October 6, 2011
A banner day in the life of
Esme, if ever there was one. We
started the day with a massive poo-splosion. (Not to worry, Morgan, you’re still tops in my book!) Normally, this would be conversation
fodder only within the household, but we had been getting ever so slightly
worried as there hadn’t been a poo for about 3-5 feedings and Esme had been
letting us know that she wasn’t entirely comfortable. Nothing too gut-wrenching (if you’ll pardon the expression
in this case), but enough to tell us she wasn’t thrilled. So that was a good start to the day.
Follow that up with Esme’s first
real nap in her bassinet. Keep in
mind that we purchased this bassinet knowing that she would be sharing our room
for a while. It’s been sitting in
there unused for what seems like months at this point. Upon returning home from the hospital,
we came to realize that she really likes to be near a beating heart and working
lungs. And, c’mon, who
doesn’t? So the bassinet hasn’t
gotten the workout we originally thought it would, but we’d like to move in
that direction. So we brought it
out to the living room so she’ll get used to sleeping in it during the day and
will be more likely to do so at night.
(A parent can always hope, right?)
She happily took several naps in it throughout the day, so we can each look
forward to sleeping next to our spouse instead of the mass of pillows and
blankets used to create a safe space for her in the bed. (Ed.: Yes, we were carefully warned about the dangers of having
her in the bed, and after much research into the documented possibilities and
reasons behind those dangers, we have mitigated them and do not need you
writing in to advise us against it.
Additionally, if it wasn’t clearly apparent from the topic of this
paragraph, we are also invested in changing the situation, so further
encouragement in that direction would be redundant.)
And, getting back to the
historic day already under discussion, she took her first bottle! For those of us who have never operated
a breast pump, it is not as simple and effective as we might assume, so there
was already some cause for celebration that 5 ounces of milk were
available. But to hold my daughter
in my arms and offer her a bottle of warm milk (as I have done for several
other baby girls in my life) and have her latch on and start drinking filled me
with an awe that, to be completely honest, had not been present for any of the
others. There was also, for Tina
and I, a sense of relief as well.
(What were we going to do if Esme refused a bottle? There wasn’t really a back-up plan for
that contingency.) So the pump
works, the bottles are sterilized, and the girl will drink out of them. Woo-hoo!!
P.S. For those of you keeping track of such
things, she’s been to the library 4 times already. How’s that for a 15 day old?! (Cue letters from readers concerned about taking her out of
the house too soon.)
Hey Wade, I'm glad you are enjoying sharing your bed with Esme. Isn't it wonderful to sleep next to your cuddly, precious little baby? I love it so much, sometimes I look forward to Crusoe crying out, so I can get him out of his crib and bring him to bed with us. Also, I think you'll find that you don't even need the mass of pillows and blankets to build a barrier around her: parents naturally have a sense of their child when sleeping with them, so you needn't worry about rolling onto her. You can also put the baby on the side, so parents can still sleep next to each other. (Of course, that means one of you won't be next to baby... probably the one without milk.)
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