Our new favorite position
I’m such a new mom. David came home from work on Wednesday and found us like this. We had been lying like this for two hours. I didn’t want to put the baby down for fear she might wake up and I was enjoying some calm and quiet “alone” time trying to get caught up with email (ha! I think it will take me weeks to get back to all of you! And I haven’t even gotten to the thank you notes yet! Please be patient with me!). Since then I’ve been perfecting the art of putting the babe down next to me once she hits that deep sleep stage. Somehow before then she has this sixth sense that knows if David or I are not right by her, it’s not sleeping time. I don’t blame her: I feel more comforted when we are touching too. (The first couple days I couldn’t even be in a different room from her: some sort of animal instinct to be with my child right now came out and I couldn’t explain it; I just had to go find her and hold her immediately. Thankfully, that stage has passed.)
The jaundice is gone: a fair skinned, pink baby has emerged! She now looks more like my kid (David is the olive-toned one). Oh, she is so cute. I know I’m biased, but really she is.
Watch out — she’ll stare you down! She can be so serious when she’s awake.
The little squirt not only gained back her birth weight ahead of schedule, but put on 3 extra ounces in less than a week! We are breastfeeding champs in the Spritzer Leyba house. It is, after all, baby’s favorite activity.
We also went out to lunch this week at our favorite vegetarian restaurant in Sebastopol! Babe slept through the whole meal on David’s chest. Yes, he is such a trooper. The meal was delicious and I savored being out and about. It was a warm, gloriously sunny, beautiful day and we loved being out of the house and able to enjoy it. Kuddos to my mother-in-law for encouraging us to do it.
We had several challenges this week though. 1) We were alone, without family to help us, for the first time in almost two weeks. They did so much laundry and grocery shopping while they were here that they left us in a great place and we’ve been able to stay on top of the housework, etc. since they headed home. I think we have transitioned into our own routines nicely as well (though wow do we miss having an extra set of hands to hold the babe when we want to, oh, pee or shower or, say, blow our nose).
2) And just when I thought postpartum recovery couldn’t get any worse, I found out I was wrong: the low point of this week was my run-in with mastitis (including a 101+ fever, chills, etc.) after we tried some new breastfeeding positions (with the baby wandering with her latch during those feedings — evidently, it’s boring when mama sits up to breastfeed) and I lost track of which breast is next in the middle of the night (several times in a row)… thankfully I kicked it without needing antibiotics thanks to herbal supplements suggested by my phenomenal midwife! Oh, I feel so much better now. I have even been doing laundry and loading up the dishwasher for the first time since before Peanut was born. Yes, I actually missed doing housework. I could nest for years.
Yesterday I turned to David and declared that it isn’t going to be pregnancy or labor that will make me think twice about getting pregnant again… but the postpartum recovery. Thankfully, our daughter is a happy, easy baby and we are actually getting quite a bit of sleep each night thanks to co-sleeping. Yes, I know it could be so much worse. And every day I do feel better. I can’t wait to see how I’m feeling in another week or two. And I am looking forward to getting back to exercising regularly. I really miss my yoga routine and our family runs. Soon.
It’s Presidents Day weekend and I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy to celebrate it. I am thrilled to spend this weekend together as a family and savor uninterrupted time with David and our beautiful daughter. Bring it on!
I love the first photo too! Matthieu loooves how she’s just lying on top of you…peacefully! So cute…and you look like you are on cloud nine. So proud of you. BTW, I totally know what you mean about nesting…sometimes I just like spending the entire day at home cleaning and doing laundry..my way of course! Enjoy your long weekend…I have to work unfortunately! Sending you lots of kisses (and please pass them along to the little one!)
I absolutely agree that the post-partum healing was the hardest part of pregnancy/childbirth. I remember being so ANGRY that no one warned me that it’s all worse when it’s all over. Why don’t the books say this? Or the women who had babies? It’s not like we forget – I haven’t forgotten, and Ever’s 19 months old. I remember feeling good and ready to strap the baby in her sling and go outside for a walk after seven weeks, and I thought “I can’t believe it took seven weeks to feel okay again.”
Hang in there, sister. Sounds like the worst may be behind you. Remember, this is all happening while you’re in survival mode – you’re doing great.
hello sweetie! what a beautiful face!