"Hello" from the New Mom

Hello all! Yes, it's been a while... but you're not surprised. Let me answer all your burning questions:

1. Yes, we are all doing well. E is over her jaundice and putting on weight. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't surpass her birth weight at her doctor's appointment this week. (Yes... on Friday, she'll have her 2 week check-up... she is already two weeks old! It's hard to believe, even though I sometimes forget and think she's much older - but that's usually when I'm frustrated with her fussiness and her total dependance... a new mom thing I think) I am also doing well... well in terms of what is expected. I will not lie and say I'm ready to run out and meet up with a bunch of people or go run a bunch of errands, BUT I'm doing quite well in recuping physically (and I think emotionally, minus the "trying" days and nights). I will say that usually I am so tired that I'm on the verge of a headache and sometimes I'm so sore from labor and delivery that it is hard to walk or sleep comfortably... BUT having popped out such a large "bundle of joy"... I'd say that's to be expected. Oh and Ian is doing well too. He is considerably sleep deprived (although not in comparison to me, who stays up to feed E ). But since he is not a "nap" person, his lack of sleep at night weighs considerably on him, especially as night approaches. He has been downright "dead asleep" during some nights and I have to forcefully shake him awake for help... and for such a light sleeper, that says a lot.
2. On most nights we have been blessed to sleep considerably well for having a newborn. There's even been a few nights where Miss E (my, gilda's, nickname for her) slept for 4 hours between feedings, which means I got several three hour naps at night. Plenty of sleep for a good start to a new day. Of course the downside is that on the nights when she feeds every 2 hours... or even less (like last night - she ate almost every hour) ... we both find it utterly exhausting and end up being very frustrated with so little sleep. I guess we were spoiled early on with those few nights. (btw, just in case you're wondering how the sleep/eat time figures out... Miss Elizabeth is a "rester" eater. This means she'll fall asleep while eating and often take mini naps. She can't be rushed... and if you make the mistake of thinking she is done before she actually is, she'll let you know about two minutes after you've put her down and you've climbed back into bed. This also means you have to "start over" with feeding her. Oh, and each time our baby girl eats, it's an average of 30-45 minutes of eating & burping. So that's how an hour between feedings really means she's just teasing you with sleep... because remember I still need to go to the bathroom or to the kitchen for a snack because I'm so hungry from being up all night.) Oh and so far, Ian and I's arrangement looks like this: I awake when Miss Elizabeth awakes... and I determine whether she is really hungry. Sometimes she is just cooing/crying or just gassy and not really needing to eat. If she is hungry, I feed her. If she is gassy, I might leave her or give her medicine for it. After feeding and burping her (45 minutes later), if I think she might have "left a present" for Ian in her diaper... then I'll wake Ian up so he can change her diaper. If not, I'll put her back to sleep. Usually after eating she's asleep. If she does need a diaper change that's when Ian's shift (a short, but often dirty shift) starts. He takes her to her room, changes her diaper and then tries to lull her back to sleep before putting her back down. In the meantime, I'm usually going back to sleep or going to the bathroom. Hopefully, after all that... Miss Elizabeth will sleep for a good one to two hours (maybe even three if we're lucky), and Ian and I get some rest.
3. We are being blessed with some food deliveries... if you want to join in the queue, contact Rebekah Karpel (our faithful food coordinator). We're also "eating down" food that my parents have brought over (too much and usually of one sort, plus a lot of stuff that Ian can't even eat, ie: seafood) and some leftovers that I had made pre-delivery for us and before we knew if we were going to have food delivered.
4. And yes, we are up for some visitors. Miss Elizabeth is almost always up for visitors (we have determined, she likes a lot of people around), but because I am still not confident about her eating schedule and my own ability to care for her "on the road" (versus at home, where everything is at our finger tips and is private) ... I do not plan to get out much the next... oh, say two months!! (at least that's how I feel now). So instead I am totally up for visitors in moderation. (I should get out more... but it's hard work to get everything packed, her into the car seat and time it just right so I don't have to figure how to feed her on the go)Mostly it just depends on how the day is going and how much energy I have... so if you want to come over and see Miss Elizabeth, Ian or I ... (and are not sick) ... drop us an e-mail or give us a call. We'll let you know how we're doing and what time (when she's not eating... otherwise you'll be doing a lot of talking with just Ian) is good.

Well, I think it's time for me to try to catch a quick nap before it's time to "sleep" (or maybe it's time for Miss Elizabeth to eat again ... hmm) ... in either case, this ends my first post-partum "Hello". ~~ The New Mom ~~