With Mother’s Day right around the corner I was reflecting back on my first year of motherhood and a few random memories came back to me. It is hard to believe that my oldest is now in elementary school. I hope you enjoy reading about 5 things I survived my first year of motherhood.

Weird Dreams

I’d wake up at night believing I’d brought the baby into bed and that I lost him in the sheets. I nearly had a panic attack the first time it happened. I was frantic mess screaming, turning on the lights, and ripping the sheets off our bed. Josh would wake up both confused and alarmed. Then he would go check on the baby in his room and there he would be sleeping soundly. Josh had to keep reassuring me that he was in his crib. I was in tears and it took me going into his room to see he was ok for me to be able to try to sleep again. It  happened every night for a few weeks.

Other nights Josh would wake up to find me roaming the hallway. I honestly think I was sleep walking because in my head I was holding the baby nursing him back to sleep while I walked up and down the hall. Josh would turn on the lights and repeatedly ask me what I was doing. I was annoyed because I couldn’t understand how he couldn’t see I was feeding the baby. Then I would look down and see that I was holding my very engorged boobs thinking they were the baby. Very weird but eventually it became almost comical, I said almost, it still freaked me out a little. Anyone else have crazy nightmares like this?

Projectile Vomit

I was so concerned something was horribly wrong with my son when this would happen. And it didn’t happen often. This picture captured my son’s little smile after he had unloaded on me. It was everywhere. Hair, face, body, and floor.

And this episode was totally my fault. He spiked his first fever and after calling the pediatrician they said it would be ok to give him medicine. I was trying to give him infant Tylenol with the dispenser and accidentally caused a gag reflex.

My Husband’s Firefighter Schedule

I really wasn’t sure how I would do with Josh being gone for 24 hours, sometimes 48 hours, at a time. Babywise helped so much because I had a schedule and routine to follow that we rarely deviated from. I knew what time I would be nursing and putting the baby down for naps each and everyday regardless of when my husband was home.

The fire department really is our extended family and Josh has been fortunate with the people and crews he has worked with. They have let him come home for emergency’s, welcomed our family into the station for visits, and given us gently used clothes and toys.

It wasn’t until we had our first baby that I really began to see the benefits of the firefighter schedule for Josh and our family. He has been able to spend so much time with our kids doing the day to day things that most dads don’t have the availability to do with a nine to five job.

Funny fact. I went into labor while Josh was on shift with baby 1, 2, and 3.

Mastitis

Mastitis is an infection of breast tissue that is caused by clogged milk ducts, tight fitting bras, and not emptying the breast all the way during feedings. The symptoms include fever, tender and swollen breast, nausea and/or vomiting, and overall fatigue.

Eight weeks postpartum I went to swim laps and go for run. I got dressed after my swim and discovered my sport bras did not fit me very well and were quite tight. Later on that day I noticed a huge and painful lump in my right breast. It felt like a golf ball had been shoved under my skin. I knew from my friends that this meant I had a clogged duct and there was the possibility that I could develop mastitis.

I immediately began massaging my chest to see if I could release the clog (this was really painful) and made an appointment to see my doctor. Several hours later I was diagnosed with mastitis. Booooooo. I was told to go and invest in new bras, and was prescribed several herbal remedies, antibiotics, and a lymphatic massage for my treatment. A few weeks later I was feeling much better.

Related Reading: My Breastfeeding Story & Pumping, Dumping, Freezing Breastmilk and Bottle Feeding

The Cockroach

This last and final story really doesn’t have anything to do with motherhood directly it just happened during my first year of being a mom. We had large cockroaches that lived around our townhouse. When the complex was sprayed each month it wasn’t unusual to have 5-10 dead on our doorstep.

Josh and I had turned out the lights and gone to bed and within minutes he was already asleep. Shortly after I heard this weird noise on the wall behind me. Seconds later I felt something fall on my head and into my hair. Sitting upright in bed Josh woke up asking what I was doing. I told him something had fallen on me. After the weird dreams I had been having about the baby he told I should go back to sleep. When I laid my head back down I felt something moving in my hair. I started screaming, shaking my head, jumping up and down and stripping off my clothes, while turing on the lights. Josh kept telling my to be quite because the baby was going to wake up. And that is when we saw the huge cockroach crawling around in our bed.

Thankfully my hysterically screaming didn’t wake up the baby or disturb the neighbors we shared common walls with. I had the hardest time going back to sleep even after changing the sheets and taking a shower. And that is saying a lot for a mama with a newborn to not be able to fall asleep ;).

I treasure being a mother to my children and I hope you enjoyed this post! I would love to know something you survived your first year of motherhood.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful mama’s this weekend! Enjoy your blessings that God has given you!

Related Reading: A Mother’s Day Tribute