What a Life!

I was a bit more productive yesterday than I was Monday afternoon. I think Monday afternoon seemed wasteful mostly because I spent most of my time sitting around listing all the things I needed to do and getting almost none of them done. Yesterday I crossed a number of things off my lists which made me feel very good. I mean, I know I am only a couple weeks post-partum, but this was the thing I really struggled with as a SAHM after Ben was born. I’ve learned a lot in the three years that I’ve been a SAHM, but while I was pregnant with Joey, I did a lot of reflecting and decided that my original concept of what being a SAHM was, based on what I saw my mother and grandmothers do, wasn’t necessarily what it was going to be like for me. So now that my life is a bit closer to “normal” again, there will be some changes made to my daily life as a SAHM.

I bought a new sling while I was pregnant with Joey. With Ben I used the sling a lot when I was out shopping – it was so much easier to carry him in that than to keep track of him otherwise. I could have my hands free to do what I needed to do and he was always happy because he was close to me. I used my Maya Wrap the most, which goes over one shoulder and has rings. While I was pregnant with Joey, I looked back into the world of slings and learned about cloth slings that go over both shoulders. I bought a Moby Wrap which is a knit version of that style of sling (it has a bit of stretch to it that woven fabric doesn’t have).

I had practiced putting it on, which is more complicated than the slings that just go over one shoulder, but I hadn’t tried putting Joey in it much yet. Yesterday, I finally put him in it and got fairly comfortable with it. All I have to say is that this sling is so much easier on the back and shoulders because the weight is distributed more evenly. We’re not just talking in comparison with how it felt with Ben – I’ve used my Maya Wrap with Joey a number of times, and this sling is far more comfortable than the Maya. The reason I never used the Maya Wrap at home was because I would get so tired carrying Ben around like that.

Having this sling will have a huge impact on my productivity, I think. As I type, Joey is sleeping quietly in the sling and I am using both hands to type (something that cannot be done if one hand is tied up holding a baby). I have to be careful when I bend over to do things (like taking laundry out of the dryer), but as long as I’m upright, it works very well. This sling won’t work as well for nursing as the Maya Wrap does; however, I will be able to carry Joey around in it until he is tired of it rather than when I am tired of it.

It will be interesting to see how the remainder of my planned changes to my lifestyle will pan out as this change has. Keeping lists of what I need to do and having the right wrap are definitely making a significant difference at this point. More later on changes to my philosophy of being a SAHM and such.