Today, Liam is 1 week old. It’s been, to gently understate the matter, a whirlwind of a week:
- No one really knows anything about breastfeeding. Not how to do it, not best practices, not how to get better. I think that it’s one of those little pieces of magic that everyone must figure out how to do on their own. Every nurse, book, TV show & random stranger has advice on how to best breastfeed, and they all contradict each other. Leah had a hard time figuring it all out, but now, improvising with her own special technique, she seems to have gotten the hang of it. Yay for her!
- I’ve been peed on, twice. Neither time, however, was during a diaper change (which I’ve become quite proficient at, if I do say so myself). The first time was when we gave Liam a bath, a traumatic experience for all involved, due entirely to Liam’s parents incompetence. The second time, Liam was sleeping on my lap and I guess his diaper leaked, because suddenly, it felt warm and wet in my crotch, I knew that I hadn’t peed. Yuck!
- Liam has already been to his first doctor’s appointment, and I’m pleased to report that all is well. He’s even begun to have put back on the weight he lost: He started at 7 lbs, 14 oz, went down to 7 lbs, 3oz and has bounced back up to 7 lbs, 4 oz. Which is good to see, as his weight levelled off and started to come back up quicker than I expected.
- Sleeping is still hit-and-miss. Neither Leah nor I are big nappers, long accustomed to getting all our sleep at night. We’re starting to learn how to nap during the day, so that those 4 hours of sleep at night add up to enough.
- I have “daddy brain”. I’ve heard lots about “mummy brain”, where mothers are forgetful and sometimes seem a little simple, but I’m totally experiencing that. I can’t even chalk it up to just a lack of sleep. I’m just a little goofy right now.
- I was quite worried before Liam was born that, well, I’d feel somewhat indifferent to him. I’ve never realy been interested in anyone else’s kids, and so was worried that I wouldn’t be interested in him. This, of course, could not be further from the truth: I can’t enough of him. I can’t explain the sheer amount of love I feel for this little guy, who I’ve only known a week. I even miss him when I’m asleep, because I can’t look at him and listen to him. My last thought before sleeping is about him, and so is my first upon waking up. It’s a truly bizarre, wonderful, scary feeling.
- Next week, I start back at work, though all things being equal, it will be a four-day week, and no long hours like I’m used to. But I’m quite worried about how Leah will do her first week on her own, whether we’re really ready for me to return to work. Hopefully everything will work out, but I suspect my productivity won’t be so high as it normally is, what with half of my head thinking solely about mother and child.