Sunday, May 16, 2010

New Normal



Two weeks already since we welcomed M to the family. Amazing all that happens in those first days and weeks. His cord fell off. His skin peeled. He had his first bath. He was circumcised. He healed. We went through packs of diapers (already!). He outgrew the smallest clothes and gained over 1 pound. Nursing picked up and feeding went from a 40 minute affair to a 10 minute blitz.

We made new rules, like "if M is on the blanket then NO ONE else can be on the blanket" and "you must ASK before you put your finger in M's mouth."

I've been "sleeping in," getting my best sleep between 5:30 and 7 a.m., when I would otherwise have been doing laundry, making breakfast, and getting everything ready for the day. (Yes, this has serious implications!) Part of me wants to heed the advice to "take it easy" and to rest... but the rest of me wants to do some laundry and swish the toilets and make oatmeal bars and clean up around here so I CAN relax. It's too easy to do too much, but I don't know how much is too much until I've overdone it. Nursing is the forced rest that I truly feel the Lord has built into this season. I must sit (at least I try to stay seated!) and look at my baby and talk to him and have conversations with the other children and drink my water. I've come to appreciate these moments!

I've only taken a few walks (this photo was the 1 week walk with my Christmas present Baby Ergo). Yet I feel so light that jogging sounds really appealing. We've had help with the kids on many days these past 2 weeks and meals every other day. What a huge blessing! Truly, our church family and friends are our family here and we are so grateful for the community of believers surrounding us, giving so generously of themselves.

Our new reality is that it takes longer to do things. I intend for us to leave at 10 and it's actually 11:15 when we get out the door. Instead of going to the market at 7 a.m. this week, it was 10. M doesn't love being strapped into his car seat, so I'm not planning many errands (and starting to question our 18 hour trip to IL next month!). For the first time ever, I sent the 8 year old (with very specific instructions) into the post office to mail a package so I could stay in the van with the other four children (including the crying baby). This was incredibly successful; I'm thinking we'll employ this tactic more often.

L and T are sleep deprived. They are up later than normal and still waking up early (by 6:30 a.m.). L has been so excited about M that every day has been like her birthday (with singsong voice and skipping and general, uncharacteristic euphoria).

R had his cast removed on Tuesday. I was a bit miffed to spend from 2:15 until 5:15 at the dr.'s office (with R (6), T (2), and M), especially since we only spent about 5 minutes with the doctor at 5 p.m. He was told to use the crutches for a few days as he began to use his foot more, but to stay away from skateboards and bikes and trampolines for a few weeks. Now, five days later, I'm really wondering about his recovery time. As busy as I am with M, when I watch R walk I am shocked. Much as I loathe returning to that physician, we will have to if R's walking does not improve. He continues to limp around, using mostly his right toes instead of putting weight on his foot. We would appreciate prayers for his healing and full recovery.

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