Having a Baby: 3 weeks in

eat.sleep.poop.

that's what everyone tells you babies do. and it's true.

add a few smiles, tears, and burps in there and that sums up our new baby's life. and mine.

it seems simple, right? feed her when she gives hunger signs, cuddle her to sleep, change her when her diaper gets full. Ha!

eat. not always as straightforward as it should be. sometimes she wants to eat every hour and sometimes she refuses to wake up to eat for 5 hours (only in the afternoon, never at night. that would be too convenient for mommy). and what's a mom to do when baby gives hunger signs, excitedly starts eating, and then screams like she's being forced to drink spoiled milk. it doesn't taste that bad, i promise! yes, i tried it. 

maybe she'd eat better if we'd stop tricking her

sleep. no, she's not sleeping through the night yet. i guess you can't expect that of a 3 week old, but i'm not known for my low expectations (i don't really know that i'm known for my high expectations either, but let's just go with it for now). truth be told, i kind of like getting up to see her during the night. IF she eats and goes right back to sleep. but if i'm being totally honest, i would like a straight 8 hours of sleep even more than our nightly get-togethers. i have to give her some credit though, she's starting to get the hang of staying asleep for 4 hour stretches. i believe this is mostly due to the fact that i gave up following the Safe Sleep guidelines that i teach at work and started putting her on her stomach to sleep. she's more comfortable and doesn't choke herself all night! i'm not an expert, but it seems to me that not choking in your sleep every hour is better than choking in your sleep every hour.

poop. i have nothing to say about this except that the doctor must have been mixed up when he said it can be normal for a breastfed baby to go 3 days without pooping. mine can't go 3 hours. On the bright side, she loves having her diaper changed. That is not sarcasm. She prefers a diaper change to crying about a tummy ache. Please never grow out of that, sweet girl.

"is that smell coming from ME?"

Best parts of  having a 3 week old: smiles, coos, naps in my arms, soft skin, stretches, practicing facial expressions, nuzzling, grunts and all sounds sans crying, under-developed head control skills, when her little hands find their way around my neck.