3 weeks and then some

Friday, October 12 – 3 weeks old
Three weeks old today! Does it seem like it’s been three weeks? In some ways not really. It’s hard to imagine how you could feel so attached to someone you’ve known for only three weeks, but I guess I’ve actually known them a lot longer than that.

Callie is holding her head up better today. Daniel has been doing this from the very start, but up until now Callie has had a pretty weak neck.

Saturday, October 13
A nice lazy morning. The nights are getting easier. We have one late evening feeding – around 10 or 11, then one middle of the night feeding, and one early morning. So really it only feels like we are getting up once in the night. And the babies are sleeping for 3 – 3.5 hours at a stretch – which is way better than the 1.5 – 2 hours we were getting when we were having to wake them up to feed them.

I’m feeling like I have a better handle on things. I think it’s a combination of more sleep, maybe the hormones are leveling off a bit, and I am no longer dealing with surgery pain – I’m feeling pretty good.

We’re both so enamored with these kids. We already talk about having more. We both agree that we’d do it again in a heartbeat, if it weren’t for financial considerations. We can’t really afford to raise more kids, so something would have to change financially for us in order to do this again. But given the chance, we would. I’m a little surprised to see Jim saying this so readily – previously his attitude had been that two was plenty – but I don’t think he knew just how much he would enjoy these two.

Callie has started spitting up a lot. Perhaps because she’s started eating more. And Daniel just continues to get noisier and noisier – when he’s drinking from a bottle he grunts and coos and makes all kinds of noises, it’s really cute and funny.

Today I weighed 3 pounds less than when I got pregnant. I gained 38 pounds when I was pregnant, and I have now lost 41.

Sunday, October 14
Callie slept for almost 6 hours last night – from about 3:30 until almost 9:30. Daniel might have slept too, but his gassy belly made him restless, he was in bed with us. But they both went for that long without eating, so maybe it’s a sign of longer sleep sessions to come.

Monday, October 15
I think I’m seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. It’s still hard. Nighttime is really hard. But I don’t feel like I’m under water all the time any more. I feel like I can get a few things done, I don’t feel like life is such a blur.

Tomorrow is my 37th birthday. I think of birthdays in a whole new way now. Daniel and Callie’s birthday will forever be an incredibly special day for me. And I never before thought about what my birthday must mean to my mother. The birth day has always been made a big deal of for the person who was born – but it’s always overlooked how special that day is to the person who gave birth. It will be a more special anniversary for me than my own birth day.

There’s really nothing I want for my birthday. I already have everything I could ever want. Any material item seems so trivial when compared to the miraculous gift I’ve already been given.

I spent most of the day today by myself. And I did ok. I didn’t get much rest, because Callie wanted to eat all day. I am trying to exclusively breastfeed during the day. I goes ok, but it just takes a long time.