week 2

Don't worry, although Olivia and I are all dressed up for church (you can't see her darling dress in that bundle), she and I stayed home. You kind of crave normalcy after being pregnant for nine months and then giving birth...although homebound, I had to do something to make it feel like the Sabbath. 

Week 2: stretching, yet still so sweet, and kind of long

Remember how my angel mother left right as week two began? Clearly I didn't really know what I was doing when she left - all those yellow-stained onesies from blow-outs were air-dyring, because (apparently), I didn't know how to really secure a diaper for a few days. Bless my heart. 

During weeks two Olivia slept a lot, so 1) I took more naps and 2) I learned more about patience as I nursed a lot. Thankfully Olivia is a natural at nursing and burping (that's a real compliment to a babe, believe me) when she feels well. However when she doesn't...

At the beginning of Olivia's second week she started to get real fussy. I was told that all little babes are like that - tears, squirming, and even projectile spit-up. So I tried to grit my teeth and bear through some really long hours of nursing and crying...but when everything I knew to do wasn't working, things got ugly. It was apparent that it was hurting Olivia to eat. I assumed she had mega bubbles, so what did we do? We burped for literally 1.5 hours straight after eating. After a full week of this, and too much spitting up for a baby, I learned that my darling has a reflux - something in my milk was giving her mega heartburn. 

Helping infants get over reflux mostly comes from changing your diet, so that your breast milk won't give them heartburn. Thus, heeding the advice of two doctors, I eliminated gluten (so wheat, oats, etc.), egg yolks, peanuts, dairy, and chocolate during week two, and I won't eat them for...? Not sure yet. Probably at least for the next few months. 

Ouch. The wheat part killed me. Sliced bread is one of the best things that ever happened to me as a hungry pregnant and nursing woman - it was my "go to" food right before a feeding, right after a midnight feeding, and every other time I needed to eat asap. And, honestly, I really like wheat bread, so this instantaneous change to my diet was kind of hard to swallow. 

Yes, week two was marked with some stress and sadness for me, I cannot tell a lie. In the middle of working at how to take care of Olivia totally on my own, I also had to figure out this way new diet change. A few good souls could sense my stress, even though they didn't know about everything I was going through. One was my dear Marilee - she ran to my rescue one night with a perfect salad bar for dinner. An unknown neighbor of ours in Wymountland "heart attacked" our door with the kindest note of congratulations and encouragement. I felt supported in simple ways, and that did so much for my morale. 

And, of course, my Wonderful came to aid time and time again. Ryan had reason to be even more stressed than me, as he was learning how to balance fatherhood, husbandhood, employeehood, and studenthood, but he kept it together and helped me along. Bless him for forever.  

Example A: Olivia's first doctor's appointment which ended up being so tiring and embarrassing for me. My baby girl decided that having a real long meal right after her check-up was appropriate, but the nurses in the office did not agree when, one hour after our appointment, we were still nursing in the exam room...

But I came home to this, and I cried all about it because it was exactly what I needed:

How did he know I was so stressed after that appointment? How did he know that I was starving? How is he so perfect for me?

I know my Wonderful loves me a lot, but I love him more. Promise.

Even though week two was a little rough, it was still rewarding. I mean, please, despite the struggles, how could I not fall into love over and over again with my new job when I see my "finished product" - my sleeping babe - even though every feeding was so sad?

My sleeping, growing, peaceful babe...oh how I love those saggy sleeping cheeks and that perfect nose buttoned in between them!

Despite wanting to jump back into normal life  - sharing Olivia with our friends, for example, via the social media world and house visits - I was exhausted and I took almost every nap of hers to also sleep. While I'm positive I didn't look as cute as her while I napped, I'm sure we were dreaming of the same things: nursing, creamy milk, burp cloths, spit up, bubbles, burping, yawning, sleeping, nursing, creamy milke, burp cloths, spit up, bubbles, burping, yawning, sleeping, nursing, and of each other, most of all.