Of Life after Alyssa

Before we were pregnant with Alyssa, I often would dream of life with a kid. As cliche as it sounds, I had the whole white picket fence, me adorned in an apron cooking up a storm while my little ones anxiously wait at the door for daddy to come home from work.

Needless to say, my reality is not as I dreamt it to be. I have no picket fence, heck, my house has no fence! =D and cooking up a storm is hard to do when my daughter's waking time is about the time dinner is to be prepared.

Suffice to say, life after Alyssa has been quite different from what I envisioned it to be. It was hard at first, lots of struggles. And after some reflection, I finally realised the cause of the stress. Two reasons actually 1. adjustments to everything that's new 2. my own expectations.

Adjustments are a given, afterall we've never been parents before, moreover, every child is different. The mother of all adjustments for me was the whole identity shift from being childless to with child... a mom... secondly was the whole performing-with-severe-lack-of-sleep. Following that was the change in routines, not being able to go out as and when we'd like.

The whole confinement month was not bad for me, but I really missed going out of the house. Taking a slow walk to the maintenance office to pay our bills made me happy. So came the end of confinement, I was overjoyed! Spend the night before packing the diaper bag for the first time!!! Realised how many things I had to pack... and it took me 3 outings to get the formula right. x number of diapers for x amount of time, x changes of clothes etc.

It's really interesting to sit and note down the whole list of changes after Alyssa arrived... I know I have a mental note somewhere, but in the mishmash of all things I now call routine and life, I can't seem to find this mental note! Perhaps I'll add to this list when I actually do find it.

For now, I guess all I really want to say is, life after the arrival of Alyssa is beautiful! =)

Inspired to have a kid? =D