Before the Benevolent Dictator came into my life. The Benevolent Dictator who is absolutely adorable and irresistible, even though she wakes both me and Jeff up in the middle of the night with loud, noisy demands.
We're in the second day of settling in and so far, things are going alright. Admittedly it helps that Jeff's mom is staying with us for the week to help tidy up, prepare food, hold the girl and just be around as good support as Jeff and I get our bearings.
Case in point: Yesterday she was up at 3:30 a.m. comforting the girl so Jeff and I could get some sleep and she didn't go to bed until 10:30. No naps, nothin. She was busy grocery shopping, cooking dinner, entertaining a cousin who dropped by, cleaning and just overall being AWESOME.
I knew I had a fantastic mother-in-law. I just didn't also realize that she does miracles during her side job as fairy grandmother. Part of me is now loathe to give her up, but I suppose Jeff's other siblings and her husband will need to have her back. Eventually.
Breaks out the cloning kit to make another mother-in-law.
The beauty of this is that I've been able to focus on feeding the girl and getting myself back on track. Which is nice because our four days in the hospital for recovery wasn't the same as being home. It was nice learning how to breastfeed, change diapers and the other baby things, but it was also like training wheels. Whenever I needed some help, a nurse was a push button away. Whenever I needed painkillers, those were also a push button away.
At home, kiss goodbye the training wheels. It's be relatively rough, learning a new sleep schedule, but I have to remind myself that it's not as bad as other people. Benevolent Dictator isn't really overly fussy -- she can be consoled easily and hates the stuff all babies seem to loathe like diaper changes. It's just that it's new to us, so it seems crazy.
As a result, all of the stuff I used to do -- watch Sopranos, surf the Web and be overall a lazy slug -- is blown to bits. I now have someone very small dictating my schedule and how things will be done. Jeff hasn't even touched his video games. And it's all to accommodate her and her needs and the changing of several impressively filled diapers.
Seriously. How is it that so much poop can come out of someone so small?
And it may sound cliche, trite and overly simple, but when she looks at you with her dark eyes filled with wonder, curiosity and a certain something, it's all worth it.
3 comments:
Oh lady, congrats. Babies are astonishing little things--and apparently, if you get the right one, so are mamas-in-law. Good luck! You're going to do great!
And yeah, those tiny people have 9 mos of goo stored up inside 'em. My little bro didn't have his first movement until after we brought him home and...it was UGLY. I mean, at one point we gave up trying to clean the continous flow and just stuck a piece of newspaper under him until he was done. Heh.
It's amazing how much they can poop when all they consume is breast milk. I mean, come on, there's no fiber in that?
I'm sorry, it's probably messy as hell.
I don't know much about babies (other than dropping them on their heads is discouraged) but if you need anything I can help with, let me know. :)
I love the new nickname, and I look forward to your posts (when you can get around to them) This is an exciting new world you're plunging into!
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