An Island

Being a new parent can be a very isolating experience. For one, I've been home for the last 10 weeks (2 weeks before she was born and 8 after). Most days, I'm alone with Audrey until John gets home around 4:30 or 5:00. We watch some tv, bounce on the exercise ball, go for walks, play the tongue game (I stick my tongue out, she copies and then smiles... ahhh!), and then it's bed by 8:30 (so I can get up several times a night and then start all over again the next day). I'm not complaining about our daily routine- I love spending time with her, and I'm not looking forward to going back to work, but I'm wondering where my friends went. I understand it's the rule that once you get married, you lose half of your single friends, but I guess I'm learning that once you have a baby, you lose the other half. It's been a rough 8 weeks, and I really could have used help. I consider myself a pretty loyal friend. What happened to mine? I have friends I haven't seen in 10 years who know more about Audrey than friends who were at (or in) our wedding. Maybe I expect too much out of people?

I am also learning that being a new parent means you are automatically initiated into a new club, a club of mommies who are ready and willing to discuss everything from hemorrhoids to baby poop to nipple leakage. I look forward to future playdates and getting to know a new group of intelligent women and learn from some great moms. I'm grateful for the text messages, teary phone conversations, mall dates, Facebook posts, invitations over, etc. that I've gotten. They have kept me out of post-partum depression, and remind me that while you lose some, you also win some really good ones.