We're actually getting back into our old schedule... with modifications

So Daughter is now a new element in our lives, and we've slowly, over the course of the past week, started getting back into our old routines, with modifications of course. Yes, there are still the middle-of-the-night feeding/changing times, but now, we let her sleep and wake us up when she's ready to be fed (we were on a 2-3 hour routine before, and now, sometimes, it extends upwards of 4-5 hours between feedings), and I supplement with a couple of every 2-3 hour feedings during the day. Hubby is able to sleep somewhat through the night now, so that he can be lucid during the work day. I'm regaining some ability to do things around the house, between feedings, and I'm cooking again - though we are taking full advantage of the food gifts people have given us as well as the pre-made food items I made before Isabel came into our lives. Hubby and I went to our first party on Saturday, albeit without Daughter in tow until Doc tells us she's ready for an infusion into normal life (though I think she'd be just fine in our arms, out of reach of germy hands), and we ran some errands as well. I've taken her for walks, as has Hubby, and we're enjoying the coming spring season in DC.

Things I've cooked... well, the chicken stock left from the healing meal that Aunt and Uncle cooked for me, I made some soup from it last Thursday evening, and topped it off with a empanada shell to bake - it came out all right, though the soup was still sweet from the dates in it and it boiled a little too long and was pretty concentrated. Hubby helped assemble the salad that night, as my abdomen was still healing and I didn't want to spend too much time standing in the kitchen. We also took Daughter out last night, to get some custard at our local custard shop... and I've taken her for walks in the neighborhood, to hear all the birds and to experience the warming weather.

What else... I've been cooking for Daughter, though not directly - breastfeeding her. It took some getting used-to at first, but now, 2 weeks in, I'm feeling much more comfortable. I finally broke down, and went to the local Target and picked up a Boppy pillow to help with breastfeeding - hands still feel numbness from carpal tunnel, and I'm not sure it will ever get better - but my hands and arms truly hurt when I feed her in the wee hours of the night. Yes, I look like I should be going for a swim in the kiddie pool, but the Boppy pillow really does work. I may also invest in an electric pump, to be able to continue giving her breast milk after I go back to work. And I've found that my silicone ice-cube fun-shaped trays are great - I can make food for her, for later on, and store them in coordinating shapes based on what they are - pears for pears, apples for apples, maybe stars for vegetables, and some sort of animal for meats! Fun with food - oh why not, especially if we can use these shapes to our advantage!

So, quick summary before I feed my little one - first 2 weeks were tough, but survivable - and things do start to get better, little by little. Adjustment to a new schedule in such a short period of time is difficult, but it's worth it - especially when the little one starts opening her eyes and throws her first unadulterated, completely non-self-conscious all-gums smile at you. She's precious, we love her, and we hope to be able to give her the best life that we can.

Daughter arrives!

Baby measured large... cervix did not drop... we decided to go with a scheduled cesarean, and we've landed ourselves a baby girl! Last Wednesday, the 14th, we had ourselves a little baby girl, all 8 pounds 10 ounces of her. Seeing her for the first time was amazing - and all the things I've heard about an overwhelming unconditional love you feel for someone you've never met before is true. The past week has been a whirlwind, where I've learned that all the products that people have been touting - some of them are true to work, some are completely irrelevant. Every baby is different, and some need some items, and some need others.

For Girly... the Graco Pack-n-Play has served as a fantastic second crib, as I stayed on the first floor of our house this past week while I let my cesarean wound heal - I'm moving back up to the second floor this week. The pockets it has for the changing station have been very convenient, and the height works really well for me. I've been doing the breastfeeding thing, and I've been using the Bravado nursing pads - they're OK, not as absorbent as I would have liked. Nursing bras from Bravado are fantastic, allows nursing very easily - my regular bras are definitely not cutting it. I'm lucky that my milk did come in rather quickly, but then, when it's time to feed Girly, and she's still sleepy... well, it does make for quite a mess on Mom. Alas, what can one do...

Other things - her clothing - onesies - we go through them about one a day, some times 2 a day. We got some from Baby Gap which have been really good. There are onesies with snaps at the neck, which makes putting them on her much easier, as there are few babies that do enjoy having a shirt pulled over their heads. The kimono tops do ride up, so they're not as good - though we did get a kimono onesie that snaps at the legs, which is much better than just the top. Hats, realistically, we only need 2, since she wears them only occasionally and doesn't seem to really love them - and we put it on her only when it's cold out, and she'll grow out of them so quickly. We have a hooded towel from Dwellbaby, and she loves getting swaddled in it after a bath (which she really doesn't like). The changing stations - realistically, I only want to use a simple cloth on them, not the fancy sheets, since there are so many chances of getting them dirty (trajectory poo!!). Otherwise... coats, we really won't need them until this autumn, as, even on the day we brought her home, though it was only 40 degrees outside, once we dressed her in her going -home outfit of a long-sleeved onesie, locked her into the car seat, and bundled her up in a blanket as well as the cold-weather cover on the car seat, she was more than snuggled up happy.

