep, and a completely irrational but unshakeable feeling that he’ll grow up too fast. I’m embarrassed to admit I get bummed out when someone says “he’s getting so big!” — I know that’s crazy but I guess I feel like I don’t need to be reminded how quickly the newborn stage will pass! This post and this post about slowing down time have been helpful in reframing my thinking in that regard (thank you to the reader who shared them with me!). Breastfeeding has come more naturally than I thought it would (which I’m very grateful for!), but I definitely wouldn’t call it easy! I think the thing that’s come most effortlessly is just how absolutely obsessed with him I am. I was nervous that I wouldn’t feel that immediate closeness with him and I feel really grateful that that concern was unfounded!

7. For a baby shower, would you rather receive gifts on or off your registry?

Stick to the registry! Unless you’re extremely close with the mom-to-be and have a personalized idea you’re certain she’ll love, I think it’s best to get something you know she wants and has a use for.

8. Did you share Teddy’s name with family and friends before he was born?

Yes! I shared a few names we were considering with Grandy and she quickly zeroed in on Teddy (the name of her late husband), asking me if I was feeling Teddy kick and forgetting about any of the other names I’d mentioned. ? That pretty much sealed the deal! After that there was no point in keeping it a secret and it was actually great that everyone knew the name before my baby shower. My bff Ali and cousin Emily who hosted the shower decorated with onesies embroidered with Teddy’s name and monogram (which he’s lived in since he was born!) and asked everyone to bring books instead of cards, so he has a little library full of books inscribed with notes to him from all my favorite people!