Incredible Joys

Thank you all for your congratulations and well-wishes! I am so blessed to have such amazing friends. You are all an incredible joy to me.

Aaand…speaking of incredible joys…

Wow.

Bridget is amazing. She’s so much more wonderful than I thought. I think I understand now what people always said, “It’s different when it’s your own.” Somehow I always thought that, since I have a couple of siblings that are significantly younger than I, I had a better understanding of what being a parent would be like. And maybe I did. A very little. Much less than I thought. So far, it’s proved to be so much more than anything I even came close to imagining.

Her birth was pretty cool, too. The labor was relatively easy (meaning short, not painless!). I had been having regular contractions for about a week – since the 25th, when we actually went into the hospital – but, although I was dilated 5 cm, and the contractions were very regular, they were not strong at all. Then on the night of the 28th, we went in to the hospital again – this time with the “real deal.”

I labored for between 8 and 9 hours – it was amazing how time seemed to fly and drag on at the same time. Then, after only 30 minutes of pushing, our Bridget came into the world! What an amazing miracle.

Some people go on about how beautiful their birth experience was. I think my birth “experience” was neat…maybe…but much more beautiful in retrospect than it was at the time. Okay, in reality the jacuzzi tub and the Fentanyl were probably the nicest parts! At the time I just wanted it to be over, and to hold my little girl. The moment that the doctor (or nurse, I don’t remember really) laid her, still a bit goopy and dazed, on my chest was the happiest moment of my life. All I could think or say was, “My baby!”

Adjusting to life with a baby has been interesting, but with the support of family and friends it has definitely been do-able. We have a rhythm of sorts to our day which consists of variations of nursing, pooing, and sleeping. Usually in that order. As she gets older, there is a bit more awake time thrown in there, during which she looks around cross-eyed as she tries to focus on us, and grunts and squirms, red-faced, I’m guessing over poos that can’t quite make it through her system.

She’s really doing great – drinking milk like a maniac and growing too – at her 2 week appt. (which was almost 2 weeks ago) she had gained back her birth weight plus a couple ounces and has definitely grown since. I think she’s almost 8.5 pounds now. Yay! It’s nice to know that all that eating and sleeping (and pooing!) is having the intended effect.

She is now almost 4 weeks old, and we can see her growing and changing every day. Not to get all cheesy on you here, but I’m constantly reminded of the fact that I will never get these moments back. (Okay, this blog has never shirked from the cheesiness so let’s not pretend.)

There is part of me that itches to see her grow, to see her personality blossom. I really long to get to know this little gal that has stolen my heart. But every time I think of that, I realize that once she grows up, there’s no going back.

So here’s to Bridget, my amazing miracle, the most beautiful baby in the world, the joy of my heart. May I treasure every moment.