No shower + no makeup = always run into someone you know

Last weekend, The Husband and I took The Dog and Baby B to the dog park because the weather was so nice. I hadn't taken a shower in a couple of days--not because I didn't have the chance but just because I felt like being "lazy"--and I hadn't put on any makeup (I don't wear much, but it's unusual for me to wear none when I go out in public). So, we found a nice, big shade tree and made our way to that. I'd been standing there for just a few minutes when who do I see walking toward me but one of my co-workers! Doesn't that just figure--looking the worst I've looked during all of my time off and I run into someone I know. Thankfully, Baby B was the focus of the interaction, and not me. I know, I know...I have the excuse of being a new mom and all that, but I don't want to be that new mom who looks all disheveled. I want to be that new mom that people look at and say, "Wow, you're looking good! How do you do it?" I certainly wasn't that person last weekend, but at least I was able to laugh at myself regarding the whole thing!

In transition

At different times in your life, you go through events that are significant enough to initiate irreversible changes to who you are as a person, both in how you see yourself and how others see you. One of those big times is when you get your driver's license and the first taste of independence that comes with it. Soon after comes another shift when you move away to college and take on that new identity and everything that comes with those new responsibilities. Getting married and shifting from single life to the role of a wife is another time when you experience a considerable change to your identity, whether you realize it at the time or not.

But I think becoming a parent is one of the biggest identity shifts that anyone can experience. If you had any shred of self-centeredness or selfishness before your child arrives, that has to go out the window immediately if you're going to successfully tend to the needs of your little one. Nearly all of the focus, especially early on, has to be on that helpless infant, and you barely have time to do anything for yourself because you're in survival mode at that point.

But as you become more comfortable with that role of caregiver, you're finally able to take a step back, breathe a bit, and evaluate the situation, and you can see that things have changed substantially. You're not just a mother. You're not just a wife. You're not just a career woman. You're not just a friend. You're not just a daughter/sister. You're not just the woman you were before the baby came along. You're all of those things combined, and you have to figure out how to balance all of them without neglecting any of those important roles. It's an identity crisis of epic proportions, and it's quite a challenge to sort it all out so you once again achieve a comfortable balance in your life that's fair to both you and to those in your life. You don't want to neglect any of your roles, yet you have to somehow fit it all into a 24-hour day.

Perhaps the biggest struggle, especially at first, is that of wife versus mother. For the past two months, nearly every single minute of every single day has revolved around Baby B and how to make her happy and comfortable in her new home. The relationship that I previously had with my husband will never be the same again. That much is certain. I can see how a relationship can crumble if you don't make an effort to keep alive the bond you have with your partner because it's so easy to put everything else on the back burner in favor of putting the baby first. All those people who think that having a baby will fix an already-broken relationship? I don't see how that's possible in most cases. We had a strong relationship before, and I think that was necessary in order to make it through the trials of parenthood.

We're trying to make an effort to have alone time with each other on a regular basis--and my best friend has been a big help with that since she's been sitting for us once a week so we can go out for a date night--but some days it's hard for me to find much else to talk about besides what Baby B did that day and how she didn't need a pacifier all day and how much she slept and how much she ate and how we had fun playing on the activity mat and how The Dog gave her puppy kisses and how she smiled at me when I was making faces at her--you get the point.

And there's where the challenge comes in--I spend my entire day taking care of this child, so the fact is I'm just not as likely to talk about the same things I used to talk about before. When talking or e-mailing with friends now, as much as I try to keep the conversation to non-baby things, the topic inevitably comes back up because that is my reality now. I don't want to be the mom who can't talk about anything other than her kid, yet that kid is the center of my universe right now.

As I work to balance my identity, I'm going through a transition period like all new mothers where I try to figure everything out. Once I start working again, that will both add to the confusion yet also give me adult contact outside the home that will be good for both me and The Husband. I'll get back to doing my own thing, at least during business hours, and that will give me back a dimension of my persona that's currently on hiatus.

