Twelve weeks!

Nathaniel was 12 weeks old yesterday--which means it's been 12 weeks since I gave birth. If I were working, that would mean my maternity leave would be up. I can't imagine leaving him every day to work. I don't think I could do it. I am the only person I could trust to bring him up with all the love and support he needs.

My recovery has been all right. I have learned not to judge the fashion of brand new moms as much as I used to. Going shopping has been extremely, extremely depressing. Nothing I used to wear fits like it did before, and a lot of stuff I can't even fit into. I'm almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight but my body is shaped differently than it was a year ago.

One of the worst things has been my post-pregnancy stomach. No one told me that after the baby comes out and the excess water and goo comes out, you're stuck with stretched out skin. It's SO hard to find pants that fit, because of that stretchy skin. I'm back into my normal 4/6's, but they fit strangely. I really don't know what to do about it.

Twelve weeks after birth, I'm back into working out: some friends have been doing the Insanity workout with us every night. So I (and all of them!) are extremely sore. It's sad because the workout is supposed to be done centered around your core, but my core just got stretched out for 9 months and is still getting back to where it used to be, so I am basically a workout wimp. For good reasons. But I hope to get normal abs back soon.

We've slipped into kind of a routine: every day Nathaniel and I get up to drive Carl to the Metro, and then we come home and I clean things or work on projects or read until the baby falls asleep, and then usually I try to fall asleep too, since I don't get tons of sleep at night. Even if he doesn't wake up hungry I wake up wanting to feed him. Then at 2:30 we go over to my mom's house to get my older brother off the bus, and we take care of him until my mom or dad gets home. Then we're off to pick up Carl again, make dinner, and finish cleaning or projects before bed.

Life with my silly baby is way better than it was before. I thought being married was the best thing--and it partially is--but being married with a kid is even better. My opinion twelve weeks in.