Diaperwise, we've got some Seventh Generation diapers, which run pretty huge - Pampers diapers were the ones that the hospital used, and we're continuing to use them at home until she grows out of them and fits the Seventh Generation diapers better... which seems to be happening, starting... now. She's growing fast!

Swaddle blankets, we have some thin flannel ones from Buy Buy Baby, just the basic ones, and they work just fine. We also have some fancier ones from Swaddle Baby, and they're huge - good for wrapping her up for colder nights, but the other flannel ones work just as well. We've been making good use of the Graco monitors, to keep tabs on when she gets really fussy (when Hubby comes down and helps me out), and to make sure she's OK when we don't have her next to us. We have an Uppababy Vista stroller, which has worked wonderfully, and has an adapter for our Graco Snugride car seat.

It's a rollercoaster ride, but it's a fun one. I know our lives will never be the same, but all the same, I'm looking forward to making new memories with her in our life. I haven't done much cooking since getting home... but our schedule is starting to return to what it was before, albeit with changes incorporating her into the schedule. It's an amazing learning experience.

Boy, has it been a long while

How in the world did the month of February pass by so quickly? To this, I really have no idea... but we survived the baby shower, we're now just 2 weeks away from meeting our little baby, and we're slowly coming to the realization that yes, indeedy, there really is no turning back. Highlights of the month... cookingwise, I've still been cooking, enjoying the gamut of baking cakes and making little easier dishes - stuffed pastas with panna sauce, stir-fries, curries, and now, prepping some pre-made dishes to stow away in the freezer for post-baby delivery. We got ourselves a baby-safe car, and we're going to put in the car-seat base this weekend. We're coming into the final days... and we are very much looking forward to our little baby's joining us in the awake world.

Which is not to say it hasn't been awake - it's done its fair share of squiggling around and kicking, just to make sure I'm aware that it's in there. And the hiccups it gets daily... well, albeit cute, but I have to wonder how good it may feel inside in its cramped quarters. And it reacts now, to things, to voices - Hubby's voice near my belly almost always wakes it up, curious as I am sure it is as to this voice it hears. And the other day, when a foot stuck itself into my side, Hubby put his hand on the spot, and foot retracted - a good sign that reflexes are working!

Lessons learned through this last month... well, one thing, maternity clothing. No matter what clothes feel like when you first purchase them, in the final months and weeks, it will be nearly impossible to keep pants up, to hide a growing belly. Mine has been growing forward, and pants with full panels, demi panels, roll-down panels, no panels, whatever panels - they just refuse to stay up. I find myself pulling up my pants every time I get up from a chair, or even after walking a few steps. Is this fair call for a muu-muu?

And if someone could have told me, I would have purchased not as much clothing of larger size to accommodate my growing belly, but longer clothing. There really is nothing worse than having your pants fall down while your shirt rides up, all revealing the big belly that's taking over my physique. It feels like some old Popeye's cartoon, with the front panel of some gentleman's shirt rolling up and whipping him in the face. Granted, I've been lucky enough to not have my shirt whip me in the face, but damn - these shirts, no matter how wide around, do not do enough to help cover me up for the professional realm.

So what have been my favorite pieces? I've had shirts layered under sweaters through the winter - long tunic-style sweaters, some just from regular, not maternity, sizing. The longer turtlenecks of this past season from H&M have been life-savers, as have some tunic-style pieces. And my favorite pants right now are definitely my jeans. Wrap dresses, too, have been convenient, though I can't help but feel that they could really just fly open at any blow of a winter breeze. Yoga pants feel great at home, and long-sleeved T-shirts, so long as they are long enough, have helped to keep out the cold. From this pregnancy, I've had several pieces that qualify as my favorites, enough so that I may search for more of the same next time around.

As for cooking from now until baby comes... I'm going to make, like I said, some pre-made stuff that can be stored away in the freezer and easily baked/defrosted for quick little meals. Empanadas are in line, as are dumplings, little meat buns, curry pockets, and maybe even little pot pies. However, we are going to stick with our usual regimen, of not having huge dishes with left-overs for days on end... the palate gets just too bored with such limited choices. As this baby (and in particular, its head) has gotten too big for me to be able to deliver it naturally, we've elected to go with a scheduled C-section, so as to reduce risk to both myself and the little one. So, knowing that we'll be going in at a set time and day, we can actually plan around this event, and I've asked Dad to bring some little dishes down from our friends' restaurant in Philadelphia when he comes down. I've also requested some tzong-tze - bamboo-leaf wrapped seasoned rice, pork, egg, and chestnut, which can easily be heated up for instant satiation without the elaborate preparations of a multi-course meal. Of course, I'm still going to try to cook after baby joins us, but all the same, I'll walk with it down the street to our local bakery and cheesemonger, and pick up some bread and cheese. And, ambitious mindedness forward, I'm going to try cooking my own baby food, when our little one is ready.

So for now, I'm going to try to keep the blog up as much as I can, but we are coming into the final moments of just Hubby and me, before we truly become three - I think we'll need to take a bit of time, just for ourselves, to savor, before, as everyone has been pressing into our awareness, absolutely everything changes. And who knows... maybe nothing will really change. Status quo has never been my accepted reality, and we may actually be able to make this threesome work without it completely swallowing us whole.