What all this boils down to is the fact that I will never be the same person again. I realize that some friends who can't relate to this new identity blossoms will, unfortunately, go by the wayside. That makes me sad, but I also understand it's necessary at the same time. I will be better able to reconnect with other friends who have done the parenting thing before me because I now get it, whereas before I didn't quite. And I will make new friends as I build a support system to help me through this phase of my life.

And the relationship I have with my husband will continue to grow new dimensions that we'd previously not experienced--but only because we will make an effort to keep the spark there. We will see and experience the world with the label of not only husband and wife but as mommy and daddy. We will balance those identities as best we can while still holding onto the best qualities of our pre-child lives. The transition to those new identities will not be an easy one--but then again, no one ever said it would be. I feel confident that we're up to the challenge and we'll come out on the other side even better people than we were before.

Score!

Baby B slept the entire night in her crib last night, for 9 consecutive hours. That's my girl! Now, I fully don't expect this to happen tonight, but I'm certainly hopeful.

The shot heard 'round the doctor's office

This morning I took Baby B for her two-month check-up at the pediatrician's office. The physical exam went well, and everyone commented on how beautiful she was. (I know they probably say that to everyone, but at least they sounded genuine about it. One nurse even said, "Now, I see babies all day long, and she's a gorgeous baby." I wanted to say, "Thanks, I made her myself!", a favorite phrase of mine, but I refrained.) She even flashed a smile and her accompanying dimple at the doc when he shined the light into her eyes.

And then came the vaccines.

She did great with the oral vaccine, though she did make a funny face when she first tasted it. Then I had to hold her arms as the nurse gave her three shots in her upper thighs in quick succession. She was very calm prior to the shots, then let out an awful, indescribable wail unlike any I'd ever heard from her just after the first shot was finished. Oh, the poor girl! The uber-sad pouty lip came out and her face turned deep red as she cried from the pain and I tried to comfort her as best I could. From start to finish, the shots took probably ten seconds, so I was able to pick her up and hold her close to me, which did calm her down fairly quickly. The nurse said she actually did great and didn't throw quite the fit that some babies throw. Still, I'm glad we won't have to do that again until early June.

Weight: 10 lbs., 4.5 oz. (50th percentile)

Height: 21 3/4 inches (25th percentile)

Head circumference: 15 inches (25th to 50th percentile)

New!

You may have noticed the "new" tag at the beginning of some of the blogs along the right. In case you were wondering, that new tag will appear there when that blog has been updated sometime in the past 24 hours.

You can also now subscribe to this blog via e-mail. By doing this, you'll get a once-a-day e-mail, which can be canceled at any time, that includes any posts I've made since the last e-mail was sent. (The subscription e-mail is not sent out as soon as I make a post, though it usually seems be sent within 6 to 8 hours of the post.)

A bed of her own

On Friday night, we started to help Baby B make the transition from the swing, where she has slept ever since the first night home, to her crib. With her sleeping through the night for nearly three weeks, I figured it was a good time to make that transition, especially with her move to daycare looming next month.

So far I'd call the transition a success; or, at least, we're getting there. Pretty much every night has gone the same: We've put her in the crib for the night around midnight (we're working on getting that to be earlier, as well) and she's not made a peep until the morning. On Friday night, she woke up for the first time at 5 a.m. but went back to sleep for an hour before she indicated she wanted to eat. I had her up feeding her from 6:30 until 7:30 a.m. and then she slept until 9:30 a.m. The second night, we had to move her to her swing around 6 a.m. because she wouldn't go back to sleep easily in the crib. The third night (last night), she woke up around 6 a.m. but never got back to sleep fully before I had to get up at 7:30 a.m. (the freezer is being delivered this morning between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.!!) Still, an average of 5+ hours of uninterrupted sleep in the crib is pretty good, I think, at least for the first three days, and it seems that we're on our way to no more overnight stays in the swing (good thing, because that wears the batteries down so quickly--though totally worth it for her to sleep so well in it).

