One Week

It's hard to believe an entire week has already gone by! And what a great week it's been. Kyle and I have settled into a sort of rhythm that allows for plenty of sleep, even if it's only in 2 to 4 hour blocks for me - the human shmorgishboard. He does a lot of diaper changing, burping, and taking Mallory on "tours" of the house. It's so adorable! She likes her room and Drew's the best - presumably because of all the colors, though I'm not sure what she's actually able to see at this point. She also likes going outside. Kyle has introduced her to all the trees and to our gecko(s). He's also "taught" her how to speak Canadian and Texan ;)

When you're in the hospital here, they give you a worksheet to record feeding frequency and time, wet diapers and dirty diapers for the first week. There are notes for each day indicating how many of each kind of diaper your baby should make and how often they should eat. Well, on Monday little Mallory had a lot of gas, was inconsolable, and upon checking, had not pooped since 8pm the night before. We got a bit concerned and called the pediatrician's office where they patched us through to the lactation consultant. Since my milk was only just starting to come in, she assured us that everything was fine. Apparently Mallory was just hungry - tired of the colostrum. Phew, what a relief. After I filled up, she fed non-stop.

When my milk came in, it came in with gusto. I swear I went from having nothing to being instantaneously engorged. Not a mom and wondering what engorged feels like? Take a balloon, fill it with rocks and then some quick-set cement. Tie off the balloon, let the cement dry and voila! Now you know.

So after eating non-stop, Mallory finally started pooping. Thinking she'd finished her business, Kyle started changing her diaper. Little did he know that she was only just getting started. Now, I was taking a nap at the time, so I only saw the aftermath, but apparently she erupted like a volcano and it just kept coming. Kyle used his only defense - about 40 diaper wipes - to shield himself and the furniture from the poop-a-palooza. It was the blowout to top all blowouts. I'm pretty sure she completely emptied her lower GI tract ;)

After all that pooping, we decided to give her a bath. She hated it. Mind you, it was just a sponge bath, since her belly button hasn't fallen off yet, but you'd think getting clean was absolute torture to hear her wail. I'm hoping she'll enjoy baths more when she can relax in the nice warm water.

Last but not least, we also took our first walk - down to the mailboxes and back. It was hot, and I was tired, but it felt good to get out. Sadly, I got a little lightheaded on the way back up the street and felt quite ridiculous for apparently overdoing it just taking a short walk. But in other good news, I've gotten my ankles back! Hurray! Compared to being pregnant, even on a good day, they seem like scrawny little chicken feet now. I'd completely forgotten what "normal" looked like ;) And in case anyone is curious, I was down 23lbs the day after we got home, and 30lbs on Mallory's week birthday. Let's hear it for breast feeding - woo hoo!

Oh yes, and thanks to our visitors: Misty & JJ, Murphy, and Caitriona.