Oh, newborns

I had forgotten how much time it takes to take care of a newborn baby. Like, all my time. Every day. It leaves very little time for blogging. In fact, as I quickly type this, I am listening to the screams of a baby who has just gotten her first cold and does not like it at all. I have been attempting to soothe this baby all damn day, and I need a little break. So while she is within arm's reach, I am attempting to ignore her for a couple of minutes.

And, wait, what's that? Is she going to stop crying and fall asleep already like she should have done HOURS ago? Knock on wood, I'm going to ruin it if I speak of sleep too soon. Oh, the snores of a baby with a cold. Cute and sad, all at once.

I remember Milo's first cold. I was a hot mess because I was certain he was going to stop breathing at any moment. Somehow he (and I) made it through that first snotty night and it was much easier from then on. But I am rambling. I intended to use my blogging time to update you on life with a newborn. So here goes.

Olive is four weeks old today. She likes being snuggled, being warm, laying on her tummy (occasionally), sucking on her paci (occasionally), and being clothed. She does not like getting her diaper changed, taking baths, or having her clothes off. Things are getting a little easier, though she doesn't have much of a routine to speak of. It's still a complete crap shoot on whether she'll be awake, asleep, or hungry at any given time of day. I am often asked two things: 1) Is she a good baby? My answer? Of course. But she's a newborn, and they are kind of inconsiderate jerks. 2) Are you getting any sleep? The answer to this is simply "Enough." Obviously I'm tired; I haven't slept more than about four hours straight in several weeks, and it's usually closer to three hours. But that's just par for the course, isn't it?

Just two days after we brought Olive home from the hospital, Andrew came down with the flu. He was really, really sick. I'll spare you the details, but he was pretty useless at childcare for about three days. So I, still healing from giving birth and in a lot of pain myself, was taking care of both kiddos, at least the evening and night shifts, as Milo was going to daycare during the day. And Milo had not yet adjusted to life with a new baby, and he was not sleeping well at all. He was clingy and cranky and on top of dealing with having a sister all of a sudden, he missed playing with Daddy, too. I think that first night of Andrew's flu I slept about three hours total, if that. I basically detested my husband for about 72 hours. But he got better and I got over it. But that was week one. It had to get better from there.

Weeks two and three were good on the whole. Milo was still not sleeping; he typically cried for 30 minutes to an hour before finally falling asleep each night. He absolutely did not want Mommy and Daddy to leave him. Thankfully by week four he was getting back to normal, going to bed without a fuss and sleeping through the night. As for Olive, she often had an awake time between 9ish and 11ish, which was pretty lame. Right about the time we finally got Milo down and were desperate for a little rest, Olive started up with the crying and the neediness. Man, newborns... (see paragraph 4, question 1 answer) But on the whole, we really can't complain, because she didn't actually scream the entire time, as long as she was being walked around and cuddled. I think I recall Milo as a newborn, and he just flat out wouldn't be soothed, no matter how he was held, swaddled, rocked, etc.

We had Olive's newborn photos taken last weekend, and seeing the proofs made me notice just how red her hair is. Of course it looks reddish to me, but when I look at her, it seems darker than it did in the photos. I just might have a mini-me for a daughter. Andrew's probably in there somewhere, I imagine. Jaime Russell, our photographer, did a great job. Check out her website here: http://www.digitaliveimages.com/

Olive moved to her own bedroom and her own crib just two nights ago. She's doing fine in there, and I am sleeping better. It's easier to fall back asleep after a nursing session when I can't hear every snort and wheeze and sigh.

I'm sure I have more to say, but I'll wrap up for now. My laptop battery is dangerously low, and if I don't publish this entry now, it could be weeks before I get back to it. Because life with a newborn is just like that.