What will I fold now?

I can't believe I just went almost three full days without doing any loads of baby laundry! I'd recently gotten to the point of doing at least one load a day once Baby B started spitting up, mostly because I was quickly going through our decently big stock of washcloths and burp cloths. But I guess we've had significantly less spit-up in the past few days, resulting in less laundry to do--and less folding of laundry (my least favorite part). Woo hoo!

All packed up

This evening I put all of my maternity clothes in a plastic bin in the garage so I have room in my closet to bring out the spring clothes that I'm going to need soon. I have to admit, it was a little sad to put them away, much as I started hating them toward the end. It's almost like it's closing the book on a significant portion of my life, and one that I don't know when or if it'll be opened again. At the same time, if I don't ever again see another low-cut, empire-waisted shirt that ties in the back, then it won't be a tragedy.

Get out the checkbook

Our daycare called yesterday and said that their infant spots are filling up, so we'll need to start paying the weekly fee if we want to keep our spot. They can hold it for us for two weeks without having to pay, but we'll have to start giving them money on April 9. We need care when I go back to work on April 23, so that's just two weeks of paying without actually needing a spot. That's really not so bad, especially when you consider that we could've been left without a daycare spot at all. Plus, since we'll be paying for those two weeks before I return to work, we can still take Baby B there if we want, so that might be a good way to transition her (and me!) to daycare if we want before I do return to work.

*******

Last night, we went out and bought an upright freezer for the garage, and it will be delivered on Monday. Now we just need to clean out a space for it and then we can stock up on ice cream!! No wait, I mean breastmilk and bulk meat. (And ice cream!)

My frozen breastmilk runneth over

Ever since buying a house, we've talked about buying an extra freezer for the garage, but we just never ended up doing it. I'd love to be able to buy things like meat and frozen dinners on sale and stock up and save money at the same time. However, the real motivation recently came because my growing stock of frozen breastmilk is starting to take over the current freezer. So, now may be the time to get one, especially with the tax refund on the way (the rest of the refund will be used to pay the hospital bills that continue to roll in). You know, I never thought in a million years that breastmilk would be the catalyst to us finally getting that extra freezer! We're heading out tonight to look at them, so hopefully we'll find something that works.

Ready for the pageant circuit?

Whaddya think? Is she on the fast track to winning lots of big pageant trophies or what? Or perhaps winning an '80s makeup contest? (And no, I didn't really put makeup on my baby, despite what The Husband thought when I sent him this picture at work yesterday. Just was having some fun with PaintShop Pro.)

When I look into my daughter's eyes

In an instant, you go from big belly to bouncing baby. From pregnant to parent. All the worry that you had before--Will this baby make it make it past the first trimester? Is she healthy? Will she be born at full term? Will I have any complications at delivery?--dissolves instantly and a new set of worries rushes onto the scene to take over. Will I love her enough? Can I give her what she needs, especially when I can't tell what she needs? Will she continue to be healthy? But when I look into my daughter's eyes, the internal and inevitable worry subsides (even if just temporarily) and I know that all is right with my world.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, I get a brief glimpse of the future--hers, mine, and ours as a family. I see her running into the house to tell me about the new friend she made in kindergarten. I see us laughing and frolicking in the ocean on family vacations at the beach. I see her studying for her history test at the kitchen table while nibbling on some cookies that I made. I see The Husband and I sitting so proudly in the audience at her high school graduation. I see the two of us going out together to choose an outfit for her first real job interview.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, I can see exactly the kind of person I want to show her how to be...kind and empathetic, generous and unselfish, fun and loving, happy and appreciative of life. She is a clean slate right now, and we have the power to influence who she is and what she values in life.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, I realize that all the minor annoyances of life don't really matter; the only thing that matters is protecting her, loving her, nurturing her, and being her guide during her introduction to this big, scary world.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, I can see in a tangible form just how much my husband and I love each other and how committed we are to each other.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, I feel an incredible sense of pride for who she is and who she will become, what she has learned so far, and all the little milestones she's already achieved in her short life. If the pride is this overwhelming now, I can only imagine how great it becomes as time elapses.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, a sense of sadness comes over me when I realize she's going to have to learn about all the hatred in this world and how not everyone is a good person. As much as I'd like to shield her from such realities, I know that's not possible.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, I want to do everything I can to be the ideal person that she sees me as. To her, I have no faults, and while that's not really true, I want to become that perfect person she sees.

