Everyone tells a new mother “Make sure to take time for you!” and “Take care of yourself, you can’t take care of your family if you are not taking care of you.” And unlike so much of what “everyone” tells you, it’s not bullshit. So this go round, I am doing the very best I can to do just that.
Yesterday was a damn near perfect day. I had my second post-partum trip to the chiropractor. One more and I am cleared for take off. It is hard to believe it was only a year ago I drank the Kool-Aid but I am convinced that my chiropractic care is somewhat to credit for my bouncing back so quickly after this labor and delivery.
In the same building, I had the pleasure of participating in my very first activity that starts with the words “Mommy &.” And believe it or not, after I got past the initial “I can’t fucking believe I am doing this” feeling it was wonderful.
Mommy & Me Yoga. Check that off the bucket list. I had this idea that somehow it would be guided rolling around the floor with my youngin’ which I had trouble wrapping my mind around. Around the why you’d need someone to show you how to do that and how I was going to get through it without peeing in my pants (not from lack of Kegel exercises during and post pregnancy, but from hysterics.)
Turns out Mommy & Me Yoga is regular yoga where your baby can loll around on a blanket (hopefully sleeping) and if they should wake you can pop out a boob in child’s pose or do the Mommy sway in the back of a room and no one will give you the glare. The glare that says “really, a baby? A baby? How dare you bring a BABY here!?”
There is one more thing a new mother needs to do. “Get out of your house!” the well meaning advice givers say. This is easier said than done for some, but I don’t have any trouble getting out. I was, after all, at work seven days after Lucy was born. But I was out of the house twice this week, socially. Much harder for me. I had lunch with an old friend one day this week. Not a huge accomplishment for some, but slightly more cause for celebration because I initiated this meet up. And the second time? With a new friend.
It makes me nervous to say that. A new friend. You may recall that I sought acupuncture treatment towards the very end of my pregnancy. I have since been back twice. Because I really like the practitioner. She’s neat. And cool. In that “I wonder if I am cool enough to kick it with this girl” way. Can women that have TWO kids even “kick it” at all?
I did the hard thing. The hard thing that frequently eludes me. That I had dared myself to do in November in this upcoming year. I stuck my neck out and tried to make a friend. Making friends is awkward under normal circumstances, but when you have bullshitted with a gal a handful of times and at the end you hand them your Visa card it is especially daunting to say “So, I was thinking maybe we could hang out, and maybe I’d not pay you. Whatcha think?” But I did it. And it paid off.
I had the last of my pre-paid sessions yesterday. And I am certain I will see her when she gets back from her trip to Austin. Because she likes me, too, guys. Even though I have TWO kids and am rapidly heading towards having NO job. And get this. She has ZERO kids. Like maybe we could talk about something besides breeding. Or breastfeeding or how much sleep we got. There is a place for all that. A huge place. I did just finish mentioning that I secretly LOVED Mommy & Me Yoga afterall… but music and tattoos and books and funny stories from your twenties, this is some good shit that deserves some attention, too.
Quite a few of my friends, friends that have known me since Emily was little and before, have recently sent me an email or a text message along a common theme. “How are you doing? Really?” And to each of them I have said the same thing, “I’m good, I think. I feel really good.”
I am typing this in my “running” clothes. Clothes that will really be walking with a VERY tiny bit of jogging clothes until I have had one more visit with the chiropractor and am closer to six weeks postpartum. It isn’t noteworthy that I am writing and wearing pants with a forgiving waist band. But these clothes are already sweaty. (Tell me that is not gross? I wear exercise clothes more than once unless I wear them to a Bikram Yoga class. I don’t really care if I already smell if I am heading out the door to sweat.)
Day one of a 5K training program was completed day before yesterday. And I am headed out the door to do day two as soon as I hit Publish.
So, to answer the question, how am I doing, really? Awesome. Really, really good. I am taking care of myself. And I drank a Heineken while I cleaned out the fridge after Em told me she did not have a boyfriend. Yet. I got this. It’s gonna be cool.
Excitement on the side 