bridget ella

The other night, Al was looking down at Bridget as I held her in my arms. "I can't believe we have a baby girl," he said in wonder. I feel the same way. I'm a mother. A parent. Wow.

Bridget is eleven days old today, and it's the first chance I've had to blog since last week. (I'll get the daily thing down again somehow, someway, someday...it just may take a while.) It's also the first day she's slept in her crib (although we have laid her in the bassinet and her little papasan chair) and the first day I've spent alone with her, although Al only worked eight hours today (he normally works a twelve hour shift). It's also the day her umbilical cord fell off. Lots of firsts, and it's not even 4:00 pm!

What's she like so far? Extremely calm. If it's genetic, she must get that from Al because I am so emotionally dramatic that my mom once predicted I would be an actress when I grew up (it does sound more fun than grading papers, but teaching is much more practical). Of course, it's a bit early to tell whether that will change or not, but Bridget only cries when absolutely necessary: "Mommy, daddy, I'm dirtying my diaper and need to be changed," or, "Mommy, I'm hungry. Feed me." Only rarely does she have the "Hold me" cry; we can usually wrap her in a blanket and lay her down and she's fine. And she doesn't mind being held by other people, either; we could pass her around all day and she'd be happy if she didn't have a dirty diaper or wasn't hungry. We only had one bad night, and she had a slight fever that night. I slept with her on my chest to calm her down.

Bridget also tends to sleep well, only needing one feeding during the night--about five or six hours from the last one. She tends to cluster feed in the afternoon/evening, wanting to eat every hour or two; that's what makes the sleeping at night so easy. She also sleeps a lot in the morning. It makes it nice for me. I don't have to nap during the day; instead, I can get stuff done. Today I showered, pumped (Al feeds her once a day by bottle, and it's nice to have a bottle if I plan to be anywhere), did laundry, did more laundry, caught up on my email, and am now blogging. A lot more than I thought I'd be getting done when I was home alone with a daughter and a puppy! (Mya seems a bit depressed, by the way. She just slept all day. Of course, she also puked this morning, so she could just be feeling under the weather. She only wants to lick Bridget whenever she sees her.)

Since being home (and since I've blogged), Bridget has had a parade of visitors (and thankfully, my wonderful husband shampooed the carpets and made sure the house is very presentable) including Todd; Will, Kathy, and Jon; her Uncle Ryan, Aunt Rachel, and cousin Ella; Ethie, Kari, Evan, Lauren, and Aubrey; her Uncle Erik, Aunt Meaghan, and cousin Noah; her Papa (my dad); her Uncle Bill, Aunt Theresa, and cousin Neil; and her Grandma and Grandpa McCaffery. Saturday was a rough day for me since it held most of the visitors and Friday night was the feverish night (I really only got about one hour of sleep). Breastfeeding is the other thing that tends to make visitors hard, since Bridget tends to want to eat right when people arrive and I'm not the type to feed in front of everyone. But that'll die down soon, I'm sure.

Since becoming mommy, I have discovered three baby products that I love: Bourdeaux's Butt Paste, which Ruthie bought me and seems to calm Bridget right down when I'm changing her diaper--and her skin is so perfect that she hasn't had diaper rash at all; the Boppy Bare Naked pillow (but most moms like these), which makes it easier to support Bridget when I'm feeding her (by the way, I hated their Total Body Pillow for pregnant women--it didn't hold its shape, was hard to fit under me, and I ended up cutting it in half because it was so cumbersome); and the Diaper Genie II, which keeps the scent of dirty diapers from me, Al, and most importantly, Mya. It also keeps dirty diapers out of Mya's mouth.

Finally (and this post seems to jump around a lot--sorry), I'm doing well. Very little discomfort left from the birth, but a bit of back pain sometimes. A heating pad and Advil do the trick for that. I do tend to cry for the slightest reason (or no reason at all) sometimes, but I just keep reminding myself that my hormones are raging right now and the crying fits will pass. For someone who is a control freak, I think I'm doing fairly well having a baby now control my schedule. I'm also full of awe and wonder at this beautiful baby girl whom God has given us, and who seems to have changed already. See for yourself:

Tuesday, March 17

Friday, March 20

Sunday, March 22