WhenI look into my daughter's eyes, I see the untainted optimism of innocence that she possesses for now. I wish the world could be as simple as she views it. She lives in the here and now, as perhaps we all should.

When I look into my daughter's eyes, I come to the realization that she would not be here if my first pregnancy had worked. Not that her life is more valued than the life of that child would have been, but I can't imagine my life without this gorgeous daughter of mine, and I know she would not exist if pregnancy #1 had been successful. All paths, including those that caused quite a bit of hurt, have led me to this point in my life.

So, when I look into my daughter's eyes, I quickly realize it was all worth it.

Mulligan!

I don't know what it was, but the other day I was looking at some recent pics I'd taken of Baby B, and it struck me out of nowhere: She looks like an Ashley! I have no idea why that particular name popped into my head--I hadn't heard it recently that I remember--but that's just what came to me when I was looking at those pics. You don't really get a do-over with your kid's name, though--at least, not without going through the courts (ug, too much hassle!). Now, I don't really have doubts about the name we did choose, but I just think it's funny that this feeling has hit me so strongly--and for no real reason. It's turned more into a joke, actually, because it's quite fun to call her Ashley around The Husband, who gets annoyed every time I call her that (don't worry--he gets the joke...I hope!).

Rub-a-dub-dub

After enduring what seemed like torture for the first 6 1/2 weeks of her life, Baby B finally seems to be enjoying her twice-weekly baths. The past two times, including tonight, she's remained calm and collected, even smiling at times, which is the exact opposite of the desperate flailing she previously displayed when immersed in the bath water. That's definitely a relief, because I have been looking forward to the time when she has fun and plays in her bath, and that time seemed unlikely to ever come based on the first 6 1/2 weeks of baths. Perhaps we've turned a corner now, though.

What's that I spot?

So, what do I notice yesterday afternoon when I go to the bathroom? Yup, a little bit of spotting...my long-absent but not-missed period is on the way, it seems. Some women are fortunate enough to avoid this unwelcome visitor while they breastfeed, and my doctor said that it was unlikely that I'd have my period while on this pill, but I guess I'm one of the "lucky" ones. Of course, a day later and it's still spotting, so maybe that's the extent of what I'll have. I've never been a spotter before, but who knows what my body has in store after what it's been through in the past year or so!

I'm a blogging chick!

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She sucks

Here's a pic of Baby B sucking her thumb to soothe herself for the first time...

Wishful thinking

For the first time yesterday, Baby B has actually felt a little heavy when I was holding her. I know she's not really--she's still probably around 10 pounds or just a little less--but yesterday was the first time that I really noticed her weight in my arms (and also later when carrying her in the sling). I can really tell in the past week or so that she's had a little growth spurt height-wise, too. In a way, it makes me so excited to see her grow and achieve new milestones each day, yet it's a little sad at the same time, since I know she's never going to be this small again.

I'm really trying to appreciate the time I get to spend with her now, since I'm not going to get to stare at her all day when I return to work. It really makes me wish that we could work it out financially to let me stay home with her and not go back to work. I've told myself for years that I'd return to work after having a baby because I wanted to, that I needed that adult time and something that's my own thing. And I do feel like that most of the time, but the fact is, I have to go back. I think it could work to stay home, but not very comfortably and certainly not with any extra money to put toward savings, even if I worked part time. So, even though I know we can provide better for her if I continue to work full time, I'd be lying if I said I'll be returning to work because I want to 100%.

