After reading many inspirational blogs, I have decided to start my own to chronicle my life as a brand new mother. I guess the best place to start would be in the beginning.
My name is Natalie and I am 26 years old. I live in a small suburban town in New Jersey with my fiancé Matthew, and our beautiful little princess Mackenzie. Life here is pretty hectic as a full time working mother of a 5-month old, but we make it work.
A little over 4 years ago, my doctor informed me that I would not be able to conceive naturally due to health issues. This depressed me greatly, but I figured that when we were ready for a child we would find a way to get the very expensive IVF sessions that was predicted I would need.
In February of 2010 after being nauseous for over two weeks I took a pregnancy test to find it come back positive. Even though it was a big surprise and we weren’t planning on having a baby yet, I was ecstatic! My pregnancy was not a very good one. I ended up being nauseous until the day I delivered and even ended up hospitalized due to pregnancy induced gall stones/pancreatitis. But, I went through it all knowing that in the end I would have a beautiful baby girl. After 18 1/2 hours of induced labor, Mackenzie Charlotte was born in November of 2010. She was my miracle baby.
The first few months with Mackenzie were really hard. She had trouble latching at first and lost over a pound within the first week of life. After fixing that problem, her weight gain was still very slow, even though she was nursing constantly. At two months old she was only at her birth weight After many trips to the pediatrician, we learned that Mackenzie has a fast metabolism. So, she had to be supplemented with formula. After about 2 weeks of supplementation she refused to nurse and is now exclusively on formula. By her third month check-up, Mackenzie was at a normal weight for her age.
Now Mackenzie is 5 months old and boy has time flown by. She is a whopping 15lbz 6oz and 26 ½” at her last appointment at 4 months. She is a very happy baby who wakes up smiling and chattering. She is rolling over from back to tummy, putting weight on her legs, and grabbing at everything she can put in her mouth.
This past week we have had a very big surprise added to our already busy life. We have found out that we are expecting another baby this November. I know it will definitely be a hard transition from one child to two, especially with Mackenzie being so young. But, I am confident I can do this.
So that is my story so far. I am going to try and get on here to update this on a daily basis if possible. There is always something going on at our house, so I’ll always have something to write about.
