One Year Ago Today...

I was, at this very hour, speed-walking around the labor & delivery floor of Mass General Hospital, trailed by my partner, our totally ineffectual doula, an IV stand, and my fabulous friend the Cap'n. (Cap'n made an exception for me -- usually, when she visits hospitals, it is to play the harp for the dying. Luckily, her services were not needed that night.) I was getting very control-freaky: "Let's get this baby born! My water broke at 3. We're on the clock, here, people!" So, when we passed the nursing station, we walked fast. When we got to the empty back hall, we sprinted. Did I mention I was wearing those grippy synthetic hospital socks, having soaked my slippers in amniotic fluid within the first hour? In retrospect, it's pretty funny, but at the time, I was trying quite seriously to avoid an induction.

Note to expectant moms: practice saying (and believing), "I'm not in control," 50 times a day. When you're in labor, it will keep you from getting in your own way. Once you have the baby, you will already have mastered the mantra for your new reality.

More labor flashbacks later, but first: Speedy started drinking breastmilk from a cup yesterday, and seems to have no objection to the lack of a bottle. Tonight, he had whole milk for the first time. His eyes got really wide (fat content??), and he drank with gusto. I'm totally psyched that I only have a few more days of pumping for my own comfort as my supply tapers, and then I can hang up the horns!

Back in the Saddle Again

It's a new week, and we're mostly healthy and back on track with running, milk consumption, and housework.

The Swadfather stayed home from davenning this morning and surprised me with a clean kitchen. I took Speedy with me, and missed most of the service while trying to give him a bottle, feeling like the meanest mommy in the world for insisting that he take pumped milk instead of the real deal. (He has been refusing bottles for days. I was starting to fear that I wouldn't get more than two hours away from him until he starts solids! So, we finally decided that today had to be the day. Crying all around, and I relented and nursed him.)

At Shabbos lunch, Letter A's mom made me feel somewhat better about the bottle-feeding thing, reminding me that Speedy is his own little person who has his own reactions to things. Even if he's only 12 weeks old, I am not entirely in control of his moods, appetites, etc. And by the way, what made me think he would take a bottle from me, of all people?!

After a nap and havdallah, I went to the gym and did 2.75 mi. on the treadmill. Even with the remnants of sinus nastiness, I was able to run for almost half an hour without a walk break. Meanwhile, the Swadfather coaxed Speedy into taking about 5 oz. from a bottle. And there was much rejoicing. Yay.

Dish Karma, etc.

Skipped my run yesterday after schlepping around for a friend down with a hip injury. Based on Gmap Pedometer, I did about 4 miles in the snow, with Speedy in the Baby Bjorn. The friends in question have amassed major good karma since Speedy's conception, checking in with both my partner & I, inviting us to lots of last-minute meals, and even doing our dishes. Doing each other's dishes and errand-running is very win-win: whoever is doing the chore feels altruistic, and whoever is on the receiving end gets something done that otherwise would have required additional sleep deprivation to accomplish.

Just got back from a walk (a.k.a. lull the baby to sleep), which produced these random thoughts:

1) While trying to maintain perpetual motion with the stroller and cursing cross-traffic even more than I do on a run, I realized whoever conceptualized the movie Speed must have had a wakeful infant.

2) This blog should be subtitled "The Boob Blog," since I only sit down at the computer when Speedy's nursing. I read somewhere about the importance of "mothering at the breast"... For Speedster, that looks something like "Click, Clack, Moo!"