How much do I love this sign?

We probably won't actually use this sign that The Husband found, since I suspect a lot of people we know wouldn't see the humor in it, but boy is it freaking funny!

Just a couple things that make me smile

*I absolutely love to watch The Husband interacting with Baby B. To watch him firmly rock her to sleep, delicately put her down for a nap after she dozed off in his arms, or dutifully change her diaper--all of it melts my heart.

*It gives me great joy when Baby B is crying and I can make her smile just by making silly faces or making funny noises with my mouth.

*It cracks me up when The Dog gets all lovey with Baby B. He adores her, and he's such a good "big brother."

*I like to look down at Baby B when she's nursing and imagine what she'll be like when she's older. Not as much things like what she'll look like--though I do ponder that--but more what kind of personality she'll have, if she'll be a good student, and what she'll want to do when she grows up. She's starting with a clean slate right now, with her whole life ahead of her. So much potential, and so much time to make good things happen!

All is well

I had my six-week post-partum OB check-up this morning, and everything looks good. My prescription to go back on the pill is being filled as I write this (anyone else taking Nor-QD?), and I don't go back again until my pap is due in mid-August.

Baby B slept through the night for the fifth night in a row last night. I love this kid! I'm trying not to get spoiled by this nice stretch of sleep, because I know it could change at any moment, but I'm appreciating it while I can. Of course, I'm still exhausted because I have days like yesterday when she wanted to nurse every 1 to 1 1/2 hours. When you consider that about 20-30 minutes are spent feeding, another 5 minutes for burping, another 10-15 minutes for keeping her upright so she doesn't spit up (but still does despite the efforts), and 5 minutes for spit-up clean-up and/or a diaper change, then that means I end up spending nearly all of my time during the day feeding or doing feed-related tasks. It can be frustating at times, but again, if that's the trade-off I have to make for consecutive hours of sleep at night, then I'll take it.

The sincerest form of flattery

In the past few days, I've noticed Baby B has really started imitating some of the faces I make. For a couple weeks now, sometimes when I kiss her on the mouth and then open up my mouth real wide right after, she's been opening her mouth, too. But the other day was funnier when I was opening my mouth real wide (without a kiss first) and making a "RAWWR!!" sound and she was opening her mouth just as big and sort of moving her head around like I was. Her unique personality is starting to come out a little at a time, and it's been fun to see it and guess what she'll do next!

Holding steady

I'm at exactly the same weight this week as I was last week, and since the weight loss has slowed down, I think I'll stop making weekly posts about it. I suspect I won't drop the last 6 or 7 pounds until I wean from nursing, based on stories I've heard from others.

Baby B slept through the night once again last night--for the third night in a row. I'm impressed. And grateful.

Who can resist a sleeping baby?

Not me!!

It takes three

After Serenity's recent visit and after having the help of my friend L for two or three evenings a week for the past six weeks, I think I've decided that parenting is ideally a three-person job! With a three-person crew, one person can be tending to the baby, one person can be tending to things that need to be done around the house, and one person can be resting up in anticipation of taking their turn with the baby. It seems like you could really get a nice system going with three people and have things down to a science after a few weeks. Of course, I'm sure if we had three people taking care of Baby B on a daily basis, we'd still think that wasn't enough and would think that four people is more ideal. Still, we make it work just fine with the two of us, and there are plenty of single parents out there who make it work with just themselves. Just an interesting thought I had.

Good people deserve good things

Sadly, our house is just a little bit emptier today. Serenity, who arrived on Saturday, departed yesterday evening, and the visit went even better than I expected (and I expected it to go well!), however, I'm sad that she's no longer here.

