E-Claire

She is definitely cream-filled, from the rate she's been growing!! we are alreadyputting away 0-3 month things, and dressing her up in other things that we've been given, taking pictures and packing them away. not only are her legs long and gorgeous, but she likes them out straight much of the time, so length is the main issue. considering her parents, are you surprised?? :) And, she almost smiles. She will make the most pleasant faces when she's dreaming, and it won't be soon before that nice expression bursts into full smile. I can't wait - though can't imagine how she could look any more gorgeous to me.

Emily and I are both just rousing from naptime. Grandma Nancy is here making us a big batch of chicken noodles for supper tonight and next week. It's a beautiful fall Iowa day, so windows are open and sunshine pouring in with a breeze that's almost too cool, really, but it smells so good I'm just wrapping Emily up a little tighter and enjoying it.

I'm feeling better and better each day as things heal and my milk supply gets a little regulated. Engorgement is an experience that's almost indescribable, but a close approximation would be if somebody surgically inserted softballs into your existing boobskin, then pummeled all around for an overall bruised feeling. I don't know if there's a trick to feeding her the right amount from each side, but I must be a little slow on it if there is because generally every 2 hours, night or day, I have at least one side aching to feed her - or anything - something, please release the pressure!! Then when i do hook her up, she sputters as if she's drinking from a firehose. Poor girl! Over the past few days she has discovered how to be fussy, which is frustrating since I'm still not able to differentiate what cry means what. My list of what could be wrong is expanding - gas, hot, cold, burp, bored, overstimulated, overtired, poopy, or just plain feeling fussy - so hopefully my troubleshooting will improve soon.

One thing that I left out of my story of childbirth was how hungry I got throughout the day. They consider every laboring woman to be a potential C-section, which is surgery, which requires anaesthesia which means empty tummy. I was used to eating about every 4 hours or so going into the induction, so I spent a lot of the day begging for food, thinking I should just sneak some crackers or something. They gave me popsicles, which helped a little but not much. That's another reason I was so annoyed with them being so concerned with her blood sugar after birth - maybe if they'd let ME eat something, she'd have been better off!

I keep updating the pictures at the picasa website below, so check back for updates. She just gets more and more bright-eyed every day. :)