It's Tough to be a Baby

Last week I started work, and poor little Emmie had her life turned upside down. I know people say she doesn't really understand what's going on, but I think her pacifier would beg to differ. Starting last monday, the paci got promoted to full blown "baby crack" status.

In addition to the new pacifier obsession, she stopped napping for a couple of days. Apparently, she had gotten used to falling asleep while breastfeeding, and the bottle just wasn't quite as soothing.

Did I mention it's a bad idea to schedule your baby's first shots in the middle of your first week back at work? Watching them get the shot is not the hard part, apparently. Holding them for the day and a half that follows while they cry inconsolably is the hard part. It was all I could to not to run out of work early Wednesday and Thursday.

Also, for the first 8 weeks of her life, Emmie had Josh and me both home with her all the time. She must have gotten really used to it, because now her favorite thing to do is sit there and stare at us while we both give her 100% of our attention. She will sit there and watch us watching her and go back and forth from Josh's face to mine. It's very sweet and funny in a pitiful way. She gets so happy and relaxed when we're both paying attention to her.

Did I mention that Emmie is too big for her bassinett? The problem is we still don't have her crib, so she sleeps in bed with us, which she loves because she gets to spend all night cuddled up next to me. Part of me loves it too, because I like to snuggle with her, and (call me twisted) because knowing that she needs me to fall asleep makes me feel needed and special, but the other part of me knows that I am not getting enough sleep because she's sleeping with me.

And yes, I know I should not be looking for ways to feel needed, that there will be plenty of opportunities so I shouldn't be inviting more of them in, but those Mommy emotions can be funny things sometimes. Sometimes, I even think that I'll be sad when she is potty trained.

Sorry that turned out to be such a dry news brief, but I'm tired and short on time these days, and that's not very good for my writing style I'm afraid.

Happy 4th of July!

Listening

Right now I can think of a million other "better" uses for my time than this blog. There's the floor that hasn't been mopped, the laundry that needs to be folded, and the bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in...wait a minute, when was the last time we cleaned the bathroom? All that aside however, I want a chance to brag on my baby girl for a little bit. Of course, every parent thinks their child is the prettiest, smartest, most athletic, et cetera, and I am no different. So, you'll have to indulge me.

Since Emmie was born, every one who has met her says they can't believe how alert she is. Now she is seven weeks old and if you hold her and talk to her--when she's awake--she will stare at you and wrinkle up her forehead and listen to every word you say. She wrinkles up her forehead lots, like she is busy thinking hard about the world. I can't believe how much she loves to listen to everyone talk. She just learned how to smile, and she smiles alot, but it's hard to catch her at it, because there are so many other things that occupy her attention. As soon as we get the camera out to take a picture of it, she is fascinated by the camera. As soon as someone holds her and tries to get her to smile she won't do it because she's watching them, and listening to them talk. When Emmeline is like that, it makes me think of what Eudora Welty said: that every good writer must be a listener and an observer. Who knows, maybe one day Emmeline will be winning Pulitzer Prizes too!

"When at length we bought our first automobile, one of our neighbors was often invited to go with us on the family Sunday afternoon ride. In Jackson it was counted an affront to the neighbors to start out for anywhere with an empty seat in the car. My mother sat in the back with her friend, and I'm told that as a small child I would ask to sit in the middle, and say as we started off, 'Now talk.'"
--Eudora Welty, One Writer's Beginnings

Four week milestones

It's just no fun to post without pictures! This is our little princess in her bubble bath. She's all ready for trips to the spa now. Her actual first bath was slightly more traumatizing for the poor baby girl, because her silly parents didn't have the water hot enough and did not fill the tub up enough, so she was freezing the whole time. Then on top of that her mommy (me) hit her head (not hard) on the side of the tub. Our poor firstborn--we are going to make so many more mistakes on her!

Emmeline is four weeks old today. She loves snuggling and tummy time, and she likes listening Billy Joel and Taylor Swift. She is 9 lbs and 1 oz. She is very expressive and she wiggles alot for a newborn! She has quite the little personality. She's a good baby and doesn't fuss much. She even stays pretty happy in spite of her acid reflux.

