Just read confirmation that I'm going to be a featured blogger! I feel as though I've won some award. I know it's probably silly to many people, but just the thought that others care about my life makes me feel good. I once had a friend who teased me for having so many journals - it can be worth it. I'm saving them for the day when I'm extremely famous and everybody wants to know everything about me. Of course, I don't want everyone to know everything, but still.
Alright, so while DD is napping, lets see if I can catch up a bit, for all my fans' reading pleasure:
First Couple of Weeks
After DD was born I was extremely sore for a few days (imagine having an extreme workout for the first time in a year - you know that feeling). It took about two weeks before I could sit without my privates hurting, and sometimes it's still uncomfortable. I loved not having to worry about tampons or pads for nine months, and now that I have to constantly wear a pad it's a major drag. The other night I was extremely irritable - DD would not go to sleep, she had drained me of my milk, my pad was bunching up, my stitches were itching, and despite my sweats I was freezing cold. Oh, the joys of postpartum bliss.
Anyway, I was in the hospital for two more nights. Fortunately the hospital food was actually very good. After we got home I spent more time helping my grandmother prepare the house for the Baptism reception than I did taking care of myself, which was a bad thing. I was supposed to take a sitz bath three times a day, which meant having to clean out the tub before hand because ants kept coming into the tub despite the monthly visits from Orkin. Then there was trying to find the time to pump so DD would have food besides formula, since she wasn't taking to the breast, so this didn't actually happen until day 6 of her life. The rest of the time I was either tending to DD or sleeping. Because my grandparents were at my house nearly every day for about two weeks I was actually able to get quite a bit of sleep. It wasn't until DD was 1 week and 5 days old that DH and I spent an entire day with her by ourselves, and that was only because there was heavy rain with flooding. It was an amazingly calm day. I just wish my grandparents could be here everyday, or hire me a maid, because I'd much rather sleep than clean up while DD is sleeping. That is one of my major reasons, besides all the health benefits, for wanting to BF - the convenience factor. I haven't even washed a single bottle since DD started taking to the breast, whereas before I would wash them every day. At least they don't have to be sterilized every time, too. Once I get a baby carrier conducive to BFing, and can get her attached without the nipple shield, then everything should be smooth sailing. That's the plan, anyway.
Wait Five Minutes
There's a saying in Dallas (not quite sure why) that if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes - it'll change. My grandmother is like that. Don't get me wrong, I love my grandmother and all she has done for me, but she seriously needs to make up her mind. Before DD was born I showed her my closet full of clothes I had bought over the years, and she told me that I never needed to buy any more clothes (at least not until she's a year old). While looking at all the boys clothes GM said that if I had a girl I would turn her into a lesbian by dressing her as a boy. After DD was born, GM took another look at the clothes and decided that most of the pieces could work for a girl as well. Sure, most people will mistake her for a boy unless she has a ribbon in her hair or something, but no duh, that's what I said all along. At least now that I know my baby's a girl I have more feminine pieces, including dresses, and that's half the fun of having a girl anyway.
Out of her love and concern for our health, GM attempts to tell DH and me what we should and should not eat. DH is very big on health foods, even if it's just reduced, free, low, whatever of something bad, trans fats are the devil's fats in his mind. (We went to Whole Foods for the first time yesterday, so now he's found his heaven.) GM, however, prefers us to not consume these products as they are processed with various chemicals, so it's better if we just eat less of the regular foods (no, not the Whole Foods, the low-fat etc). In the end, however, a pint of ice cream is still a pint, etc. Why is it, then, that she allowed my grandfather to consume DH's favorite diet drink while he was out of town?
There's another example, but you'll have to read about that one in Silver Linings.
Father of the Year
DH was a bit unsure as to how he would do once DD arrived, but he has been wonderful. He helped me change diapers in the hospital and now, unless there's an explosion (how does stool get from her anus to her waist?), he's comfortable changing them on his own. He's helped me give her baths, feeds her from a bottle or helps set me up for BFing (even if he's still asleep and can't remember that the next morning), and even puts her to sleep after I've been up with her for five hours and he has to go to work the next day. The best thing he did for me was when she was about two weeks old. I had had a rough night with her and cried out of frustration rather than joy. The next day he packed up her stuff and spent the day with his family so I could sleep in, then spend the day with my grandparents. It really helped me to recoup. He offered to do that every week, and while we haven't repeated it yet, whenever we do go over to his parents' house I will let them and his brother spend a great deal of time with DD so I can rest, pump, read, eat, whatever, without having to worry about her well-being. I truly think I'm a better mother for that.
DH had to attend a conference in Galveston, so while there he showed pics of DD to everyone, and called everyday to speak to her. He dances with and sings to her, makes sure she is warm whenever we go outside, and covers her up so "undeserving people" can't look at his beautiful daughter. She's his girl, and she has him wrapped around her little finger (along with her grandfather, great-grandfather, and uncle).
Silver Linings
I had requested leave through April 13th, so today should have been my first day back at work. My GM and I had been researching nanny services so we could find someone to start a week before my return. I even emailed my supervisor to work out a more permanent schedule where I would work weekends while DH stayed home with DD, and then we only needed a nanny three days a week. However, on DD's one-week bday, I received a voice-mail from my work's president. No sooner had I returned the call than DD woke up from her nap. So there I was changing a diaper (before I could put a clean one under her she urinated, so now I also had an extremely wet hand) when I was laid-off due to lack of profits. DD started to cry right along with me. Well, I no longer needed a nanny, and now had the perfect excuse to be a SAHM. Now, here's where GM contradicted herself. One day she wants me to quit and be a SAHM, and is secretly pleased when I'm laid-off, the next she wants me to apply for jobs, even part-time, to "keep my mind active." Hello -I barely have time to feed myself, forget applying for jobs. I am going to go back to substitute teaching in the fall, but only on days when my ILs can watch DD. Hopefully she'll be sleeping through the night by then.
