thoughts// the first week

jase and i both live in different states than our immediate family; his is in florida, and mine is in texas. as y’all may have read, we had an AMAZING doula who taught me so much during pregnancy and helped us prepare for birth and postpartum. 

as we discussed with her the time after birth, she really emphasized and encouraged us to spend the first week after ryver was born with just the THREE OF US (and bennie of course!). she said it is such a bonding time for the parents and baby. we took her word for it, and to be honest, i think it was some of the best wisdom we have received.  

TO PREFACE, we both love our families so much and could not wait for them to come meet ryv. and they could hardly stand waiting too but were so supportive in our decision. 

this time with just our little family was so important because it allowed us to really learn together as brand new parents, depend on each other in the sweetest ways and also just enjoy our precious little bundle. when family comes right away, it is so special and can provide so much help, but i realized in retrospect if we had someone there right away, we would have depended on them so much and wouldn’t have joined together to realize what we were capable of. this week truly created such a solid foundation for parenting!

the laboring and delivery was SO special and incredibly bonding just the two of us, and this time after birth was the same. jase took care of me in the most precious ways during the most crucial parts of healing, and we also just had so much fun! our first two nights in the tiny hospital room postpartum with jase sleeping in a tiny bed were actually some of our favorite memories – we would cuddle up together in my bed, turn on friends, postmates every meal, including salt and straw cookie dough ice cream, and just stare at our little boy, process the birth, and think about the sweet memories ahead!

we really cherished the first week together and developed the best rhythm, which made us enjoy our family coming even more! we didn’t feel at a loss (if that makes sense) yet learned so much from my mom and sister when they did come to visit. 

I WAS SO GRATEFUL to get this input from our doula. in the end, any decision a family makes for their post birth journey is perfect! but i valued this time so much and in turn, felt excited to share our experience.