Everyone in this house now has their days and nights confused, not just Emmeline. We sleep from about 2 in the morning until noon. The time when we used to go to bed (10-11) is when Emmeline is usually just waking up for the night. And, honestly, even if she does happen to be asleep before 2 am, at this point I'm so used to going to bed in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes I'm not tired before 1. Everyone in this house needs to work on their sleeping schedule I suppose.

And because I love to show her off, here is a four week old birthday picture:

The blanket and the outfit were a present from her Auntie Ashley.

Emmeline

I hope this works. I wanted to share a video of Emmeline that Josh put together. If it doesn't work, just follow the link and watch it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMBL5kXgakg

Announcing...

Emmeline Renee Krebs
Born May 7, 2009 at 2:58 pm. 7 lbs, 13 oz, 20 1/4 inches long.

Being a parent is wonderful! We are enjoying Emmeline so much. She is already 4 days old, and I can hardly believe I was supposed to still be very pregnant right now! God's timing is perfect; I can't imagine life without our sweet baby girl.

Stuck in the Middle of the Learning Curve

Before you experience the new parents' learning curve, you get to go through the first time pregnancy learning curve. I'm finding out all sorts of information that will be useful--next time around.
Here are a few things I've learned along the way:

When I first got pregnant I couldn't understand why people would ask me how I was feeling if they didn't really care about my answer. Now I know that it was because they knew how bad it was going to get. There I was telling them about how tired I felt, and they're thinking, "If you think that's bad, wait until you're still tired, but you can't even clip your own toenails to boot."

Second, books about pregnancy are good for cute drawings of your unborn baby, and for telling you how big they're getting and what sort of new body parts they're developing. But, for any other sort of advice, they're worthless. Apparently the people in those books live in some sort of dream world where you can miss work just to get some more sleep--because it's what's best for your baby--and you have the time and energy to cook yourself fabulously healthy, from scratch meals every night. Then again, if you really could miss work every time you felt like the baby wanted you to get some more sleep, then you probably could cook yourself fabulous meals every night, because you would be sleeping all the time.

And people tell me that every pair of new parents goes through the experience of going to the hospital for a false alarm. They may just be saying that to make me feel better, but at least I don't feel quite as embarrased about it this way.

Among other things, the trip taught me that labor and delivery nurses are not concerned about your privacy at all. Other nurses, if they tell you to undress, they at least leave the room while you're taking your clothes off. Labor and delivery nurses stand right there and watch. I finally got used to people seeing me naked, but now I have to get used to people watching me get naked. What's next?

I'll tell you what's next: I learned I don't like doctors who make guesses about things like when my child will be born. One medical expert says something like "You'll probably deliver in the next 48 hours," and of course that puts you on pins and needles, but then guess what happens? Nothing. So, to sum up, could the very highly paid medical professionals whose opinions I trust please not make random guesses about things like the birth of my child? If you tell me I will probably give birth tomorrow, please make sure you are darn sure about that first! Come on--doctors go to school for how many years? I don't think this is too much to ask of them.

I have learned how little I actually know about my own body. I've read the books and taken the classes, but it comes down to the simple fact that I've never experienced anything like this before, and honestly, I have no clue what's going on. I just hope I figure it out before the baby falls out! Okay, I actually am not worried about that. I'm trusting everyone who has said that yes, it does get more obvious what's happening when it is actually time to deliver the baby. But you know, then again, you hear these horror stories--but let's not think about that. That's why I don't allow myself to watch "I didn't know I was pregnant" on the Discovery channel.

Finally, I've learned that nothing makes you appreciate the baby growing inside of you quite like seeing your husband sitting on the couch telling you how left out he feels because he doesn't get to experience all of the little kicks and wiggle. When I see how much he would love to have that special connection with our daughter, it is a great reminder that pregnancy--even with all of its quirks--is indeed a blessing!