The Baby Cocoon

Harper turned two weeks old on Wednesday, which means my maternity leave is already 1/6 of the way done. Let's not dwell on this. If we talk about it, I'll start crying and then I'll never get through this blog post. Because my time at home with Harper is so brief, I've found that I am viciously protective of it. I'm a notorious over-scheduler, but right now I'm trying to make minimal plans so that my day can consist of holding Harper, kissing Harper, tickling her toes, kissing her belly, slow dancing to Rock-A-Bye Baby Pandora, watching her sleep, and tending to her needs. So far, this plan seems to work well for both of us.

So kissable

Since this blog is just as much about record keeping as it is anything else, I should log that at two weeks old, this baby is a pretty good sleeper. She tends to sleep in 2-3 hour increments through the night and goes back down fairly easily after she's been changed, swaddled, and fed. I'm a little tired but nothing like the bone-crushing exhaustion people talk about when referring to infant sleep. Partly this is because Robert has been about as big a help as someone can be without nursing capabilities. He gets up with Harper a couple times a night (usually the later shifts after 4:00 am when I am losing steam), changes her diaper, swaddles her, and sees if he can get her back down without a feeding. Obviously, that doesn't always work, but I appreciate it tremendously either way. Last night, Robert held Harper in his arms from 3:45-7:45, and I got 4 solid hours of sleep. During the early night shifts -- roughly 8:00 pm-11:00 pm -- he'll sit and talk with me while I hold and nurse her. It's so nice to have an equal partner in this endeavor.

This picture is rife with baby hazards (loose blanket, sleeping on her side), but I swear it's an anomaly.

Harper is also eating and growing well. Her birth weight was 6 pounds, 10 ounces. At one week she was 6 pounds 6.5 ounces. Now at two weeks, she's up to 6 pounds 14 ounces. Totally predictable and healthy growth. We haven't introduced a bottle yet, and she is just starting to take a pacifier. She's also obsessed with her hands. She gnaws on them all day long and even tries to suck on them while nursing, which is obviously counter-productive. I'm hoping this hand obsession means that she will eventually be great at self-soothing since her hands will always be there to comfort her. Sleep training starts in four weeks and I'm hoping those hands come in handy.

Yay for hand sucking!

Yay for pacifiers!

Now for the vain, self-centered update on weight loss after baby. I gained about 35 pounds with Harper. More than I wanted but still within the upper range of recommended weight gain. After giving birth and two weeks of nursing, I'm down 15 pounds. I'm really hoping nursing gets me down another ten so I only have to diet off about 10 pounds. I hate dieting, but I hate my clothes not fitting even more.

Here are some of my favorite photos since coming home from the hospital:

I look haggard here, but the rest of my family looks great so it makes the cut.

Harper's first trip in her carseat

I've become one with my glider. So comfortable.

Stan loving on the baby.

Pink perfection

All dressed up for church

I need more pink tulle in my life

Baby blessing and candle lighting at church

There's those feet again

Tummy time

Baby Noir

Aunt Heather and Harper

Needless to say, I've really enjoyed my baby cocoon for the past two weeks. For the first time in forever, I feel completely in the moment. I check my phone and email sporadically instead of 1,000 times a day. I can sit and do nothing but watch this baby for hours. I don't feel guilty turning down plans or taking a nap. I do a little housework everyday instead of frantically cramming it all in on the weekend. It's quite possible that my current state of affairs would become boring if it were my normal life, but for now I am going to bask in the single minded focus of having a new baby and letting the craziness of my everyday life fall by the wayside.