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I loved waking up to my baby's beautiful little face looking curiously at mine. I co slept with her, so she was the first thing I saw in the am.
LOVED holding her while she slept. She slept best in my arms those first few weeks.
Nothing beats the smell of newborn baby. I could smell her all day.

@winniebee I know that all you hear are horror stories... but in all honesty, I look back at the first month of Wagon Jr.'s life very very fondly. Wagon Sr. was able to take 5 weeks off, and the first 4 weeks my parents were here so my mom took care of all the cooking and cleaning and laundry. My parents were also VERY hands-off in terms of interfering with the baby and wanting to take care of him, which was really nice. So Wagon Sr. and I basically camped out in our bedroom for an entire month. During the day when Wagon Jr. had awake time, we'd change and feed him then bring him downstairs to my parents, then retreat back upstairs and sleep together. My dad would hold Wagon Jr. while watching tv or my mom would put him in the pack n play or swing while she cooked in the kitchen.

Late at night, between feedings, if we knew he'd be up again in an hour or so, Wagon Sr. and I would stay up together and research baby gear, talk, watch tv, and watch the baby monitor (even though Wagon Jr. was in a bassinet right next to us!).

It kind of felt like college or camping. It was great because we did everything together and even though it was hard, it was fun and a great bonding experience.

After the first month, when Wagon Sr. went back to work and my parents left, that's when things got hairy for me.

Honestly it's REALLY hard physically (and emotionally because your'e tired and hormonal and nursing is so hard!) in the beginning but it was also equally a fantastic bonding experience for Wagon Sr. and me. I'm looking forward to it again because my parents will be here again, and hopefully they will be able to take care of Wagon Jr. almost 100% while we do the baby camping thing again

(novella)

Baby was born curious and it was so fun watching her explore and learn. It was little things at first like realizing she couldn't nurse from her papa's nose Or watching what music she responded to, or the first time she tried to mimic a sound. And their little eyes look at you like you're the most special thing in the world. And learning to parent with my husband just brought us even closer, looking at this amazing little creature that came from us and watching each other grow into parents.

@mrs. wagon: I had a really similar experience... my mom came up and stayed with us for a while, and her philosophy was that she was there to do all the crap work so that DH and I could just focus on the baby
DH took three weeks off, and what I probably remember most from that time was that bonding with DH and that sense of teamwork. Over the year since LO was born, there have certainly been times that having a kid has put a strain on our marriage (never seriously or horribly so, but it presents a new set of challenges to get used to), but that early period was actually really great for our relationship. It really was kind of like camp or college.
Also, people are ridiculously nice to you when you have a baby. This is probably something I noticed more later on (like around 3-6 months, once LO was awake more often and we went out more often), but you get so much positive attention when you are out with a baby! (DH says that when he, as a dude, is out alone with LO, people fall all over themselves trying to be nice to him and help him out, like at the grocery store or something)

I also had a really sucky pregnancy and pretty much hated the whole experience, so once I got past the first week of "oh my God, if someone isn't watching at all times the baby might just stop breathing", I just generally felt SO MUCH BETTER. I loved not feeling sick, I loved being able to move around more easily... I loved being off work and not having that hanging over my head.

@mrs. wagon: same here!! There was one time when he was less than a week old that my mom was holding him and he just started crying for no apparent reason, he had just ate, been changed and napped. My mom gave him to me and he immediately stopped crying and looked completely serene and content. It seriously made my heart melt. "He really actually for real loves me!" It is a magical feeling knowing only you are specially meant to meet your baby's needs.

I actually had an amazing first month. I know I am one of the lucky ones, because most women I know really struggled the first couple months - but I was sooo blessed. I had a perfectly wonderful baby.

The hardest part for me was that I had a difficult post-partum healing experience. I had incontinence for two weeks, and intense pain down there. It sometimes made it nearly impossible for me to care for my baby, I could get out of bed to change my baby without wetting myself a few times. It was so hard emotionally to HAVE to have my husband do it.

Otherwise it was a fantastic experience.. I honestly didn't even miss sleep at all until after 4 weeks. There was some sort of long-term adrenaline rush that I got from being a new mom. I never felt exhausted (tired, but never exhausted), and I absolutely loved night feedings, even though they took two hours each time.

He was such a calm, content, and serene baby. I just loved looking at him all the time, taking pictures, kissing him, smelling him...

I spent pretty much ALL day in my rocking chair, while he slept I would watch Gilmore Girls There was a lot of TV/movie watching the first month.

I also loved showing him off. Many moms said they got frustrated with people wanting them to get out of the house or coming to see baby, but at 11 days old I took him to church and loved showing him off to people!

Breastfeeding was wonderful too. Another HUGE blessing. I loved it. I loved looking at his little face while he nursed, his big baby blue eyes looking up at me. I loved watching how his lips moved, and how his ears wiggled everytime he sucked, and how you could feel his whole little body work to swallow. He made the cutest eating sounds, slurps and gulps. It was so precious. I felt so bonded with him by nursing so much.

I hope you are blessed with a wonderful pp period!

The first week or so after birth is such a high. LOVED it. So in love, so happy, so emotionally and physically drained, so all over the place hormonally. It was an experience I'm so glad to have had.

The first smile... Being able to devote yourself entirely to your kid and your family during maternity leave... Getting used to waking up so often at night was hard, but looking back, Baby X slept better as a newborn than he does now... All the help and all the love we got from others... Seeing my husband be a dad and how proud he was as a brand new dad.

Now we're over the honeymoon phase, and since Baby X is a rotten sleeper so my overall mood each day is "tired." It was nice when we could nap while the baby napped.

Oh, these stories are just melting my heart. I can't wait until our little girl is here.