Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

My husband and I dated six years before we got engaged. It took another five years before we were blessed with or first bouncing baby boy. “Date night” had long been forgotten before the baby had even entered the picture. That being said, family and friends encouraged us to go out. Without the baby.

He was only a few weeks old. I was still a newbie at this nursing thing, and I just wasn't ready to leave him behind. So, we went out as a family.

“Did you get the diaper bag?” I asked my husband as I was getting dressed.

“Yes, I did.” His smiled smugly back at me.

“Did you grab a package of wipes?” I asked.

“Shoot! I'll go get some.”  He headed upstairs to grab the wipes from the changing table.

“Does it have enough diapers in it?” I asked when he returned.

“Um...I don't know. How many diapers does he need?”

“Well, how many are in there?”

“About three.”

“That is definitely not going to be enough.”

He trudged back upstairs to grab more diapers.

“Anything else?” He called from upstairs.

“I think we're good.” I reply.

As he headed down the stairs, I suddenly remembered the A&D ointment. “Did you grab the diaper rash stuff?”

He didn't answer. He simply turned around and went back upstairs.

At last we are both ready. The diaper bag was full and sat waiting beside the door.

My hubby looked at me and said, “Do you think we should change him before we go?”

I nodded. “I should probably feed him too.”

After being rudely awakened from a nice little nap, our little guy was not happy to have his diaper changed. But that done, I nursed him one last time before we strapped him into his carrier.

As soon as my husband locked the carrier into the booster, the baby started crying again.

“P.U.!” My husband said, after he caught a whiff of the cause of his discontent. “Your turn!” he said.

So I took him upstairs for his diaper change. “I need the A&D ointment,” I hollered down the stairs, because it was in the diaper bag which was now in the car. My husband delivered the ointment, muttering under his breath before heading back to wait by the car.

At last, Daddy locked the carrier back into the booster.

“Do you think I should ride in the back seat with him?” I asked.

“Nah. He should be fine. He's been changed, twice, and you just fed him,” my husband replied, trying to reassure me. “It took us an hour to get in the car. We will have fun.”

So, I sit in the front seat with my husband. We held hands as we headed off to dinner. Our first true outing together as a family. We were both excited to be out of the house, to be doing something so normal after our first few weeks of adjusting to parenthood. But before we were even halfway to the restaurant, the baby started crying again as a familiar scent wafted up front.

“Again?” my husband cried. All I could do was giggle as he looked for a place to stop and change yet another poopy diaper.

Back in the car again, we finally made it to the restaurant. The wait was going to be at least thirty-minutes, so we sat down and admired our now sleeping infant. Put him in a quiet room and he screams, but set him down in a crowded, noisy restaurant, and he slept soundly.

At last our table was ready. We unloaded our coats, the carrier and the diaper bag, and sat. Our waitress brought drinks and took our order. We hold hands across the table and chit-chat. The last half hour seems to make up for the rocky start to our evening. Then, just as our food arrived, the baby woke up. And he was hungry. Now.

I headed to the restroom to nurse because I still couldn't bring myself to do it in front of people other than my family. One side, then the other. Time dragged by so slowly. It's even worse when you are sitting in the corner of a restroom, back turned to the door, huddled under a baby blanket. I became so aware of every person entering and exiting, flushing and washing. It seems to take an eternity to fill up his little belly.

At last we returned to the table. I handed the baby to Daddy who had already finished his dinner. Mine was cold, but I didn't mind. At least I was out of the house.

Suddenly, that familiar scent surrounded us again.

“Oh, no!” my husband groaned. “Whose turn is it now?”