One Week

Are y'all tired of the baby talk yet? I promise that I'll get back to having other things to talk about eventually, but right now, it's pretty much all baby...because my life pretty much revolves around this beautiful little girl!

-I cannot believe that it's been a week since she was born! It's been both the shortest, and the longest week of my life. It was an absolute blessing that Justin took the week off of work (even though I think he's going stir crazy now), because despite the inability to wake him up sometimes, he has been a huge help through it all. In fact, I don't think that I even changed a diaper until yesterday. He has been so active in taking care of Lizzy, that several doctors and nurses have made comments about how nice it is to see the dad being involved. And he made cookies yesterday! I really can't love on J enough right now--he's been absolutely wonderful.

-The past week has pretty much felt like it consisted of feeding Lizzy, and then maybe napping for an hour before I'd need to feed her again. She was a bit jaundiced, so the doctor wanted me to feed her every two hours round the clock, whether she was crying for food or not. Lizzy girl apparently sucked on her tongue in utero, which has sometimes made getting her to latch a challenge. Basically, the first few days, it would take almost the entire two hours to get her to feed...I'd have just enough time to grab some food and run to the bathroom, and then I'd have to start the process all over again. And I don't care WHAT the lactation consultants tell you, but it HURTS. A lot. Even when you're doing it right. And your uterus contracts the whole time you're feeding. And I felt like my boobs were punching bags for frustrated Lizzy, who already has a killer right hook. And feeding typically means sitting, which really hurts.

Anyway, as of our jaundice check yesterday, the doctor said that she looks much, much better. So I think that I may let her direct how often she feeds a little bit more now. Which will hopefully mean a little more sleep for me as well.

PS- I unfortunately had a really terrible experience with the lactation consultants at our hospital, that resulted in quite an argument. There's a story in there, but the moral is that I quickly learned how to vocalize the fact that I am the parent, and that I get to make the decisions when it comes to Lizzy. It's a valuable lesson that I encourage all pregnant mamas to learn quickly! 

-Despite what I'd read, I was not prepared AT ALL for post-partum recovery. Anything and everything hurt--sitting hurt, laying hurt, going to the bathroom hurt. Getting in and out of the car hurt. And I was not prepared at all for the amount of bleeding that continued days after giving birth. And I was (and still am) still just extremely, extremely swollen in my arms, feet, and face. Apparently, they gave me a huge amount of IV fluids--I had 4+ bags in the 6 hours that I was in the labor and delivery room, which my nurse and doctor friends tell me is really quite a ton. Basically, I was just always uncomfortable. Some days, I just cried. The recovery aspect of things was absolutely terrible.

-From day 1 at home, SIDS has scared the crap out of me. I know this isn't something that I can control, but I still wake up several times a night in an absolute panic.

-But despite all the hard stuff, there is so much that's absolutely wonderful as well. Lizzy already knows my and Justin's voices--if she's crying, we can comfort her in a way that other people just can't. Her favorite thing is to lay on our chests, near our heart. She'll sleep that way for hours, just making happy little sighing noises. There is nothing better in the world. She's also remarkably alert for a baby--she will just look around with her eyes wide open, and make these adorable little faces that are just so darn expressive. Already, she has such a personality! It's absolutely incredible, and has made the aforementioned things which were really, really hard, totally worth it.