Clothes Horse part II

I've spent the better part of this weekend messing around with Rees' wardrobe. Early Saturday morning, I got a call from Mom saying that some of our good friends were having a garage sale featuring baby items. Mom and I both hot-footed it over there to find a baby paradise. There were so many cool things I was a bit overwhelmed.

This is the BEFORE shot.. thank God for Mom.

I picked out a super cool pram and stroller for Rees, plus some awesome vintage clothes. I also made sure to call my mother in law, who purchased $50 in clothes for Rees too. Later that afternoon, our friends called to say they had put aside "some things that didn't sell" for us. I was not expecting 4 huge garbage bags full of clothes ranging in sizes from newborn to 6. Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed. Ruby and I spent an entire afternoon before Rees was born, going through mounds and mounds of clothes, and here were even more!

The problem with this most generous gift was that the clothes were pretty much all AWESOME. It would have been so much easier to toss some. As it is, I won't have to buy much until 2011.

My mom and I spent 3 hours sorting, and then I made a trip to the big W for additional storage boxes. Of course I came home with 4 boxes and only 2 lids that fit, so that means another trip to the store tomorrow. Ughh...

Oh well, at least I'll have the best dressed baby on the block.

Here is the after shot.. I have another huge box of just size 3 months in our room, plus an enormous bag for the women's shelter..

Night and Day

They say that one of the worst things that can happen is to have a baby get her nights and days mixed up. Fortunately, that hasn't happened much with the Snapper. (I'm knocking on wood right now.) Of course, I consider 5 am to be the middle of the night, but she doesn't. I think she's going to be a night owl like her daddy. She stays up and has a midnight snack then usually hits the sack until 5 or so.

Just so you know, there isn't much on T. V. at 5 am. TV land shows reruns of Star Trek and there are some infomercials. I usually just turn on the early morning news and listen to the traffic reports for deep East Texas.

When I was a kid, there was always one person you could count on for early morning news- Horace McQueen. Old Horace hit the air waves promptly at 6 am for the Farm and Ranch report. Being a city girl and all, I didn't much care about the price of alfalfa, but somehow his gravely East Texas twang made me feel like all was right with the world. Must have had an impact on others too (Check out the link above).

Speaking of night and day, I was commenting to Scott about my desire to have breakfast for dinner, and poof! I got my wish. (See photo above). My poor sleep deprived husband - who is the only one actually having to get dressed each day and go to a job - made me a fabulous dinner of french toast and veggie omelet. YUM YUM. I am one lucky girl.

Tonight is a lunar eclipse. According to the early morning news, it should begin about 4 a.m. I am secretly hoping that the baby and I get to see it. I can't believe that I would hope for such an early wake up call- I guess having nights and days a little mixed up can be a good thing sometimes after all.

Conspiracy Theory

I have admit, I've never been much of a conspiracy theorist. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi either When we added Roswell to our summer vacation itinerary, I was skeptical.

Since the baby came I've become a believer. Not in aliens, presidential assassination plots or Bigfoot, but the conspiracy theory to suppress information about what happens AFTER the hospital.

It could be that I've been staying up (or finding myself up) bleary eyed, trying to stuff a giant bosom in the mouth of a squalling babe. At 2 a.m. my television choices are somewhat limited, and after I've had my fill of The Andy Griffith Show, I've found that I've landed on back to back episodes of the Twilight Zone, followed by the X-files. Now, I'll admit that being sleep deprived adds to the surrealness of the situation, but I do think that the truth about postpartum is out there - I just am beginning to find it.

Myth Number 1:
As soon as the baby is placed on your tummy you'll forget the pain of labor and instantly be happy happy.

Truth: It hurts. A lot. After 12 hours of trying to squeeze a watermelon out of a toothpaste tube, you're tired, sweaty, hungry and gross. Don't get me wrong, I was very glad to meet the little snapper, but my main concern was that she was happy, healthy and had all of her parts. A lot of books browbeat women into breastfeeding in first hour after delivery, but in my opinion, that may not be an option for everyone. After the pictures and cell phone calls, I was glad that she was carried away into the hands of the VERY capable nursery staff. Especially since it took the doc another hour to sew me up down there.

Myth Number 2:
Real women do it without pain killers or episiotomies.

Truth:
However it happens is the right way. I had to have some pain relief or I would have permanently injured Scott's hands. At one point I was squeezing them so hard he swore I was trying to hurt him. I've read in a lot of books that episiotomies aren't really necessary. I had two-
and I still tore in what they call a 4th degree . I had the massages, the controlled pushing, and it still happened.

Myth Number 3
Breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world

Truth:
Breast feeding sucks. Literally. But I think its the right think for the snapper, so we are going to stick with it. The first few days she was so out of it that it was difficult to wake her up enough to latch on. When she finally did wake up, she was mad as hell that she had been evicted from her comfy cozy apartment in my body. She let me know it by wanting to suck anything (my fingers, her fingers, the dog's leg) except what she needed to. We've gotten past some of those issues, but each feeding is still a new day for her and me. I've tried everything, cut out coffee after 4 pm, cut out ice cream and milk, drank beer, wine and popped pills.. nothing seems to make sense.

Myth Number 4
You only really need to stay in the hospital 3 days.

Truth
When my mom had me in the 1970s, a 10 day hospital stay was normal. As much as I hate hospitals, I think that would be amazing to have someone take care of me and the baby for 10 days. There is a lot of grossness that happens with having a baby...and it keeps spewing forth for a long time after you leave the hospital. Two days after we came home, I was back in the ER, unable to function down there. They drained out half a gallon of urine and I was begging for a take home catheter. The idea of going to the bathroom is still very scary - I had NO IDEA that it would be like that.

Now I thank God for sitz baths, fiber pills and maxi pads the size of place mats. One true girlfriend brought over a can of the "red stuff" - a cooling spray for down there that helps numb things. She stuck it through the cat door, with a note attached. It all seemed very covert to me, although I think she was just trying not to disturb us. Yet it smacks of spy tactics seen in conspiracies if you ask me.

So, nearly two weeks out what have I learned...I think that there is a conspiracy to keep all the yucky stuff quiet after a baby is born. If it wasn't kept quiet, folks might just stop doing it altogether and then where would society be? There aren't any books called "The Girlfriend's Guide to Bringing Home Baby" or "What to Expect Your Pain Level to Be, when You bring Home the Snapper". I have a sneaky suspicion that the same folks who aren't talking about menopause are the ones not talking about postpartum. Folks with moms who have gone through menopause know what I am talking about...

All I know is this.. the truth is out there - I just wish I wasn't up at 4 am looking for it!

On pins and needles

I'm on pins and needles, waiting for this baby thing to happen. Every time I do something - run to the store, go to the post office - I think this may be the last time I do this without a baby. I've been nesting for sure, doing weird deep cleaning stuff like rearranging junk drawers. I need to do some vacuuming too, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Today I had my first round of acupuncture that is supposed to move the baby along. It had been a long time since I had been "stuck", so it was a new sensation. Unfortunately, the acupuncture room was also the only room in the doctor's office with a bathroom, so a calvalcade of folks paraded by me. Most pretended not to see me - How can you miss a nearly 200 pound woman with needles sticking out of her legs? One curious girl, about 5 years old, asked what was happening to me. She didn't stick around for an answer.

I'm in for more pins and needles tonight as the dreaded carpal tunnel sets in and my hands go numb. One good thing- at least that will end when the baby gets here, and I'm able to reclaim my body.

Oh well, it will all be worth it. I'm just ready to trade these pins and needles for some diaper pins!