She's Heeeere...

Well, there's nothing quite like a newborn in the house to keep a girl from blogging...

On Friday, July 15th, our daughter E made her appearance. She arrived a couple of weeks early, and in a big hurry, at just 5 lbs 6 oz. My labor was only about three and a half hours long. I was one of those women who have natural childbirth because there is no time for anything else (luckily, I had been considering going epidural free anyway, because if that turn of events had taken me any MORE by surprise than it did...wow.). I'm glad I did it. It was great to prove to myself that I could do it, but WOW, was it a miserable and painful experience. I am not one of those women who finds beauty in it. Nosiree. Not enjoyable. But. SO WORTH IT, for my beautiful girl.

The past four weeks have been, as expected, a bit of a rollercoaster. On the upside, I have felt really good physically, aside from some difficulty adjusting my sleep schedule. On the downside, B is NOT happy with me AT ALL. On the upside, I've had a lot of help and support from my mother, my sister and my mother in law. On the downside, it's a new adjustment for B every time someone arrives or leaves. On the upside, B DOES adore his little sister. On the downside, he's had some instances of potty training regression.

But with four weeks under our belts, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I remember when B was born, that the first six weeks were pretty brutal, and then we found our groove.

But even with the brutality, the joy so far outweighs anything else. We are so blessed.

Hush

I've been pretty quiet lately. I think it's been the late pregnancy brain muddle. I mean, I realize there are plenty of bloggers out there who've chronicled the later parts of their pregnancies with poignancy and eloquence. I just haven't been one of them.

This pregnancy has been utterly exhausting. Add to the pregnancy the fact that I spend all day every day with 3.5 year old B, and three days per week with Roasted Beat's adorable five month old son and there is often just nothing left in the tank.

As of today, there are three weeks until my due date. And I've already been showing signs of very early labor for days and days. It's exhausting.

As a result, we had to miss my family's annual get together at my oldest brother's place in LI. We were all pretty bummed out about that. B, especially, was NOT a happy camper. We never actually told him it was going on this weekend, but being the smarty and the keen observer he is, he put two and two together.

When I was putting him to bed on Friday night, he wanted to know why he hadn't been invited to the gathering. This absolutely broke my heart. Obviously, it wasn't the case, and obviously, I explained that to him. I think he got it. But all weekend, when I think of him saying those words, I get choked up all over again.

All this by way of saying we're in a kind of tricky transitional phase as a family and it's manifesting in some interesting ways. But I'm beyond excited for the new phase we're entering. I cannot wait to meet my daughter and to help her and her big brother get to know one another. Sure, it'll continue to be tricky, but it'll be so worth it.