Not Me Monday... In the House of the Sleep Deprived

This is Not Me Monday, created by MckMama. It's one of my favorite posts on other blogs, so I thought I'd give it a try:

Here goes... 

During my labor, I did NOT become the psycho pregnant woman you heard hollering at the top of her lungs from down the hall.  Nope.  That was not me.  I would never do that. 

Today, I did not give my baby son a pacifier five minutes after vowing he'd go the afternoon without it, simply because he stuck out that (absolutely irresistible) lower lip of his. 

I am not at the moment foregoing a much-needed nap because I am not completely addicted to blogs (both others and mine).  I have not spent the last week reading the entirety of a good friends' blog - like from 2007.  Nope, I didn't do that.  Because I didn't have other important things to do.  I did not read a blog post about contentment and then proceed to fervently covet my friend's gift of contentment, because I have not always struggled with wanting more than I have. 

Yesterday I did not pull out the Bumbo seat - designed for babies who can SIT UP and put my newborn in it!  Think he's ready?  ...Ok, I guess he still has a little room to grow into it! 

I did not choose to eat chocolate cream pie for breakfast last week instead of bran cereal, and I definitely did not serve myself an additional helping of my Mom's cheesy lasagna a few days ago, even though the cheese seems to be making me sick because it TASTED SO GOOD!  Furthermore, I did not mix up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough without the eggs just so that I could eat the dough, with absolutely no intention of cooking the cookie dough into cookies.  And lastly my husband and I did not spend $9.00 (ridiculous!) on ice cream cones in Manitou Springs last weekend.  Oh, and I didn't get any ice cream on Danny either. 

 

I did not laugh when my baby son looked so cute crying. 

I did not cry today because he looked so adorable asleep and JUST BECAUSE HE'S MINE. 

I didn't catch myself with him in the mirror and ask myself, "Whose is that brown baby?  Certainly he couldn't belong to that pale woman!" 

I did not step on the scale again hoping it showed a smaller number than this morning and that somehow five more pounds had miraculously shed themselves between 6 a.m. and noon (despite the chocolate cream pie, ice cream, and cookie dough). 

I did not rejoice and even brag to my co-workers about 4 the consecutive hours of sleep that I got one night, as if that were a lot.  And I'm not still blogging instead of napping like I should.  ...and like Danny is...

These are things I would never do.  Why not?  Because I mostly certainly am NOT a sleep-deprived, crazy woman living the somewhat totally chaotic but absolutely fabulous life as mom-of-a-one-month-old.  Ok, so maybe I am.    So sue me. 

p.s.  He's four weeks tomorrow!  Who do you think won the resemblance contest? 

Personally, I think Alejandro wins, hands down! 

 

The restoration of a belly button... and a house with no paper towels

The most common question I've gotten recently is, "How are you doing?....  and how is the baby doing?"  Well, we truly are doing great!  We're monumentally little on the sleep deprived end of the scale, but really, we're doing wonderfully!

I have completely recovered from the birth, and Danilo is eating like a champ...  which is much less painful now.  He's figured out how to latch on and I've toughened up, so nursing is going very well.  I'm amazed at how quickly this is returning to its normal shape and size! 

It's certainly not all the way there yet, but it is well on its way.  I was trying to calculate...  exactly how many calories must one burn in a day to lose 10 lbs in a week?  Based on how tired I am even after 10 hours of sleep (albeit in 2.5 hour increments), it's a lot!  And Danilo's belly button made its debut yesterday too!  His umbilucal cord stub came off (hoorah!) and his cute little belly button showed itself.  Now, is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life?! 

Life around here is settling down.  I had two phenemonal weeks with my Mom... she was absolutely fabulous.  It was such a blessing to have her!  She was so supportive, really great at taking care of me so I could take care of Danilo, enjoyed "Grammy time" when I needed a break, and was so sensitive to know when to go make a phone call or read a book in the other room when Alejandro and I needed a moment...  Anyway, after two truly phenomenal weeks with my Mom, she headed back to San Diego yesterday.  But not before we enjoyed lasagna dinner and delicous desert with her and Shaun (my Mom's fiance) on Monday night.  Even though we did have to send Shaun to the grocery store half-way through cooking dinner... and even though upon sitting down to eat we discovered that there were NO napkins or paper towels (or even tissue) anywhere to be found in our house!  Shaun ran out to the car and grabbed the stash of McD's napkins shoved in the glove compartment of the car!   

