Boobs of Steel

It's really too bad that I can't store some of this milk in my abs because my boobs can certainly get rock hard at times. More specifically, at midnight. Apparently my body and baby have ganged up on me by deciding that would be the time of the day to produce the most milk. Go figure. The result is that I end up waking up with two huge, and extremely hard spheres attached to my chest. Trust me, it's not as comfortable as it may seem.

All this has a side effect that I don't know if most of you have considered... to pump or not to pump? Given that I've produced a lot of milk, let's just say that for some strange reason Ellie decides she'd rather sleep than to take the energy to drain me. Do I pump?

Advantage to pumping:
1. Temporary, but much appreciated relief. Can we all say "Ahhh".
2. Add to my slowly accumulating storage of frozen milk. Mmmm... white gold.

Disadvantage to pumping:
1. It sends a confirmation to my body that, indeed, making gallons* of milk at midnight really is a good and fun idea. We don't want to encourage such behavior. Ugh.

On the plus side... I know that things are going well for us because Ellie is now 10 pounds! Dang, girl! In 6 weeks she has gone from 6 pounds to 10. That's just crazy. Tomorrow she starts kindergarten... she's growing so fast!


* And by gallons, I really mean ounces.

That's just gross

To add to the list of things that gross me out:

You can see a pulse in the soft spot on my baby's head.

Gross. We'll put that on the list right below "sounds people's backs make when they pop."

Nature got this one wrong

After 6 weeks of breastfeeding, I have maintained the opinion that nature got this one wrong. It would be so much more efficient if both parents could feed the baby. Wouldn't it ensure a greater survival rate, or something?

Heck, there are species out there that share in the feeding responsibility. Take birds , for example. Both parents take turns feeding their babies. It's an equal relationship. That's the way it should be with us.

On the other hand... I suppose it is nice and convenient to not have to go out and hunt, eat, then regurgitate the food whenever my baby is hungry.

Hmm... I take that back

Last night I made an observation about my baby:

"Hey look. The spot on Ellie's nose is getting bigger."

....

"No, wait. That's just a booger."

Time's Up

It is absolutely crazy to me to think that if I were not taking additional time off to stay home with the baby, then I would have to return to work today. TODAY!!! Isn't that just insane? Look at my baby. She's still so small! There is just no way that she's old enough for me to hand her off to someone else to take care of her! 6 weeks is definitely not enough time. It makes me wish I lived in Europe. Aren't they given months off whenever they have babies? Europeans are smart cookies.

On a related note, I wonder if I'm going to feel the same way when September comes...

Besides, I wouldn't be ready to send her to daycare because I don't have enough milk stored up. How on Earth are you supposed to store a day's worth of milk if she keeps eating all the time?? I guess I have a few months to solve that small mystery.

Smell that?

It has been rumored that when a baby smiles, they really just have gas. I'm not sure I agree with this theory. So far, Ellie has only really smiled as she's falling asleep. I've watched her many times and I know that if she goes asleep upset, she does not smile. She does her "I'm going to cry" look instead. However, if she falls asleep happy, often times with a milk mustache, she'll smile. How can that be gas? I think not.

I love to watch her smile, but much to my disappointment, she has only done so in her sleep. She has yet to smile as a response to us, though that's supposed to happen around 6 weeks (which is now, dangit!). The way I see it, if she can do it in her sleep, she ought to be able to do it when she's awake!

But even so, I love to see it. I love her smile and can't wait to see the real thing, when her eyes are open. On a related note, I also can't wait to hear her laugh and talk (both of which, on rare occasions, she has done in her sleep).

Approaching Hairline

I know that as all parents are, we are probably biased on how cute we think our little peanut is. However, I'd like to think that I can be somewhat objective and take a step back to evaluate her cuteness factor from the eyes of someone else. In doing so, I do believe that Ellie was absolutely adorable in the first few weeks. She was so small and kept getting so many comments from strangers at stores that I'm sure she would have fallen into the "cute" category even by the strangest of strangers.

However, the other day I happened to notice that my baby is now bald. Or at least she is on top of her head. I was quite shocked because it seemed to happen without me noticing. But one day, I was taking pictures of her and was thinking that it was even more difficult to take a cute picture of a cute baby than normal (you'd be surprised at how difficult it is to get a cute picture of a little baby unless she's sleeping, no matter how adorable she is). Anyway, in going back through the pictures, indeed she once had hair on top of that head of hers.

Poor little girl. She looks like Jean Luke Picard, but I am holding out hope. I like to think that instead of it being a case of a receding hairline, it's actually an approaching one because that would mean it's growing back in instead of still falling out. Only time and more pictures will tell, though. In the meantime, I have to question my certainty on having a super-cute baby, even by baby standards. =)

I want my money back!

I think my baby car seat is broken. Apparently my baby does not pass out in it like she's supposed to. I'm thinking about filing a complaint.

Sleep is good

Today I'm paying the price for letting Ellie sleep all day yesterday. We did so just because it seemed so convenient... but she ended up staying up all night as a result. So now I'm super tired, but am determined to keep my baby awake for at least a good portion of the day so that she will sleep tonight. If she sleeps then I sleep and we all know that sleep is good. I certainly appreciate it more these days because it's quite amazing how much more overwhelming things seem when I am incredibly tired.

You learn as you go

- You must wear a bra at all times (or at least the times in which your baby might cry) or else you will leave milk puddles in your bed. Your husband may find this to be cute, but then again, you might not be as lucky as I.

- You must put on a diaper tighter than you'd think (even if it looks uncomfortable for the baby) or else you pay the messy consequences.

- Holding your baby tightly to your body does not help in breastfeeding, but it does help in cutting off blood flow to her leg and gives it a nice dark purple color.

- Baby wakes up with the sun. Period. Stuffing her with milk until she passes out an hour before does not change this fact.

- As cute as they might be, baby clothes with collars should just be banned unless you are one of those parents who does not care about your baby's fashion habits because no matter how hard you try, that collar will always be standing up.

- As wonderfully beautiful baby's eyelashes are, they grow in just about the same time as the real heartbreaking tears appear.