So, as of Tuesday, we completed our first week as parents. I don’t think either of us felt we were particularly unprepared for or surprised by anything, except perhaps by how incredibly happy and enamoured of her that we are already. It certainly helps that she’s so darn cute and that she lets us sleep for hours at a time some nights. I’ll break down the specifics.

Sleeping
The first few nights we only got two or three hours in a night, and that was usually due to us doing shifts. On night one, we each did many laps around the Arbutus maternity ward in the wee hours of the morning. It wasn’t that Belle was crying either, it was just that she wasn’t happy sleeping in the bassinet. The first nights at home were fairly similar, except that we could sit with her sleeping in our laps in the living room, instead of wandering florescent lit hallways, which was very nice.
A few nights ago, she started throwing us the occasional three or four hour stint in her bassinet, and we’re hoping it’ll just get better from there. With us trading shifts for when she’s fussy, we’re getting enough sleep in a night, for the most part. We really couldn’t ask for more.

Eating
Belle had a relatively strong latch right from the start, and while Michelle has worked a bit on improving it, we haven’t had any problems with feeding. Except that Belle likes to fall nod off mid-feed, but that’s not so bad. Last night Belle and I tried our first bottle feed while Michelle went out for a few hours, and Belle took the bottle like a champ! It’s also really nice for me to take part in the feeding as well, since I see how much Michelle absolutely adores it. Belle also makes some pretty funny faces while she’s feeding.

Diapers
I’ll keep details to a minimum, but this is a fairly important thing for babies. Suffice to say, no issues here! Also, (knock on wood) neither of us has required a post-diaper-change change of clothing. Probably only a matter of time.

Mommy
Michelle bounced back really well after labour, with one exception. Last Saturday she started to get a bit of swelling in her hands and feet, and a bad headache, so we took her blood pressure and it was quite high. Back we went to the hospital where she was diagnosed with postpartum pre-eclampsia. While the name sounds like the most terrible thing in the world (and it can be very dangerous if it’s not caught), it’s fairly easily controlled with some medication and we just have to take things easy and monitor her blood pressure. It happens at some point to as many as 10% of pregnancies.

So that’s the first week! Other than the above, we’ve made some trips around town in the car seat and her sling and tried out our a new baby chair (she loves it), and had lots of visitors. She’s also met Cooper and he definitely tolerates her, and possibly even likes her, as he’s always curious about her when he comes in and likes to stick his nose over the edge of the bassinet when we’re putting her to bed. He doesn’t like it when she cries though, but really, who does?

Oh, and I should correct something above. There was one thing I was surprised about. I had no idea babies farted (ed. Patrick! Girls don’t fart, they “pass wind”) so much.