She and The Husband went to high school together, but she and I hadn't previously met. I wasn't nervous beforehand except for a brief moment when we were walking into the airport to pick her up, but when I saw her at the top of the escalator, I immediately knew that things would go well--and I was right! By the time we made the hour-long drive to our house, it felt like she and I had gone to high school together and were reuniting without missing a beat.

This is a woman with a great sense of humor, a good heart, a robust personality, a keen sense of fun and adventure, and the ability to step outside of her own fertility issues in order to help and support us in our new parenthood. I can't say enough good things about her.

Serenity is in the midst of her second fresh IVF cycle, with a target transfer date set for late March. I can't tell you how much I hope this works for her, because after observing her with Baby B, I know this is a woman who was made to be a mother. She looked like a natural, yet you could tell she was taking careful mental notes after learning something new either through trial and error of her own or after observing me and The Husband. It's one thing for a mother to calm her own baby, but it's another thing for a virtual stranger to calm a baby on multiple occasions (one time could be just a fluke, you know), and this is something she did several times during her stay. She gazed at my daughter with such loving, adoring eyes, and if she's that enamoured with my child, then I can only imagine how in love she'll be when she's rocking her own child in her own nursery right before bedtime. I sincerely hope that the next time we see each other, she's either pregnant or has a little newborn of her own. That child will be loved beyond words--by both her and me!

Through the night

Last night, I decided to see how long Baby B wanted to sleep without me waking her up, and I was pleased to find that she slept all the way through the night, from about 1 a.m. until 8:30 this morning. I don't expect this to be a regular thing yet, as I still plan to wake her up to feed her during the night if she's still sleeping (since she tends to feed more often during the day if she goes too long without eating at night), but it's nice to know that the potential for a more full night's sleep is there.

Caught

After I took Baby B to the pediatrician last week, I had to stop at the pharmacy to fill her script for Zantac. Because my house and my office are so close together, our closest pharmacy is in the shopping center where most of my co-workers go to lunch. Well, after the doctor's appointment, I pulled into the pharmacy parking lot and was about to get Baby B out of the back seat when I heard, "HONK! HONK HONK HONK! HONNNNNNNK!" I looked up and saw it was two of my proofreaders from work! They were sitting at the stoplight waiting to exit the parking lot on their way back to the office from lunch. I walked over to where they could hear me and told them that I'd had to take Baby B to the doctor and was getting a prescription.

Later in the day, I got an e-mail from one of my proofreaders, saying, "It was funny seeing you earlier today! It was sort of like seeing your teacher out in public--you never think they have lives outside of school!"

But to me, it almost felt like I'd been caught skipping school at first, as though maternity leave meant that I had to stay locked up in the house or something! Kind of a funny thought to have had, because I know that's certainly not the case!

Then this week, I'd gone down to this same shopping center to pick up lunch for Serenity and The Husband and I saw my supervisor entering the parking lot as I was leaving. I don't think he saw me, but I still felt "caught" all the same.

Heavy eyes

Last night, Baby B went from midnight until 6 a.m. between feedings--and the only reason she ate at 6 was because I woke her up to eat. Woo hoo! I did consider just seeing how long she would sleep, since I suspect she would have lasted another couple of hours. However, when she sleeps longer at night, she understandably eats more frequently during the day, and Serenity is visiting and we're hoping to get out of the house for a few hours this afternoon while The Husband takes over baby duties, and I'd rather not leave him with a fussy baby that needs to eat every hour. We've been very fortunate with how well she's slept at night, even from the beginning, and I certainly hope this trend continues. Again, it means that she eats more often during the day, which can be exhausting for me, but that sleep at night has been very nice to have (and will be greatly appreciated once I return to work).

Settled tummy

So far the Zantac seems to be working pretty well for Baby B. She still spits up after probably half of her meals, but she doesn't seem to be in nearly as much pain or discomfort as before, so I'll take it. Here's hoping it continues to work.

