This, that, and the other
This post will sort of serve as the catch-all for the last (not even) four days. Really, just an amalgamation of whatever has come to mind.
First, going back to Sunday. One of the things that the midwife measures, along with the standard weight and length of the baby, was the length of the umbilical cord. Ame's, or Addie's, or whomever the thing belongs to, was 17 inches long. We aren't entirely sure why they measure this, but we suspect that it's a curiosity sort of thing. What was interesting, however, is that this measurement prompted a short discussion of umbilical cords, in which we learned that the longest that this particular midwife had experienced was 48 inches long -- 4 feet!
Also on Sunday, we took Addie into the bedroom with us, and I promptly began her first post-womb reading of Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. There is a typical after-birth alertness in newborns, but I like to think that Addie's alertness, in this case, was a result of some sort of familiarity with the story. Plus, she's supposed to be responsive to my voice. But she really did seem to enjoy just sitting there being read to. Kind of cool, really.
Diaper changing has become an interesting experience. Bill Cosby does a skit about fatherhood -- and has written a book by that very name -- in which he describes the ridiculous interest that new parents have in their baby's, as he put it, "poo poo." Off the top of my head, I don't know exactly how he puts it, but it's something along the lines of: "Look at the poo poo! Honey, come look at the poo poo! She poo pooed all in her little diaper!" I found this all quite amusing when I first read and heard it, and was even more amused when I found out first hand just how true Cosby's words ring. Who knew how exciting such a thing could be?
While on the subject of diapers and such, Addie has done us the favor of saving us some manual labor. She has a habit -- and I deem it a habit because it has happened twice in less than four days -- of getting rid of wastes while in the process of having her diaper changed. Today, she did it twice in one changing. I was in the process of changing a poopy diaper when, low and behold, out came some more. Then, after getting that cleaned up and preparing to put a new diaper on her, she started peeing. No problem, just get that while I'm at it. Kind of a three-for-the-price-of-one deal. Not too shabby, if you ask me.
She is also feeding quite frequently -- usually every hour -- which would seem to exhaust Ame. Fortunately, she's still on a bit of an after-birth adrenaline kick, which considerably lessens her level of exhaustion. I'm willing to bet, though, that one or two more near-sleepless nights and it'll start catching up with her. So far she's help up wonderfully, though. Something to be proud of, I think.
Mommy and Baby went to see the doctor yesterday for the first time after birth, which went pretty well. Addie got the thumbs up, and so did Ame. I had the rather unpleasant experience of ___ Addie to do the PKU (or heel prick) test, in which they prick the baby's heel and agonizingly squeeze out five drops of blood for various tests. I had to console Addie for this, and was perhaps more relieved when it was done than she was. When she was done, the technician told me that she always wants to be able to pick up and console the baby, since she's been the one to make her upset, but that the parent always sort of swoops in to do this job instead. Well, I didn't let her down. As soon as she was done, I picked Addie up to calm her down. I wasn't about to hand that job over to someone else.
I'm amazed at how much one person can absolutely hate the sound of a baby crying, not because the crying is annoying, but precisely because it's my baby that's crying. I know that Ame feels the same way, something that I'm sure Addie appreciates.
Lastly, one of the cuter things that Addie has begun doing is smiling. I know that it's not a voluntary reaction to any particular stimulus, but it is absolutely adorable when the ends of her lips curl up for that split second. I've got a feeling that Ame and I are both going to look like two bumbling idiots when Addie starts smiling voluntarily; we'll be doing all kinds of stupid stuff to see her do that.
And of course, now that the baby's here, I don't know if I could possibly finish off without a picture. So, more cuteness:
First, going back to Sunday. One of the things that the midwife measures, along with the standard weight and length of the baby, was the length of the umbilical cord. Ame's, or Addie's, or whomever the thing belongs to, was 17 inches long. We aren't entirely sure why they measure this, but we suspect that it's a curiosity sort of thing. What was interesting, however, is that this measurement prompted a short discussion of umbilical cords, in which we learned that the longest that this particular midwife had experienced was 48 inches long -- 4 feet!
Also on Sunday, we took Addie into the bedroom with us, and I promptly began her first post-womb reading of Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. There is a typical after-birth alertness in newborns, but I like to think that Addie's alertness, in this case, was a result of some sort of familiarity with the story. Plus, she's supposed to be responsive to my voice. But she really did seem to enjoy just sitting there being read to. Kind of cool, really.
Diaper changing has become an interesting experience. Bill Cosby does a skit about fatherhood -- and has written a book by that very name -- in which he describes the ridiculous interest that new parents have in their baby's, as he put it, "poo poo." Off the top of my head, I don't know exactly how he puts it, but it's something along the lines of: "Look at the poo poo! Honey, come look at the poo poo! She poo pooed all in her little diaper!" I found this all quite amusing when I first read and heard it, and was even more amused when I found out first hand just how true Cosby's words ring. Who knew how exciting such a thing could be?
While on the subject of diapers and such, Addie has done us the favor of saving us some manual labor. She has a habit -- and I deem it a habit because it has happened twice in less than four days -- of getting rid of wastes while in the process of having her diaper changed. Today, she did it twice in one changing. I was in the process of changing a poopy diaper when, low and behold, out came some more. Then, after getting that cleaned up and preparing to put a new diaper on her, she started peeing. No problem, just get that while I'm at it. Kind of a three-for-the-price-of-one deal. Not too shabby, if you ask me.
She is also feeding quite frequently -- usually every hour -- which would seem to exhaust Ame. Fortunately, she's still on a bit of an after-birth adrenaline kick, which considerably lessens her level of exhaustion. I'm willing to bet, though, that one or two more near-sleepless nights and it'll start catching up with her. So far she's help up wonderfully, though. Something to be proud of, I think.
Mommy and Baby went to see the doctor yesterday for the first time after birth, which went pretty well. Addie got the thumbs up, and so did Ame. I had the rather unpleasant experience of ___ Addie to do the PKU (or heel prick) test, in which they prick the baby's heel and agonizingly squeeze out five drops of blood for various tests. I had to console Addie for this, and was perhaps more relieved when it was done than she was. When she was done, the technician told me that she always wants to be able to pick up and console the baby, since she's been the one to make her upset, but that the parent always sort of swoops in to do this job instead. Well, I didn't let her down. As soon as she was done, I picked Addie up to calm her down. I wasn't about to hand that job over to someone else.
I'm amazed at how much one person can absolutely hate the sound of a baby crying, not because the crying is annoying, but precisely because it's my baby that's crying. I know that Ame feels the same way, something that I'm sure Addie appreciates.
Lastly, one of the cuter things that Addie has begun doing is smiling. I know that it's not a voluntary reaction to any particular stimulus, but it is absolutely adorable when the ends of her lips curl up for that split second. I've got a feeling that Ame and I are both going to look like two bumbling idiots when Addie starts smiling voluntarily; we'll be doing all kinds of stupid stuff to see her do that.
And of course, now that the baby's here, I don't know if I could possibly finish off without a picture. So, more cuteness:
posted by Wes | 6:40 PM
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