One Week Old

It's been a long, yet fast week. Tea is a sweet SWEET baby. She has cried, but generally she talks for quite a while before she belts out a complaint. WHAT a blessing!!! I've had many opportunities to feel grateful over such behavior from this newborn. The times I am most thankful, I'll admit freely, are those that occur in the middle of the night. She wakes up to eat and she talks to us and waves her hands about to get my attention. Last night I got out of bed when she was just barely stirring because I felt absolutely famished. I was gone at least 10 minutes. When I returned, her conversational tone had diminished and she was into some more demanding noises, but still not crying!! What a treasure!

She is lovely, to boot. :) Of course, I would have to think so, but seriously... she's had NO real jaundice (her nose looked a little yellow one day, but that's IT!). I attribute this absence (both Ria and Kat were pretty jaundice, Ria more than Kat) to the extended attachment we allowed Tea to her placenta. Ria had about 30 minutes (and that was stretching it for the hospital), Kat had just about an hour, and Tea had about 1.5 hours. I think that last 30 minutes really made a difference. Anyway... she's just adorably pink and, of course, plump. What a beautiful girl!!

The Family
We are doing pretty well, all around. Baby blues set in for me the night of the day my milk came in. Pretty typical. I've been weepy at least once daily, but nothing moving deep into the darker stuff. In a way, I'm grateful to have had the experience of PPD after Ria's birth so that I can recognize it, were it to try to sneak it's nasty head in my head and heart again. I can totally deal with weepy... and even the roller coaster emotions SO much more easily than that rougher stuff!!! I wouldn't wish PPD (especially the way I had it) on the most despicable person in the world! UGH.

Adjustment for the sisters
Ria and Kat have had some adjustment issues. Who wouldn't!? My midwife put it this way: It's like your hubby coming home with a new woman and saying, "Here's my new wife. She won't ever leave, you have to like her, and you don't have any say about the matter." Well, I can certainly put up with some tantrums from my sweet elder daughters in light of THAT sort of emotional tumult, eh? I do think Ria and Kat are having far fewer issues than many children have... they mostly throw tantrums to hold Tea... or because they can't hold her. There have been some weird, "Where did that come from" sort of episodes, but that's understandable (in my opinion - especially remembering some of the things I thought when there was a new kid brought home!).

Visitors
We've had TONS of visitors. It's amazing how many people have dropped by unexpectedly. I can't say I've minded, exactly, but I know they expect to hold the baby... and when there's already someone here who'd made plans to come (for some baby time, I'm sure) I don't feel like I can take Tea away from someone with whom she's happy AND someone who made an 'appointment'. Ahwell...

I know this baby was anticipated greatly! Everyone who knew us has asked constantly about her. And then, with the scarry stuff after the ultrasound - and my state of mind... I imagine they can't really help themselves. I think it has to do with how much concern they've sort of invested in the whole situation, ya know? So, really, it's quite sweet that so many people have shown, in the very concrete way of showing up at the door, that they care.

I can't help but think/feel that many of my unexpected visitors have come to see what the 'weird homebirthing woman' looks like only days after her "harrowing" experience. The adjective I used is what I imagine they think about it, not what I think or feel. When my midwife asked me to describe my labor and birth experience (for some paperwork) my immediate reaction and verbalization was, "Long and drawn out." And that's really all there is to it. It was hard work (okay, perhaps that's an understatement), but totally and completely worth it. Would I wish to have the duration of this last labor repeated? Heck no!! But the product (sweet Tea) is totally worth all that effort! :)

Jess
Jess is, once again, an awesome Dadddy. I've tried to make sure he gets to hold Tea at least once each day (sort of difficult on the days he's had to work). Up until yesterday she cried each time he held her. Yesterday, however, she was totally content to be with him and just looked! She was still not fussing when he turned her back over to me. When he took her that time I'd said something about how she wasn't crying and I wanted him to have some time to hold her while she was happy. He said, "Oh, I'll change that." But he didn't! This is THE earliest that any of our newborns have stayed calm when Daddy held them, I think. It really bothered Jess with Ria, but this, the third, time around he's of the mind that it's just the way it goes when they are so small... they want to food factory... Mama. So, it was a nice surprise when Tea was totally content and alert with him AGAIN today! :) Great... already turning into a Daddy's girl! This usually doesn't happen until they are 9 months old, or so... *sigh* Makes sense, though. Jess talked to Tea while she was in utero a LOT more than either of her older sisters.

More pictures will follow soon.