365 Days of Maya - Day 1-11

 365 Days of Maya - One photo a day of our daughter's first year. I solemnly swear to share the honest to goodness truth about this journey. 

I present you, Maya Lila Buwalda
Born - April 1, 2011 at 10:37 am via C-Section
7 pounds 3 ounces
20 inches long

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Day 1 - To my mother
I will be blogging about our 3 day long journey of bringing Maya into this world. But for now, Day 1 is dedicated to my mother. As labour kicked in in the early hours of April 1st, I developed an infection in my uterus, got a fever, and projectile vomitted across the walls, floor and carpet; twice. Mama was right there with me the entire time, so kind and loving. As I shook uncontrollably, she kept reassuring me that everything was ok and we were going to have our baby soon. Her absolute calmness and love meant the world to me. She is my mama and I am eternally grateful for her presence.





 Day 2 - Her first bath. 

I'm happy to say she enjoys taking a bath and hasn't cried since.



Day 3 - My first mommy meltdown
Maya was diagnosed with jaundice and had to go through 24 hours of photo therapy. This meant she had to sit in a glass box, eyes covered, wearing nothing but a diaper. We also couldn't comfort her when she cried and the only time we could get her out was to nurse. So there I was, completely hormonal, staring at my child crying her little heart out, unable to comfort her. I burst into tears and continued to cry for a good 2 hours feeling so completely helpless. Maya has the prettiest eyes and she is so curious. So to see her eyes wrapped shut for 24 hours caused me pain like I've never felt before.






 Day 4 - My hero

Two clueless people have a baby and just like that we were Mama and Papa. Such a strange transformation to be so full of fear at the idea of caring for a tiny human and to then know exactly what your child needs. As I lay in bed recovering from my infection and C-section, the most I could do was nurse her and hold her for a bit. My husband did EVERYTHING else. Anyone who's had a baby know that EVERYTHING else is a lot. He did it, with a smile (when is he not smiling?) and with such love. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture but not on this guy. It some how made him kinder.. I love you Frankie <3




Day 5 - Home at last
The scariest night of our lives. Going from the hospital where help is a button away to coming home with your baby is kind of frightening. We just sat there staring at her, making sure she was breathing and ok. We got no sleep and were pretty much all nerves by sun rise. But we survived and Maya was blissfully unaware that her parents were nervous wrecks. Frankie finally gave into sleep deprivation and snapped. Mama came over and rescued us all and Frankie got 8 hours of sleep and was back to his chipper self.




Day 6 - Home visit from our midwife
Making sure her spine is ok but all I could admire was her cute little butt crack..



 Day 7 - Conversations with God or Gas

Whichever it is, her smile makes my heart melt



Day 8 - View from my bed
Napping can be a bit hard sometimes when I have this pretty little face to admire. I can be cross-eyed from being tired and I still manage to keep my eyes open to admire her face. Thank God for adrenalin.




Day 9 - Smooshy face
I developed mastitis and was in a lot of pain with a fever. But thanks to antibiotics and kissing this fat smooshy face; I'm recovering well.




 Day 10 - Her nose

We can't figure out who's nose she has. It is one mean lookin' schnoz and we love it.




Day 11 - Gratitude.
Recovered from a C-section, uterus infection, another infection following surgery, mastitis and finally a tummy bug. It has been a tough 11 days and I chose to suffer a great deal and wallow in self-pity. I then chose to be strong and grateful - very very very grateful.