Tears

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Here's our little monkey boy enjoying some R&R with his stuffed monkey. If this were meant to be a pun, it would be something about the monkey on his back. But really, I just thought the monkey was cute and Simon while he sleeps is a mystical little creature.

Sadie's asleep and Simon is asleep so mommy better get her chance before it's too late.

Pride Goeth Before a Fall

Feeling humbled here in the snow-covered Midwest. My breasts hurt. They really hurt. I can't believe I am struggling with breast feeding. Sadie and I did this for 10 minutes, not more than 35 weeks ago. I talked to the lactation consultant last night at bedtime, but I can't get a visit until the 12-foot snow drifts melt enough to make driving in a car safe. Damn. First the C-section that I was hoping to avoid, then the breast feeding issues. I can't tell you how compromised I feel walking around with pain in my abdomen and pain in my breasts. I won't say it's not fair because I have 2 healthy, gorgeous children so if we want to talk about fair we can discuss how it is "fair" that I get these two amazing gifts. It is annoying and sort of painful. I walked Sadie and Jeff to the door so they could go to their playdate with a neighbor and the minute I opened the door and the Arctic air hit my sore nipples (for the record, I was wearing clothes) and I got the wind knocked out of me.

Anyway, to the extent that sharing the pain lessens the pain, maybe writing about the angst will help. I am grateful the milk came in and Simon's systems seems to be working very, very well. Now if we could just get mama's up to speed!

Snowmaggendon

Dear Simon,

Mommy is so glad you didn't come on your due date, which would have required us to travel to the hospital in a blizzard. We just got 21 inches of snow in the past 24 hours, making this the third worst snowstorm in Chicago's history. It's nuts. Your YaYa is in town from Texas and she's never seen snow like this. Tonight the temperatures are going to plunge to the negative single digits, so YaYa is getting a real Midwest education. I keep thinking to myself: What would Laura Ingalls Wilder do? Given her early days as a pioneer on the great American plains.

We ended up leaving the hospital early with you so we could avoid any wild traffic scenarios. It was nice to get home even though last night was a little rough getting settled. We are going to have to learn to read your signals and your body language so we can take good care of you.

As for your voice....Son, you've got a set of lungs that rivals your sister's. You kind of sound like a mini- Sam Kinnison. And you go from fast asleep to screaming in less than a heartbeat. Other than your manical cry, you seem really mellow and very sleepy. Right now YaYa is holding you and Daddy and Sadie went to a neighbor's for a playdate. I sense that cabin fever may be developing for all of us. For my part, I am concentrating on healing and getting up on my feet so I can enjoy my early days with you. We're doing fabulously with the nursing, though sometimes Mommy gets lazy and our latch gets askew. I gotta work on that.

My little January baby boy-- we are so glad you are here. I still sometimes I feel like I can feel you kicking inside of me. Can you believe you went from inside me to sitting in my mother's lap?

I am going to get ready for our next feeding and also get a little pain pill. I hope to be done with the strong stuff soon, but I am not quite ready to wean from the Narco.

Here's to the rest of our lives!

Love,
Mama