Three Weeks

{ Thursday, July 23, 2009 }
I've heard a lot of new parents say that the first couple weeks were harder than they expected, so I imagined the worst it could possibly be and amplified that and set my expectations there. Still, its so much harder than I expected!!

We really turned a corner after the first two weeks, but during that time the bean wouldn't sleep. I don't mean that she wouldn't sleep through the night or that she was up a lot, I mean I sat down to nurse her at 10pm and we were still at it at 4am. She was taking 1-2 hour naps a couple times a day and that was it. I was a zombie and the poor boy tried to help, but the bean was only interested in one thing, if you know what I mean. She ate all. the. time. and no matter how much I'd feed her, she'd still act hungry.

Thankfully we have milk now! (Actually, tons of it. The bean was not gonna mess around with undersupply--she made sure that milk came in, but good.) And now that she's eating better, she's starting to sleep better. At the beginning of her third week, she started sleeping 2-3 hour stretches a couple times a night and now, the last few days, she's doing the same during the day. Yesterday, I literally did not know what to do with myself. The bean slept, so I slept. When I woke up, she was still sleeping. For the first time in three weeks I didn't have a fussy baby in my arms wanting a new diaper or to eat or to be held or to just be entertained in some way. It actually felt . . . strange. I wandered around the house trying to decide which project to tackle first. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not showering daily and I don't usually manage to get out of my pajamas (or brush my teeth regularly), but its getting easier and I can again imagine a day when I'll be able to take care of both the bean's and my basic needs and maybe even get a little housework done.

But we can't dwell on the negative because our little girl is so perfect and amazing and I really don't think I'm biased when I say that (ha!). She is growing like crazy and is already starting to look different than she did when she was first born and we're already mourning that our little baby is gone (little, of course, being relative).

The boy had to go back to work last week, which was so incredibly difficult for all of us, but we're trying to manage. I was fortunate to have had help from the grandmas for all but two days and thank goodness because we wouldn't all be fed and wearing clean clothes otherwise. (Well, the bean is always fed, but the rest of us might not have been.) Next week I'm on my own full time, but hopefully it will be easier since I've been able to ease into it.

I believe we may be coming to the end of this nap, so I'll leave you with some more pictures of our little angel.


4 comments:

Strawberry said...

She's a cutie, and seriously- congratulations on making it to three weeks. My wife and I both agree that we would never ever want to repeat those first three weeks. We have never been so sleep-deprived in our lives.

And I'll just let you in on something awesome that lies ahead- 3 months. Sleep has returned in its glory and oh, it is GOOD (plus so many other wonderful things!)

Val said...

Glad you posted pics... she is SO friggin cute (which I know you know, but I needed to confirm what you already know!!!)

Can't wait to see her....

Landlady of Fat said...

I'm so glad she's sleeping more!! You needed it!! :)

So cute!

Plans... What Plans!?! said...

Absolutely Beautiful Baby!! Brings tears to my eyes!!!

Congratulations on your family!!! :-)