Baby on Board

August 8, 2013 (4 weeks tomorrow)

Babies are so sweet when they sleep.

I love being a momma to this little one.

Some nights I lie awake at night staring at my baby girl, thinking how spectacular she is. I watch her arms stretch and flex. I see her face move through a series of expressions ranging from worried to surprised to elated in the shadows of the nightlight. I am constantly awakening new levels of love and depth within myself as I watch her grow; as everyone says, “it happens so quickly.” I am already preparing myself for my return to work, and as I suspected I am wishing I could spend more time with her… four weeks just goes by too fast.

"Aww, Dad, I swear sometimes you just need an upper-cut!"

Gus and Sierra on our second visit to see GREAT Grandma.

The weekend at Anne and Jerry’s house continued to be enjoyable, as it always is. With the addition of Ms. Sierra, it seemed quite different though. On our return visit to see Great Grandma Mary Beth, she continued to light up the room. Gus and I helped to unload more boxes and move furniture in the comfortable apartment that she now calls home in Fresno. Great Grandma reminisced about when she had her babies, Anne and Jim, and told me stories as I arranged vases and plates in her cabinets. This is one of my favorite things about having a new baby, hearing the stories of women who have traveled this road before me. Simply hearing them speak so fondly of a special time in their lives truly fills you with warmth and makes you realize how precious this time in your (and your baby’s) life is. Also, story telling is under-rated in our high-technology based society. When do you truly get the opportunity to sit down and hear an 88-year-old woman take a trip down memory lane. For that matter, just hearing my mom or Anne talk about their experiences is just as satisfying to me.

After coming back up to Anne’s, Gus went mountain biking at one of our old favorite places, and Anne and I gave Sierra a bath. Anne was so happy to help wash her. You can see it in her eyes in the pictures. It looks like Sierra is pretty content to hang out with Grammy too!

Sunday marked the one-year point from Gus and my wedding ceremony. So as a gift, Anne baked us DELICIOUSLY fudgy brownies.. how could you say no! Unfortunately, there was a wild fire up around the China Peak vicinity (where we originally had plans to stay and celebrate our anniversary) and the smoke was thick up there, and very much present at Anne and Jerry’s, although tolerable. This made going up the mountain, not possible for fear of Sierra’s developing lungs (as well as our own level of comfort). So on Sunday morning we headed back to Davis for the 4 hour car trip. It is not an extremely pleasant ride with a newborn, but she does manage to sleep for some of it. 

I am so happy to have my best friend here for a whole month!

When we got home we rented a movie and made an easy dinner. Sierra gave us the gift of falling asleep early, so that Gus and I could enjoy snuggling and talking together as our anniversary gift to each other. It might not have been our original plan, but it seemed nice enough to the both of us.

Monday involved the typical eat, sleep, poop trio as I tried to ready the house for our house-guest for the month, Crystal (and her mom for one night).  She was lucky enough to get one of her medical rotations for the month in the area. They came in around 8:30pm bearing gifts of Indian food from our favorite restaurant and baby gifts! And I do mean giftS! It was like having a baby shower all over again! We all talked and ate and caught up with the events of their day. Crystal, her fiancée, and their moms went to see their wedding venue and did food and cake tastings all weekend, so there was a lot to talk about! 

Omi Irwin (Omi is German for grandma)

Tuesday I dropped off Crystal’s mom at the airport on my way into my work. There was a retirement BBQ lunch for one of the coaches that I worked for over the last 2 years. Everyone was very pleased to meet little Sierra!

On Wednesday I decided to check out the “final” new moms’ support group in town. I wanted to find one that worked best with my time and had the least amount of travel (as well as had nice women and babies in it). So I thought the early meeting time seemed like it would work well for us. I had planned on leaving about 30 minutes earlier than I actually did, which is the typical routine now… I go to leave, but then she needs another feeding and another change so it turns into a longer endeavor. On my way there, we were rear-ended as a turn signal changed. Luckily, all is well with the two of us and the other driver, since it was only 5 or 10 MPH, but the car needs repairs, dealing with the insurance was a HUGE hassle to say the least, and simply the emotions of having a newborn in an accident creates a bit of a strong emotional response in her new momma. Luckily, I kept my cool and remained completely calm, and the woman apologized PROFUSELY (especially after realizing my “baby on board” sign was true to its word). I actually decided to still go to the new moms’ group, which eased some of my tension from the incident (and cleared my emotions before I proceeded to spend the majority of the rest of my day on the phone with insurance companies).

Today I am meeting Gus at his work to have lunch with him. Some of his colleagues are dying to meet the newest addition, so it will be a dual-purpose event! Tomorrow brings the stress of car appraisal and estimates of damage and setting up repair and car rental info etc.

As a side note, I am starting to get the hang of this whole breast pump thing (the Medela is a great choice BTW and was fully covered by my insurance), and I am slowly building my supply up for when I return to work. Also, Sierra likes the BOB stroller (I use an infant head and neck support that attaches into it)! I am only walking with her in it as of right now, but she really enjoys the walks we are taking. I can’t wait to get her rolling on runs… soon soon. It really is important to wait until your uterus heals all the way (the consequences are pretty dramatic if your body’s not ready and you go back too early into “regular” exercise)!