I forgot to post this one when I wrote it. I guess it felt incomplete, but I think that’s always going to be the case when I write about my baby. He will be known on this blog as Bear. Mom suggested it as a legal name, and while I was tempted, I worried that this might be confusing to the gay community, as he would most likely be an Otter, based on his dad’s build.
Okay, that and it’s just a little too…Eugenian. But I still think it’s cute as a nickname, so he’s baby Bear here.
Baby Bear is 5 days old now and there isn’t much to write here that will entertain anyone but me, 10 years in the future.
The physical and emotional sting of the labor is starting to fade, and we are really just enjoying him. He has the world’s longest infant fingers and his toes and feet are big. He’s long and skinny. I thought any child of mine would be a bruiser, so I failed to stock enough newborn jammies to get us through the first week. Especially considering he’s the blowout king.
Three times in the last three nights. I say this not by way of complaint, because really, newborn diaper changes aren’t bad at all. Mostly it’s given me the opportunity to be impressed that my body is actually feeding him. I watch his poop change color and consistency with pride and fascination. Look what we have done, Bear!
I hate to jinx, it, but could it be that I have an easy baby? He’s just so pleasant, so happy to be comforted. He eats pretty well and sleeps in good enough chunks at night that I feel rested in the mornings. He loves to snuggle. So far my hardest job since he’s been here is helping him through some wicked gas pains that broke my heart. As I consider myself to be a recent expert on pain, it hurts to hear his.
Last night was our 5th anniversary and Bear left us a couple hours to hang out and honor the day in some way. We decided to play a game, but it quickly dissolved into tears of being totally overcome with bittersweet emotion. We’ve had 5 years with just the two of us. Wonderful years. We were so ready and so looking forward to our baby, it’s weird to finally and suddenly have his knobly, squirming, warm body here. And yet, awesome. He is so much fun.
Well, it’s a bit twee, but I’m going to do this by numbers to get my brain going. Let’s see, in 5 years we’ve had:
1 dog. Olive has been our baby for over 4 years. She’s adjusting to newborn life well, as long as we walk her to the park occasionally. I actually think she likes having us home more often. And I’m just going to throw this out there, but the first week of having a puppy was WAY more stressful than the first week of having a baby. She was the worst. Even now, I’m not sure she’s a “good” dog, but we like her.
2 degrees. I finished my law degree and he finished his Bachelor’s. Now whether or not he actually received his diploma, well…that’s another story. We like to joke that he returned it in protest of BYU’s no beards policy.
3 miscarriages. The conception of Bear was actually accidental, in that we had given up on having biological offspring a few months prior. I never forget how lucky we are. We held our breath during each of the early ultrasounds and cheered when we finally found his heartbeat with our home doppler. When we reached the point in pregnancy of 50-50 viability, we celebrated. We are so lucky to know what is wrong with me and so lucky that the treatment was relatively painless and actually WORKED. We are blessed to have him here safely. We are just so, so ridiculously grateful to have him here, safe and sound.
4 cars. Namely, Srg. Pile, Professor Slughorn, Truck #7, and the new one, which is yet unnamed Speaking of vehicles, does anyone want to buy a barely functional white pickup? It only smells like mildew in the winter.
5 years. We’re still pretty fond of one another.
anothermaternityblog 