Alright, so while DD is napping, lets see if I can catch up a bit, for all my fans' reading pleasure:
First Couple of Weeks
After DD was born I was extremely sore for a few days (imagine having an extreme workout for the first time in a year - you know that feeling). It took about two weeks before I could sit without my privates hurting, and sometimes it's still uncomfortable. I loved not having to worry about tampons or pads for nine months, and now that I have to constantly wear a pad it's a major drag. The other night I was extremely irritable - DD would not go to sleep, she had drained me of my milk, my pad was bunching up, my stitches were itching, and despite my sweats I was freezing cold. Oh, the joys of postpartum bliss.
Anyway, I was in the hospital for two more nights. Fortunately the hospital food was actually very good. After we got home I spent more time helping my grandmother prepare the house for the Baptism reception than I did taking care of myself, which was a bad thing. I was supposed to take a sitz bath three times a day, which meant having to clean out the tub before hand because ants kept coming into the tub despite the monthly visits from Orkin. Then there was trying to find the time to pump so DD would have food besides formula, since she wasn't taking to the breast, so this didn't actually happen until day 6 of her life. The rest of the time I was either tending to DD or sleeping. Because my grandparents were at my house nearly every day for about two weeks I was actually able to get quite a bit of sleep. It wasn't until DD was 1 week and 5 days old that DH and I spent an entire day with her by ourselves, and that was only because there was heavy rain with flooding. It was an amazingly calm day. I just wish my grandparents could be here everyday, or hire me a maid, because I'd much rather sleep than clean up while DD is sleeping. That is one of my major reasons, besides all the health benefits, for wanting to BF - the convenience factor. I haven't even washed a single bottle since DD started taking to the breast, whereas before I would wash them every day. At least they don't have to be sterilized every time, too. Once I get a baby carrier conducive to BFing, and can get her attached without the nipple shield, then everything should be smooth sailing. That's the plan, anyway.
Wait Five Minutes
There's a saying in Dallas (not quite sure why) that if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes - it'll change. My grandmother is like that. Don't get me wrong, I love my grandmother and all she has done for me, but she seriously needs to make up her mind. Before DD was born I showed her my closet full of clothes I had bought over the years, and she told me that I never needed to buy any more clothes (at least not until she's a year old). While looking at all the boys clothes GM said that if I had a girl I would turn her into a lesbian by dressing her as a boy. After DD was born, GM took another look at the clothes and decided that most of the pieces could work for a girl as well. Sure, most people will mistake her for a boy unless she has a ribbon in her hair or something, but no duh, that's what I said all along. At least now that I know my baby's a girl I have more feminine pieces, including dresses, and that's half the fun of having a girl anyway.
Out of her love and concern for our health, GM attempts to tell DH and me what we should and should not eat. DH is very big on health foods, even if it's just reduced, free, low, whatever of something bad, trans fats are the devil's fats in his mind. (We went to Whole Foods for the first time yesterday, so now he's found his heaven.) GM, however, prefers us to not consume these products as they are processed with various chemicals, so it's better if we just eat less of the regular foods (no, not the Whole Foods, the low-fat etc). In the end, however, a pint of ice cream is still a pint, etc. Why is it, then, that she allowed my grandfather to consume DH's favorite diet drink while he was out of town?
There's another example, but you'll have to read about that one in Silver Linings.
Father of the Year
DH was a bit unsure as to how he would do once DD arrived, but he has been wonderful. He helped me change diapers in the hospital and now, unless there's an explosion (how does stool get from her anus to her waist?), he's comfortable changing them on his own. He's helped me give her baths, feeds her from a bottle or helps set me up for BFing (even if he's still asleep and can't remember that the next morning), and even puts her to sleep after I've been up with her for five hours and he has to go to work the next day. The best thing he did for me was when she was about two weeks old. I had had a rough night with her and cried out of frustration rather than joy. The next day he packed up her stuff and spent the day with his family so I could sleep in, then spend the day with my grandparents. It really helped me to recoup. He offered to do that every week, and while we haven't repeated it yet, whenever we do go over to his parents' house I will let them and his brother spend a great deal of time with DD so I can rest, pump, read, eat, whatever, without having to worry about her well-being. I truly think I'm a better mother for that.
DH had to attend a conference in Galveston, so while there he showed pics of DD to everyone, and called everyday to speak to her. He dances with and sings to her, makes sure she is warm whenever we go outside, and covers her up so "undeserving people" can't look at his beautiful daughter. She's his girl, and she has him wrapped around her little finger (along with her grandfather, great-grandfather, and uncle).
Silver Linings
I had requested leave through April 13th, so today should have been my first day back at work. My GM and I had been researching nanny services so we could find someone to start a week before my return. I even emailed my supervisor to work out a more permanent schedule where I would work weekends while DH stayed home with DD, and then we only needed a nanny three days a week. However, on DD's one-week bday, I received a voice-mail from my work's president. No sooner had I returned the call than DD woke up from her nap. So there I was changing a diaper (before I could put a clean one under her she urinated, so now I also had an extremely wet hand) when I was laid-off due to lack of profits. DD started to cry right along with me. Well, I no longer needed a nanny, and now had the perfect excuse to be a SAHM. Now, here's where GM contradicted herself. One day she wants me to quit and be a SAHM, and is secretly pleased when I'm laid-off, the next she wants me to apply for jobs, even part-time, to "keep my mind active." Hello -I barely have time to feed myself, forget applying for jobs. I am going to go back to substitute teaching in the fall, but only on days when my ILs can watch DD. Hopefully she'll be sleeping through the night by then.
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