It’s 3 A.M. …

I recently read a blog post from one of the many parent accounts on Facebook about the questions new parents Google at 3AM while feeding baby. I think of the 7-10 items, I Googled one.

As a new mom of just about eight weeks, here’s what I’ve actually Googled:

1. “When does breastfeeding stop hurting?” Just so we’re all clear on this one, the answer was not found. Or rather, the answer is “It’s different for everyone.” I have been given advice by my best friend that at three months, life got a lot easier. Four more weeks to go! Cheers!
2. “What does baby diarrhea look like for breastfed babies?” Breastfed baby poop is watery, loose, goopy, yellow, green, and everything else in between. I realized that unless she has a fever or isn’t eating or peeing, its normal.
3. “Things to do this weekend.” Getting out of the house as a stay at home mom is really important to me. Getting to do stuff with my significant other is even more important. We have this awesome baby that we can put in a baby carrier and head out so finding stuff that’s inexpensive and sounds fun is what I look for.
4. “Cradle cap. Blocked tear duct. Dry skin.” How to’s on these things have helped. Mostly it’s like asking when breastfeeding will stop hurting though and the answer is… “it goes away on its own.” It’s not helpful in the way that I now have a way to fix it; but it’s helpful in the way of easing my mind I am not doing anything wrong.”
5. “When can we have sex?” Again, this is different for everyone, from the 3am research I have done. Two things I took away, 1. when your doctor tells you its okay and 2. when you feel ready.
6. IUD’s.  While we weren’t sure we could get pregnant so easily (not that we were trying), now that we know we’re both fertile, getting on birth control was a necessity. Breastfeeding isn’t the sperm deflector the old wives tale says it is, and I am not quite ready to be pregnant again. I haven’t been on anything in years because frankly I don’t like birth control , but 3 AM seemed like the opportune time to do some research and figure out what I wanted to do.
7. “C-section exercises.” Right before I found out I was pregnant, I had started going back to the gym more regularly, and then morning sickness reared its ugly head into my life and ruined my progress. And then there’s the fact that I had major stomach surgery to remove a baby. I am currently at below before baby weight without doing much except some dog walks and cutting down on sugar and dairy, but I have been looking for ways to get back into the swing of being healthy and working out.

As long as baby girl is kind of asleep while feeding and not looking at me, I also look at Facebook and read a lot of the articles and blog posts about breastfeeding and parenting while nursing and date nights for mom and dad.

There is SOOOOO much information out there. Some great. Some not so great. At 3AM I am taking it all in with a grain of salt and doing what feels best each day. What I have gotten out of all of these readings, be it 3AM or noon, is there is a serious “mother’s instinct” inside all of us and that is what we should go by. Also, moms and dads parent differently, and that’s okay. I googled that as well once.

What have you googled at 3AM?

Thank you for stopping by!

XO – Christina