Life's Conclusions as of Week 17 of Motherhood

1.You can get used to leaving your baby with someone else all day long. So far our nanny seems great. She's totally into all of our parenting choices, is fine using cloth diapers, doesn't freak out when she hears that Adi doesn't take a pacifier (not that it was our choice, we tried), never has the tv on, sings all the time, and is a bit of a neat freak so I get cleaned and sterilized bottles at the end of everyday (hell, I don't even do that). You can never know, but so far so good.
2. I really am happier when I don't have to take care of a baby all day long. Seriously, it is about 500 times more stressful than working behind a computer. Stay at home mom's are really tough cookies, and I am just not cut out for it.
3. It is not fair that I got my period two months post pardum while nursing full time. Seriously, nursing as birth control? It's a good thing we're not super religious is all I have to say. (I just got my period AGAIN which is what reminded me of this whole thing).
4. Period cramps are much better after your cervix has been stretched to let a baby pass through. My cervix laughs in the face of a little fluid now.
5. While I have gotten my period, my complexion still hasn't gotten the memo and I still have what I call orth-tricyclen skin. Best pregnancy side effect ever.
6. While taking care of a baby is rediculously hard and frustrating, when something you do actually works (like getting the kiddie to fall asleep in her crib, without nursing into a stupor) you feel like you've struck gold.
7. I love my lactation consultant and feel the constant need to send her flowers (I still need to document that whole story) everytime I nurse.
8. Why did I never know about Etsy until now? I now want to get this with my kiddie's name on it.
9. Lanolin is god's gift to, well, everything. I don't use it much on my nipples anymore, but did you know it solves pretty much every other problem known to man. Cracked cuticles? Check. Really dry patches of skin? Check. The rash that forms under all those cute fat rolls under a baby's chin from sweat and copius spit up? Check. Red nose from a cold? (in this case by the way, lanolin is the only thing that has EVER worked in my life) Check. Chapped lips? Check.
The funny thing is that my mother has been claiming this for years. She always keeps a container of lanolin in the kitchen for her cuticles, and swears by it. She also, says that she discovered it from her breastfeeding days. But since her breastfeeding days were in the 80's the lanolin she uses smells like sheep, it's awful, which is why she has always had to defend her choice to keep using it. Yech. I'm buying her a tube of Lansinoh when I get home, I don't know how they got rid of the smell but they did.
10. I think we actually might be decent at this whole parent thing. Who knew?

One Week Down

Here I am, finishing up my first week of work after maternity leave. I can't exactly say that it has been my most productive week ever, but I'm easing in slowly.
My absolutely wonderful boss is letting me work from home for the first couple of weeks. This could definetely be lending to the lack of productivity but also to the lessening of trauma from sending my three and a half month old to a nanny.
So far so good with the nanny. She lives down the hill from us, is Scottish, and seems very invested in the kids she has taken care of. She does it more as a retired hobby than to make money. As much as I felt that I wasn't good at the full time caring of Adi, I still feel like there's nothing like being with your Ima. But life must go on, and a new routine must begin. At least she'll get to know the nanny before she hits the stranger anxiety stage.
But I miss her. I need the time to myself, and work isn't bad. But I miss her.
Because Adi pretty much sucks at taking naps, she's very cranky in the afternoons. I feel like I only get her bad time now. I want her smiley talkative mornings as well.
I'm sure I'll get used to things, but like I said, I miss her.