A is for . . .

Here's Bucket on her Alphabet and Animals blankets, made for her by her great-grandma and grandma. It's weird for me to think that she not only has both her grandmas, but four great-grandmas as well. My mom's mom passed away long before I was born, and all my great-grandmas were long gone by the time I showed up. (Careful readers may wonder how Bucket has four great-grandmas if my grandma passed away: Grandpa remarried, and I was pretty far along in life before I realized Grandma Anne wasn't a blood relation. She has always been very loving and attentive.) I will have to take some more cute pictures of my little girl. We've been trying to capture her smile, but it remains elusive. She only smiles while she's eating or sleeping--yet another example of how she resembles her dad, by sharing his favorite activities. :) We're still waiting for her yucky little umbilical cord stump to fall off. I hope it happens soon, because she needs a bath. Trying to sponge-bathe a squirrelly little baby has not gone all that well.

Who Needs Sleep?

Bucket discovered her hair the other day. She found out how fun it is to play with, and grab a fistful, and . . . that was where the fun ended. Silly goose. She's been so much more alert these past few days, and she actually looks us in the eyes sometimes. I've had fun laying her on the quilts her grandma and great-grandma made for her, and watching her look around and try to lift up her little head. She's surprisingly strong--babies aren't as fragile as I used to think they were.

She was quite the little twit last night, which was all the more painful because I'd just been bragging about what a good sleeper she was. Luckily, my earlier predictions were correct: Napoleon sleeps through everything, unless I joggle him awake and beg him to try and calm her down for a while. That's usually not very effective, because generally Bucket wants to nurse again and her dad is just not equipped for that. Oh well. Who needs sleep?

Yawn

I am sooo tired. (I'm sure everyone's shocked.) My mom's been here helping out, which has been WONDERFUL. I am amazed that anyone can have more than one child--I can't imagine trying to take care of a baby AND a toddler and still exist myself. The fact that she did it while going to law school just floors me. Mom asked today if I wanted her to stay another week. Errrrrrrrr. Massive indecision. Yes, I would love for you to stay here another week and take care of making dinner and holding the baby when I'm about to fall down and burst into sobs. However, there's Dad and Coral to consider, and a whole bunch of little twits that are waiting for you to go teach seminary. Not that I really care about the little twits, but I know it's one of your responsibilities. Decisions, decisions.

Not that anyone's asking, but I think breastfeeding is WAY harder than labor. Maybe because you don't get an epidural. :)

Awwww . . .

Wow. It's been five days.

She's so cute. I joked with a lot of people that I was scared I'd have an ugly baby. No way.

Things got underway on Thursday. I was supposed to go in to the hospital so they could administer some gel to get my cervix to ripen. They wanted to do a dose in the afternoon, send me home, then another one in the evening, and then start the Pitocin Friday morning. Ha! Fat chance. After the first dose, I started having contractions, and after watching for an hour or so, they said I wasn't going anywhere. Things progressed pretty quickly, and my contractions were coming so strong and long they actually had to give me something to slow them down, since the baby wasn't taking them very well.

I think I had kind of hoped I wouldn't have to have an epidural, just to be tough. But man oh man, the guy that put it in was one of my favorite people. I was a lot happier after he came to visit.

I started pushing at 1 in the morning on Friday, and she was here 40 minutes later. I didn't get to see much of her, since she'd inhaled a lot of fluid and was whisked away to the NICU. They brought her back a couple of hours later with an IV in her head--poor baby! But she's doing fine, sleeping well and looking cute. I love it when she smiles in her sleep. She has a head full of black hair that's fun to play with.

Reeeeaady, Seeeeehhht . . .

Whine, whine. I'm still pregnant. Friday the 3rd came and went, with very little excitement. I had another appointment today, at which we learned that my cervix is not very good at discerning my wishes. (When I say dilate, I mean DILATE, dang it!) So now I'm scheduled to be inducted into the world of Mommydom, on Friday the 10th. I'm kind of bummed about that, since from what I hear, being induced is no fun and makes things more painful than a "normal" birth. Greater risk for a C-section, and all that. Boo. But on the bright side, at least we know the baby will sure be here by Saturday. This whole episode has a definite ending!

We had lots of fun Saturday night hanging out with Miriam, Ryan, and Ava, and some of their friends. Miriam was right: Shoots is my new favorite restaurant. Yum yum. It's kind of like P.F. Chang's, except maybe not so full of itself. I prefer the atmosphere of PFC, I think, but I definitely like the prices of Shoots better. :) Ava was hilarious. She makes very funny cute little noises, kind of like a mix between baby and lamb. People keep asking us "Are you ready for this?", particularly when someone's child is being especially rambunctious. Well, no, we aren't, but good thing nobody gives birth to a one-year-old, huh?