Seven Weeks

Ciao Bloggisti!

Yes, it’s been exactly 7 weeks since my last post. And 7 weeks since my water broke and we made a mad dash to the hospital. It was quite benevolent timing on the baby’s part. After our August holidays I was in major nesting mode and had a long list of things to tidy up, organize, re-organize and re-re-organize. A blog post was also on that long list and I couldn’t rest until that was done. And literally a few hours after I hit the “Publish” button I woke up in the middle of the night, rolled over and … whooosh.. Niagara Falls!!

As for the birth, it took longer than I expected. I thought, “Third baby. Piece of cake! I’ll sneeze this one out!!” Well the joke was on me. I had irregular contractions for 24 hours, shared my room with a Chinese woman and her extended family, then with a translator who happened to study at my school, I ate the most nauseating hospital food ever, and in the end, just like the last time, labour was induced. Those drugs sure packed a punch because I almost gave birth in the elevator on my way to the delivery room! But I held on and our adorable little girl was born safe and sound.

During the last seven weeks my mom was here to help and get mercilessly pinched by Diggy, Bellie discovered her inner earth mother and was giving me diapering advice, the hubster temporarily gave up playing the bass to take up a new pasttime: rocking a colicky baby, I became a full-time milk dispenser and tried to get used to life as a casalinga disperata. Not so easy with three little ‘uns in the house, what with all the laundry, cooking, organizing birthday parties, school runs etc. to fit in between feedings. Thank god Mom and I cooked up a storm while she was here and we froze lots of mini-meals, from cottage pie to pasta casseroles. I am also desperately trying to fit in time to exercise with help from my postpartum, “get your blobby belly back into shape” dvd. I only manage to fit in 10 minutes here and there but I’m starting to see some results.

But the most wonderful thing about the last month and a half is little Charlie. I don’t mean to gush but she really is the sweetest little baby. And wonder of wonders, she started sleeping through the night at only 3 1/2 weeks!! I guess she understood that Mommy and Papà are just too old to haul their lazy butts out of bed for those night feedings. Whatever the reason, I’m thrilled to get a decent night’s sleep. Now she’s smiling more and starting to communicate with her little “oohs” and “aahs”. And despite all the stress and mayhem that has overtaken my life, corny as it sounds, Charlie’s gurgles and smiles have the power to make all those problems disappear.