Marley and me

Marley is officially 6 weeks old. Here we are at my office yesterday where we visited my co-workers. Its was one of the last warm weather days of fall so I thought I would take advantage by taking our first outing on the streetcar with the Baby Bjorn. It was a very nice day and great to get out. I'm finding it challenging to come up with activities around the house for us. I have plenty to do with cleaning and cooking but now that she's 6 weeks, Marley is more alert and spends less time sleeping. So mom better come up with some fun activities to keep her stimulated or else she will get mad!
P.S. I cut my own bangs, can you tell?

Visiting Sullivan

The best seat in the house

We recently bought a new couch for our basement and looks like someone has already claimed their favourite seat...

Marley meets Great Grandma!

A couple of weeks ago I finally got to introduce Marley to my hamunee. It meant a lot to me for them to meet because my grandma has been such a big part of my life and although they may not be able to get to know each other very well, at least now I can tell Marley when she grows up, that she got to meet a very special lady.

Marley's newest friend...

This is a photo of Sullivan Byrne. He was born on October 10, 2010 and weighs 7lbs, 2 oz. Proud parents are Susie Kimball and Josh Leipceiger (all soon to be changing their last names to Byrne as well.) We welcome little Sullivan into the world and can't wait to play with him!

Bath Time!

Here are photos of Marley's bath time, both during and after. (Check out the cool bath tub from Hamunee!) Baths put most babies to sleep, but lucky for us, they only seem to make Miss Marley even more awake! So much for bathing at night...

Happy thanksgiving!

The road to recovery...

Its been almost 3 weeks since Marley's debut and my body is just now starting to feel normal again. I say "starting" because I know there is still a long way to go. I have to admit, you hear all about the trauma of giving birth and getting the epidural but you don't hear too much about what your body goes through afterwards. Now that its over, I think the recovery period was much harder than the birth itself. I was not prepared for the amount of pain and shear weariness which came after childbirth. My body felt like it had been run over and it was honestly the worst I've ever felt in my life. I remember trying to just get up for a cup of ice water while in the hospital (which was only about 20 feet away) and having to turn back and head to my bed for fear of passing out on the way there. My chest felt like it was going to collapse and I couldn't take steps wider than a few inches which made the trip much longer than I was prepared for. The lack of sleep didn't help matters (at a time when your body needs sleep the most, you are totally neglected of it...) and when I finally managed to get 3 solid hours the next day, I felt a million times better upon waking up.

Once I got home (which was such a welcome change from being cooped up in the stuffy, loud hospital) I had a new set of problems. I could barely walk or sit (thank goodness for the inflatable donut!) and then my milk came in. No one mentioned how much that hurts! It felt like a truckload of rocks had been dumped on my chest and any contact with them would cause excrutiating pain. Not to mention the already sore and cracked nipples from my bad breastfeeding latches. Then came a curious rash which started on my hands and then spread to my entire back, belly and legs. I honestly thought things couldn't get much worse.

But now, 3 weeks later, I can finally sit without the donut (although still gingerly), going to the bathroom isn't terror inducing, the rash is clearing up and I'm beginning to get the hang of this breastfeeding thing. I've lost most of the baby weight through breastfeeding, less than 10 pounds left to go and other than the nasty stretch marks which have formed a trail all over my belly, my midsection is slowly returning to normal as well. I can go for a reasonable walk without returning home exhausted and I'm even looking forward to starting jogging again. (Although I'm giving myself another 2 or 3 weeks before I attempt it.)

Its amazing to see first hand what your body is capable of. I wouldn't have thought I could have done it if someone had told me about it beforehand but somehow you just "do", you don't think about it, you just get up even when you think you can't and do what needs to be done. It has certainly made me appreciate being healthy and being a woman. Somehow, I just can't see a man being able to endure the same thing.