doudsville

We've been trying to figure out who this baby looks like. her nose, lips and chin are pretty unique. i sent a pic to my dear mother, and she sent this one back. i want those sheets.


top pic is me. bottom is nora lou.

i definitely see a resemblance. maybe we have a little greg AND a little sara now!

disclaimer: lots of birth/baby details to follow. no one's forcing you to read on. do so at your own discretion.

things are going surprisingly well around here. i'm not sure if with elizabeth, the whole process was really terrible so with nora the process was easy by comparison, or if with nora the process really was easy. probably a little of both. in any case we're all doing considerably well.

i'm afraid the birth story is a boring one.

i went in about a week early to be induced because of the shoulder dystocia i had with elizabeth. the object of early delivery is to keep the infant from getting too big.

they broke my water and started a low dose of pitocin. contractions started right away.  a few hours later i had a couple scary-painful ones and asked for an epidural. within five minutes, the anesthesiologist floated in on a cloud, and within 20 minutes i was feeling no pain. i can't overemphasize my love for the epidural. if it were a readily available drug, like tylenol or heroin, i might be an addict. it's just so comfy and snuggly and warm. yum.

fast forward a few more hours and i felt like it was time to push. i told my nurse and half an hour later, in walked my OB/GYN, dr. eastman. i'm a big fan. the medical peeps got all prepped , i had a contraction, gave exactly FOUR pushes and that was it. no complications. just a baby.

i know this whole thing sounds sorta fake. and believe you me, i wouldn't believe me either if i didn't already know my generally complainy countenance. i really just have nothing to complain about. my doctor was/is amazing and we've booked pomerado hospital as our next vacation getaway. i love that place. the nurses were sweet, and i swear i even liked the food. who knew a hospital could make a tasty pork loin?

we've been home for almost a full week now, and things are running pretty smoothly. elizabeth likes to pat the baby's "blankie", point out her fingers/nose/toes/etc, and was concerned when the baby stopped wearing her "hat". we also play that game where we point to individual members of the fam and bets says their names: daddy, mommy, lucky(the dog),elizabeth, and "nono". that's what bets calls nora. she's nono. it's unbearably adorable.

let's see. what else.

nora. i suppose all babies are pretty "easy" for the first couple weeks,and this gal is no exception. there are a few behaviors of note thus far:

1. she loves to eat. bets was opposite from the the very start; she'd fall asleep the second i'd start nursing her and we'd have to be pinching her and wiping her with wet washcloths and all other manner of nonsense to get her to suck. i'm surprised at how much easier and more pleasant feeding times are with nora. i can just start her nursing and then space off to the tv or whatever and she just does her thing. SO nice.

now don't get me wrong. i'm still in severe pain. those lactation consultant people are totally full of it. nursing downright SMARTS. and yeah, yeah, i'm paying attention to the "latch" and all that. i'm good at stuff. i'm doing it right. and it still hurts. there's no getting around it, i'm convinced. please contact me if you had a pain-free nursing experience........and i'll probably tell you i don't believe you:) i'm counting on the pain decreasing with time, but as for day six....it hurts like the dickens. having said that i must say that so far, the pain has been worth the benefit of NOT pumping. no making bottles, and warming and washing and cleaning pump supplies and packing them....and the list goes on. i vowed after pumping for six months with elizabeth that i would NEVER do it again. i decided with nora that if i couldn't nurse the old fashioned way, i'd give her formula.....and preserve my sanity. so far, so good. the old fashioned way is working! i even successfully fell asleep nursing lying down in bed in the middle of the night last night. joy!

2. nora has the mixed up days and nights thing. also opposite from elizabeth. i had nora at 8:55pm and she was awake and fussing that very night until 2am. and she's sticking to the pattern. she wakes up about 10pm and would be perfectly content with eating for four hours straight. 10pm-2am. that's my night shift. i've learned if i get a little nap in around 8:30p, the nighttime is totally doable. hopefully she'll start sleeping for some solid chunks of time at night, like she does ALL day long.

i guess that's all i've got for now. my husband, mother in law, and friends have all taken really splendid care of us. we had our first of several meals, organized through church, dropped off last night. it was super tasty and so well balanced. i i mean, all the major food groups were covered:) it always blows my mind that other people care about us enough to spend the time doing stuff like that. it kinda touched my stone-cold heart.

okay. naptime.