It has been 2 and 1/2 weeks since we became parents and just over two weeks since we brought our little Henry home. Life since then can only be described in a series of cliches. Time is flying by and yet very little goes on. He's gotten bigger already, we love him so much, and we get very little sleep. Nothing can prepare you for this- yes, cliche and so true. Days move very slowly and we do very little. Henry needs to eat every two hours. This does get a little frustrating but then you have to remember that in utero, he never had hunger. It simply does not exist. So outside, for the first time there is this inexplicable ache or empty feeling and as a person that gets testy when blood sugar is low, I have sympathy for this hungry little baby. That would really suck to never feel hunger and all of a sudden to have it hit you like a ton of bricks about 12 times a day. Also breastfed babies apparently metabolize their meals faster than formula fed babies so they need to eat more often. This means he won't be sleeping through the night anytime soon, but the tradeoff is the health benefits of breastmilk, the convenience of never having to prepare and warm milk or clean bottles, and probably most critically: his food source is free.
Rob has 3 weeks off his office job, this week is the final of the three. I'm already missing him and he's not even back to work yet! This is really a two person job and I cannot imagine how single parents function with a newborn. It enforces to me the need for BOTH parents in two parent households to get parental leave. The first week after Henry was born was probably the most difficult of my life and I COULD NOT have begun to handle it alone. I was a bundle of hormones, very weepy even though I was not truly as sad as I sounded. I was also incredibly sore and having to nurse the kiddo sitting up since lying down did not really work out for us. The sitting was excrutiating and all I had for pain was ibuprofen. After 36 hours home from the hospital, I had to call my doctor's exchange for something stronger. Rob did so much of the care for Henry and I in that first week. He can't feed Henry, but he brings me food and drink while I feed him, cleans up after all the meals, gets up in the middle of the night for diaper changes, and kept watch over both of us when Henry refused to fall asleep anywhere but in my arms while nursing that first week and I was so exhausted that it was a real possibility that I would have tipped over on him. Rob has also done most of the grocery shopping, the housework, and put up with my weird and unpredictable weepiness.
The second week was much, much better. I am hardly sore anymore at all, we have been getting out of the house regularly, and I've resumed several household tasks in between marathon nursing sessions. Henry is so alert and bright eyed. He does not yet smile, but will watch you when you talk or sing to him. He is sleeping usually for 2-3 hour stretches at night and will usually fall asleep in my arms and allow me to transfer him to the co-sleeper. This is serious progress.
Our days begin with a migration from upstairs in the bedroom to downstairs, where we camp out for most of the day. There have to be supplies on both levels, including baby clothes, diapers, wipes, the boppy, the Itzbeen, a blanket or two, and my giant water bottle. Life is simple, we eat, talk to Henry, watch MSNBC off and on, I read, change some diapers, take a walk, maybe shower, possibly get to some small chore like vacuuming, Henry naps, wakes, eats more, naps again, we check e-mail, maybe a visitor or two stops by, we run a load of laundry, and migrate back upstairs for the nighttime routine.
I get a little cabin fever daily and Rob says he loves this. Life is slow and simple and it won't be like this for very long. Soon there will be more outings, things that have to be done, Rob will have to go back to work, Henry will be more alert and get bored just chilling at home, and things will change. For now, it's not too bad. I have never been this still in my life. It is good for me. The world has gotten very small for just this very short time.
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