Feels like it's been a long week

This week has been a little crazy. I'm starting to try going out on excursions and finding it slightly exhausting. Well, Sunday we had a nice trip to the riverside park where we were married to get some sun (while a friend came over and cleaned the apartment). That was nice. Nursed Rosie in public for the first time, using one of the light muslin blankets to cover us and keep the sun off Rosie. Last Friday and Monday I went to the center for the childbearing year for the breastfeeding cafe (and then lunch with mom and dad, who live nearby) friday and the mother baby discussion/support group monday. At that last, Rosie managed to pee all over my pants. It was great. :P

(I don't know what I think of the group. I guess the regular group leader wasn't there and I don't really click with the other group lead.)

Tuesday mom and dad hosted a very small dinner party of old friends, to which Rosalind was invited and we were permitted to come along. :P
Nice, but Rosie slept through dinner and I was awake so missed sleeping during a significant nap of hers. Plus she ended up kind of worked up later that night and was hard to settle. I was very glad a friend was coming over Wed. morning to hold Rosie while I got a nap. I ended up getting some bills paid, too. Wed. evening I also had friends bring over dinner, which helped as well. Thursday was a calmer day but Rosalind wouldn't go down for a nap in the afternoon, not until almost 5, which left me feeling shattered. Brian came home then and let me sleep for a few hours but had a really hard time settling Rosie, who was hungry. Yesterday I had an OB appointment in the afternoon that I drove myself to with the baby, and then a friend of Brian's brought us dinner later.

And of course twice a day we have to find time to change my c-section wound dressing, which is usually done by Brian but sometimes by a visiting nurse. And if by a nurse we never know what time until the day of when they call us.

It's hard to make too many plans under these circumstances.

Every so often now I'm getting the opportunity to cook or dance or do something that isn't strictly about taking care of me and Rosie. (cooking and dancing are caretaking, but they are also expression and they are also non-baby-holding activities.) Frustrating not to be able to take care of Brian like I normally do, but I've done a little - mostly recruiting people to come help with laundry or holding the baby while I rest, or to bring food, stuff like that. I don't feel like I'm getting enough vegetables, but otherwise people bringing food from time to time has been great.

The last few days I've been feeling short on milk supply, possibly triggered by switching around my pumping schedule in the middle of the week in response to a change in Rosie's sleep patterns mixed with a desire to put away a few ounces of breastmilk in the freezer for emergencies and to keep my milk supply up so we can regularly have milk for bottles for babysitters, Brian, etc. I got 3 ounces put away in the freezer (well, 4, but then Brian defrosted one Thursday evening when Rosie wouldn't settle and I was shot) and am now taking a break from those efforts.

Just trying to keep up with feeding the kid-a-punk/narfmonster. And changing the diapers of my darling poopybutt. :)

(the nicknames continue to abound)

Next Friday our ambition is to go down to Cincinnati for Chilicon, staying with sleigh and parsleigh Friday and saturday. It will be nice to see Ohio friends, if we can manage the trip. Right now it feels daunting. We'll just have to see how much my wound heals, etc. But I hope we can do it.

In the meantime, here we are on September 18: Rosalind is one month old!

It went by really fast, which I'm sure is just a taste of things to come.