My Very Own Room

I visited my new house
this weekend. It was so much fun! I have my very own room. My nursery colors are pink, green and blue. Use the poll to tell Mommie and Daddie what color we should paint the room!

Two weeks old!

I love tummy time!

Making Weight

Alyson went to the pediatrician today and she weighed in at 7 pounds! She's doing such a good job of eating! That means we can start letting her sleep more at night if she wants to. Wish us luck tonight!

Homeowners!

It's official we are now homeowners! Can't wait to show Allie her new digs!

We also have a pediatrician appointment today. Hopefully our baby girl has regained her birth weight. Any guesses on how big she will weigh in? Winner gets a kiss from Allie.

Daddie Makes Me Smile

The Learning Curve

Ten days into being a mom I am hardly in the position to give anyone advice but here are a few things I have learned so far.

1) Best time ever. Despite the sleep deprivation, achy back, and swollen nipples this is by far the happiest time of our lives. And I am not just saying that because I think I need to. Being a mom has truly exceeded every expectation I could ever have imagined. I love my little girl and I love Bret more each day just for being her father.

2) Chill out. Most new moms are so worried about doing everything right and playing everything by the book. But what is more important is finding out what is right for you and your spouse. If you and your husband and baby are happy then who cares what the book says! I believe that creating an environment that is calm and safe will do more for our baby than worrying about what all the research points to.

3) Breastfeeding is hard work. I don't care what anyone says: nursing is not intuitive. It's painful. It's hard. It's exhausting. And it hurts — a lot! Alyson and I are still working on getting the whole breastfeeding thing down and in the meantime I have been pumping at least six times a day so she can take my milk through a bottle. At first it was awful watching her suck down a bottle of breastmilk when she wouldn't latch on directly to me. But now, I have realized it may actually be a blessing in disguise. The fact that she is taking to the bottle (and sometimes the breast) allows Bret and I to split up our feedings and enlist the help of other people in her mealtime. And given the fact that I have Lupus and desperately need to rest, this system really seems to be working for us. Last night I was able to get a six hour stretch of sleep!

4) Put Visitors to Work. Our apartment is literally like Grand Central Station. Alyson has had so many wonderful visitors come in to see her and we are so blessed to have so many friends and family stopping by. But there is nothing worse than visitors who stay for three plus hours and just play with the baby while Mom uses the free time to clean up the dishes in the sink, wipe down the bathroom or run to the store for supplies. The best visitors are the ones who let YOU play with the baby while they do the rest of the work. Believe me, play time is scarce. Alyson needs to feed every three hours. That means by the time we actually finish our feeding, clean up the supplies, change her (which usually needs to happen twice), get her dressed and I finish pumping it is almost time for the next feeding. Make your visitors sing for their supper! Ask for help or at the very least have them bring food over.

5) Take Time to Enjoy Her. Since Bret and I have been splitting up feedings we haven't been going to bed at the same time anymore. We started realizing how much we missed each other and instituted "bear time." Every night before I go to sleep (Bret takes the late night shift, I take the early morning shift) all three of us spend at least 30 minutes in bed together just cooing at her and enjoying her. We leave the dishes in the sink. We forget what the lactation consultant said about keeping my milk supply steady. We just read a story to her and talk about how beautiful she is and how lucky we both are. It's my favorite time of the day.