We made a baby! Bree joined this world back on October 19th and she is the best thing to hit our lives since... well, ever. She is a spunky, chunky, bright-eyed little bundle of baby, and Gabe and I are both totally smitten with her.
First smiles!
I’m a pretty solid workaholic – a lot of farmers are, I think – and the question I always used to ask mothers was, “How soon could you get back to work after having your baby?” I always assumed that the baby stage of parenting would be a slow and monotonous sort of hell, just months of tears and diapers and agonizing boredom. Being productive has always been a big source of satisfaction in my life, and I was seriously concerned that the change of pace into motherhood would break me.
Not so! At least not yet. Turns out that raising a little human is quite fulfilling, and though it is SUCH a different pace than pre-baby life, parenthood so far has been super satisfying. I guess I wasn’t giving biology enough credit - the minute I became a mother every bit of my being just wanted to take care of this little critter. And even though the first couple of months with Bree felt really challenging and sometimes cooped up, I never wished for anything different. Farm… what farm?
Not so! At least not yet. Turns out that raising a little human is quite fulfilling, and though it is SUCH a different pace than pre-baby life, parenthood so far has been super satisfying. I guess I wasn’t giving biology enough credit - the minute I became a mother every bit of my being just wanted to take care of this little critter. And even though the first couple of months with Bree felt really challenging and sometimes cooped up, I never wished for anything different. Farm… what farm?
Well, I did have to coordinate getting summer business wrapped up in late October and November after Bree was born, but luckily I had Lauren and Brian at the farm, and Karen and Darlene at the High Altitude Harvest CSA. They were able to run harvests and distribution, so all I had to do was line up orders with accounts and the CSA crop list each week and get that to them. I made it out to the farm once a week or so to check in and help direct a few wrap up tasks, but honestly that was about all I could manage. I had a hard recovery from the birth process, so I wasn’t able to do anything physical at all (even walking much) for the first 6 weeks.
For any prospective farmer mothers out there, I feel like it’s worth sharing that birthing a baby took a way bigger toll on my body than I had expected. After 3 days of labor I ended up with a C-section because Bree was posterior and wasn’t flipping. I never in a million years imagined that I would have a C-section (we had planned a home birth), and the recovery was a total bitch. Getting in and out of bed was SO painful, sneezing was agonizing, and taking care of the baby took more energy than I had to give, even with Gabe and family doing a ton. It sucked, and I wish I hadn’t needed a C-section, but I did, and so I’m grateful that I had the help when I needed it.
And even though I didn’t think I would ever feel normal again, it got better. I started to feel slightly more mobile at 6-8 weeks post-partum, and at about 10 weeks (aka an eternity) I was able to start going for longer walks and doing some exercises. Now I’m 3 months out and I can definitely see the light - I can do crunches, I carry Bree for hours, and I don’t have to worry when I lift things. But even so, I think it’s going to take me a most of the winter to get my strength back enough to farm.
For any prospective farmer mothers out there, I feel like it’s worth sharing that birthing a baby took a way bigger toll on my body than I had expected. After 3 days of labor I ended up with a C-section because Bree was posterior and wasn’t flipping. I never in a million years imagined that I would have a C-section (we had planned a home birth), and the recovery was a total bitch. Getting in and out of bed was SO painful, sneezing was agonizing, and taking care of the baby took more energy than I had to give, even with Gabe and family doing a ton. It sucked, and I wish I hadn’t needed a C-section, but I did, and so I’m grateful that I had the help when I needed it.
And even though I didn’t think I would ever feel normal again, it got better. I started to feel slightly more mobile at 6-8 weeks post-partum, and at about 10 weeks (aka an eternity) I was able to start going for longer walks and doing some exercises. Now I’m 3 months out and I can definitely see the light - I can do crunches, I carry Bree for hours, and I don’t have to worry when I lift things. But even so, I think it’s going to take me a most of the winter to get my strength back enough to farm.
All bundled up for an outing
It’s so easy to think that if you’re fit and healthy that the birth process will go swimmingly, and it does for so many women, but for me labor was a big lesson in Things Don’t Always Go How You Plan Them. I expect that lesson will be a recurring theme with parenthood!
Now that kiddo is 3 months old it feels like we’re all getting into the swing of things, and I am starting to look forward to the next farming season. I’m able to do some business work now – financials and crop planning – during nap time. And I’ll walk out to the farm with her every so often to check on things, imagining that even though she is sleeping she’ll absorb some of the good farm vibes. Once the farm season starts I’m hoping to be able to bring her along for much of it, though we won’t know exactly how that will pan out until the time comes! I’ll keep you posted.
Now that kiddo is 3 months old it feels like we’re all getting into the swing of things, and I am starting to look forward to the next farming season. I’m able to do some business work now – financials and crop planning – during nap time. And I’ll walk out to the farm with her every so often to check on things, imagining that even though she is sleeping she’ll absorb some of the good farm vibes. Once the farm season starts I’m hoping to be able to bring her along for much of it, though we won’t know exactly how that will pan out until the time comes! I’ll keep you posted.
First family snow shoe hike on Christmas day
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