Still coming off (barely)

Weight loss/gain:
3w5d starting weight
5w (-1.2 pounds)
6w (-3 pounds, -4.2 pounds total)
7w (-2.4 pounds, -6.6 pounds total)
8w (-1 pound, -7.6 pounds total)
9w (-2 pounds, -9.6 pounds total)
10w (-2.6 pounds, -12.2 pounds total)
11w (+1 pound, -11.2 pounds total)
12w (+3.6 pounds, -7.6 pounds total)
13w (+1.0 pound, -6.6 pounds total)
14w (+1.2 pounds, -5.4 pounds total)
15w (+3.4 pounds, -2 pounds total)
16w (+2.0 pounds, no change total)
17w (+2.0 pounds, +2.0 pounds total)
18w1d (+2.0 pounds, +4.0 pounds total)
19w (-1.0 pound, +3.0 pounds total)
20w (-0.4 pounds, +2.6 pounds total)
21w (+1.4 pounds, +4.0 pounds total)
22w (-0.4 pounds, +3.6 pounds total)
23w (+3.4 pounds, +7.0 pounds total)
24w (+0.8 pounds, +7.8 pounds total)
25w (+0.0 pounds, +7.8 pounds total)
26w (+4.2 pounds, +12.0 pounds total)
27w (-1.0 pounds, +11.0 pounds total)
28w (+3.6 pounds, +14.6 pounds total)
29w (-0.6 pounds, +14 pounds total)
30w (+1.8 pounds, +15.8 pounds total)
31w (+2.0 pounds, +17.8 pounds total)
32w1d (+0.6 pounds, +18.4 pounds total)
33w (-0.2 pounds, +18.2 pounds total)
34w (+2.4 pounds, +20.6 pounds total)
35w (+1.6 pounds, +22.2 pounds total)
36w (-0.6 pounds, +21.6 pounds total)
37w (+0.6 pounds, +22.2 pounds total)
38w (+3.8 pounds, +26 pounds total)
*******************
3 days post-partum (-11.8 pounds, +14.2 pounds from starting weight)
1w post-partum (-4.2 pounds, +10.0 pounds from starting weight)
2w post-partum (-2.0 pounds, +8.0 pounds from starting weight)
3w post-partum (-0.8 pounds, +7.2 pounds from starting weight)
4w post-partum (-0.4 pounds, +6.8 pounds from starting weight)
5w post-partum (-0.1 pounds, +6.7 pounds from starting weight)

Parade of visitors

We've been busy with quite a few visitors this week, which has been pretty fun! First, my college roommate got to meet Baby B on Monday, and I got another chance to see her adorable almost two-year-old son. Earlier today, The Husband's dad (who lives about a 16-hour drive from us) was in the state on a business trip and drove a few hours out of his way in order to be able to meet Baby B and spend a couple hours with her. Both of those visits were short, but definitely better than nothing, and I enjoyed spending time with each of them. But the visitationageness doesn't stop there! Oh no, my friends...it continues! On Saturday, Serenity, who has started the process for IVF #2, comes to town for her much-anticipated four-day visit. When she's here, Serenity will be overloaded with much cuteness...and the baby will contribute some of that, too, I'm sure! ;)

Some relief in sight

Baby B has had problems with spitting up for a couple weeks now, and it's gotten worse over the past few days. In addition, she's seemed very uncomfortable while nursing and was trying to push me away even though she was obviously still hungry. After some research with Dr. Google, I determined that she had the classic symptoms of acid reflux. Two sleepless nights later, I decided to call the doctor to see if we could try to take care of it before I lost my mind. I took her in this afternoon, and he agreed that it sounds like reflux and gave her a prescription for Zantac (which, naturally, my new insurance won't cover). The doctor said the medicine probably won't help with the spitting up, but it should help make her more comfortable with feeding. I hope that's the case, because it's hard to see her hurting when I can't do much about it.

She weighed 8 lb., 8 1/2 oz. at the doctor today, though that was with a diaper on (all the other weigh-ins were diaperless).