Thursday, August 14, 2014

Introducing Mason Richard Burnside [Birth & 1 Month]

Wow! Seriously, where did time go? I can't believe its been 5 weeks since I last posted. This has been the fastest 5 weeks of my life. Also, I apologize for the rambling I am about to do. I have officially lost the ability to control my focus/train of thought so this post is probably about to be all over the place. Oh, and it's going to be one of the longest posts I've ever written with LOTS of pics. So much to be shared!



On Monday, July 14, 2014 at 11:24am, we welcomed our baby boy, Mason Richard Burnside, into the world!! He was 7 lbs, 13 oz, and 20 inches long. I'm not going to go into detail about the birth story, mainly because it was all such a blur anyway. I ended up having an emergency c-section because every time I would have a contraction, Mason's heart rate would drop. So after laboring for 11 hours, we got that baby outta there. And my life has been changed (for the better of course) ever since.



When you're pregnant, everyone tells you "get as much sleep as you can now!" And while yes, that is great advice, it really does nothing to prepare you for the loss of sleep you will experience. I will say we have been blessed with an awesome baby. He does sleep pretty well at night, other than waking up screaming when its time to eat. But going from sleeping 7-9 hours (straight with no waking) a night to getting about 2-3 hours of sleep at a time is the most exhausting thing I've ever experienced. My body has never had to function on so little sleep before and its taken me a while to adjust. I've always LOVED sleep. I even came home from the hospital (when I was born) sleeping through the night, so my mom says. So that's been one major adjustment. Totally worth the loss of sleep though. :)



Being a mommy is the absolute best thing in the world. I have 9 nieces and nephews (with one more on the way!). And I absolutely love and adore those sweet babies. But I just thought I knew love before Mason. I had no idea. Not gonna lie, the first two weeks of his life were extremely hard. I started out breastfeeding. B and I went to a couple of classes and I was very excited to try it. However, it was soooo not for me. I struggled with it a lot. Mason actually caught on really well with it. But I was not producing enough, so it was taking him like an hour to an hour and a half for every feeding and then he was still fussy. He wasn't happy. I wasn't happy. And that meant Brandon really wasn't happy. So Brandon and I talked about it and talked to our doctor (whom we LOVE, by the way), and we decided to switch to formula, especially since I wasn't producing enough and he went from week 1 to week 2 with no weight gain. And it was like the heavens opened up and the angels sang "HALLELUJAH!" It was crazy how much of life change that was! But I can't say I didn't struggle with the decision. I struggled with it a LOT. I didn't want to be a "quitter". I wanted to naturally provide nutrients for my child. I wanted to keep that sweet bond between Mason and me. I wanted to save money and not have to buy formula. And unfortunately, I started to care way too much about what other people would think about me quitting. But yall, I will tell you right now. I have zero regrets about changing to formula. It was been the best decision we've made so far in parenthood. Ultimately, the decision was made because Mason was not getting what he needed. And he came first in the decision. But I still have that sweet bond with him, and now Brandon gets to share in on that too when he feeds him. It's a win for everyone!



I have spent a lot of time in prayer, praying that I wouldn't let Satan keep stealing my joy of motherhood. Since being a parent is one of the most challenging, yet most amazing journeys sent directly from the Lord, I feel like that's the one of the main things that Satan tries to attack constantly. He is always making me doubt my ability as a mother. He's always wanting me to compare myself to other mommys. He's wanting me to compare Mason to other children. He tests my patience (constantly) and knows I can't stand to hear my child cry. So in those moments of doubt and frustration, I pray for him to flee from my thoughts in Jesus name. Then I take about 3 deep breaths. And then I spend time praying prayers of thankfulness to him. Thanking Him for all he has blessed me with. How in the world did I end up with the most amazing husband and son I could have ever imagined? I'm still not sure. But I'm so thankful I did.



I guess its time to give some updates on Mason, since he IS a month old and all.


Mason Richard Burnside

Age: 1 month
Weight: 10 lbs, 6 oz 
Height: 21 3/4 in
Mason loves:

  • to lay on his Daddy's chest - one of my most favorite things to see
  • tooting - seriously...I've never heard a kid toot as much OR as loud. It's somewhat impressive.
  • to be held - it's getting a tad ridiculous...buying a wrap this weekend so I can actually get some things done around the house!
  • people - He's had quite a few visitors and even has a roadtrip to Arkansas under his belt.. all of which he did great! He loves seeing new faces.
  • kisses from Mommy - ok, so he may or may not love this, but I sure do love it so I had to add it to the list.
Also, he has already outgrown most of his newborn onesies and this momma just about cried over it. We put him in 3-month pajamas last night and the length was perfect. He's growing up so fast already!!


And before I start crying again, I will leave you with some of the pics from our 1-month photo shoot!





1 comment:

  1. I love this! You made me cry.... and laugh.... and cry again. You have such an awesome gift at writing / sharing your thoughts.... I love you three Burnsides so very much!

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