Yesterday Danny and I had our first day on our own... and our first outting by ourselves!  First I wrestled with the car seat.  I ended up sweaty enough to need another shower, but I won.  Then we headed to the hospital for the nursing support class and weigh-in and Danilo's PKU test (in which they pricked his poor little heel for the bazillionth time).  He weighs 6 lbs 10 oz!  Go little man!  And then we went to Walmart to pick up a few necesary items and this extremely cute outfit for Danny and Dad

...and I forgot to get paper towels and napkins again!  I even walked an extra lap around Walmart thinking, "I know there was something else we needed!"  Oh well... 

Oh, and one last thing!  Danilo turned two weeks old yesterday!  We imprinted his hands and feet in plaster before they grow any more to celebrate.  Picture this:  Alejandro, Renee, a container of plaster, and a newborn.  Plaster was everywhere!  I wish I'd had a camera.  Oh well...  Danny survived and even escaped having any of his body parts permanently encased in plaster! 

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Love,

Deep and Wide & Danilo's 1st 10 Days

Remember that Sunday school song?

...Deep and wide... deep and wide... there's a fountain flowing deep and wide... 

Last week at about 3 a.m. I was nursing Danilo, on the verge of LOSING IT, when I decided that I would be proactive about the situation, and take a minute to drag myself out of my groggy state, put on some relaxing music, go to the bathroom, and get some water before pulling him close to feed him.  (This is because the previous nursing session in which I frantically jumped out of bed, scooped him up, and nursed him through thirst, hunger, pain, and an urgent need to pee...  well, let's just say it didn't go so well!) 

So the music I put in was a CD of lullaby Sunday School songs.  And the song playing was Deep and Wide.  I listened (a little more relaxed) as I gazed groggily at my little one, totally content and taking in his fill.  The words ran through my mind...  deep and wide... there's a fountain flowing... 

I was totally consumed by how in love with this little boy I am. And how that grows more each day.  And it dawned on me that the song never says what is deep and wide.  And then it dawned on me that it's a fountain of LOVE that flows from above that is deep and wide. 

I believe that God gives us things in life for the purpose of teaching us more about HIM.  NOT so that our life is more fun or more blessed.  Of course, often through the process we are more blessed, and our life is more fun!  However, I don't think that's why we receive those things.  New jobs, promotions, moves to a different city or state, spouses, houses, children...  they each give us an opportunity to see into His character a little deeper.  I have always believed this.  But it came home in a new way that night as I sat there nursing. 

Frankly, I was quite uncomfortable.  I was so filled with love for this little boy, but make no mistake about it; I was not having fun at that moment.  Yet I would have had it no other way.  And I thought, "God loves me that much... and infinitely more than I could ever fathom."  He endured much more than discomfort for me.  And what He feels towards me is so incredibly beyond what I could ever feel towards my baby.  His Spirit whispered to my soul, "Renee...  I love you this much.  Let that comfort you through this tough time.  Let me love on you.  Imagine my arms wrapped around you, holding you the way you hold
Danilo."  It was almost tangible.  Tears fell from my eyes in gratitude. 

Danilo is 10 days old today.  Here is a glimpse at the last 10 days with our family of three:


DAY 1

Just an hour or two old... 

My mom couldn't wait to meet her grandson!  I think she went from the door to him in her arms in about 0.75 seconds!

DAY 2

Danny was a bit jaundicy so he got his own tanning bed in the hospital...  Even so, he was able to be on the phototherapy bed right in the room with us. 

Hangin' with Dad...

Hangin' with Mom...

DAY 3

The phototherapy bed got old real fast!  We could only have him out of it to eat... and then right back on the bed.  So cuddle time was limited.  We were SO glad when he could be done with the bed and we could hold him to our hearts' content! 

Alejandro brought me flowers in the hospital...

Coming home from the hospital...

DAY 5

Still sleepin'!

DAY 6

He's awake! 

He's stinky!  Time for his first sponge bath!

Is that not the cutest pair of buns you've ever seen!?

Clean baby!

And some boy-bonding time...

DAY 8

Aw Mom... so many pictures!  You're makin' me blush!

Check out this sleeping position!

DAY 9

The many facial expressions of Danilo while sleeping...

DAY 10

And today we've spent pretty much the whole day like this: 

I've gotten several questions about the correct pronunciation of Danilo's name.  Hopefully this will help: 

The boy's name Danilo (dah NEE lo) is a variant of Daniel, and the meaning of Danilo is "God is my judge". I was mistaken, and while Daniel is Hebrew, Danilo is not, but is used in English, Italian, Portuguese, Serbian and Spanish speaking countries.