The First Week

We have had a wildly successful first week, hooray! I can't believe how fast it flew by. We're falling more in love every day, and can't get enough of her. She's opening her beautiful blue eyes more and becoming more alert. Mom and dad are getting the hang of her schedule a little more and creating more of a schedule for ourselves. We've made several trips to the pediatrician's office this week to monitor her bilirubin scores (for jaundice) and her weight. And, we also made successful trips to REI and Babies R Us - mainly because I was getting a little stir crazy and needed to get out and move!

Here's a quick list of things we're learning as parents:

• We've learned about sleep - It's incredible how quickly your perception of "good sleep" changes. One week ago it would not have been normal to say, "Those two hours of sleep last night felt so great. I feel so rested." Now, two hours is magical, and three hours is a godsend.
• We've learned why all baby gear is sold in multi or value packs - I was surprised to see that everything for babies comes in 3 - 5 - 10 or more packs. When we went through 5 bibs in one day this week, I realized why the bibs were sold in packs of 10, because logically you want them to last for two days before having to do laundry!
• We've learned it's important to remember to eat - When you're entire day is focused on attending to her every need, we've realize that quite often, we forget to feed ourselves. And then when we don't eat, it's all downhill from there! I learned to keep a stack of snacks next to my nursing chair, on our kitchen counter, on our bedroom nightstand and in her diaper bag. It's incredible how great peanut butter crackers taste at 3 am when you realize you haven't eaten since you ate an early dinner at 5 pm.
• We've learned the incredible power of friends - Our friends have signed up to bring us dinners for the first 6 weeks and we are so appreciative of this simple act of kindness. It seems so simple, but it's such a blessing. We would be eating peanut butter crackers for dinner if it weren't for them!

A few more photos from the first week: