#1 Diapers

Lucy has officially moved into number 1 diapers. She has also grown out of at least one of her newborn outfits. Today she made eye contact with me for over a minute and I swear she made to attempts at smiling. I thought I would melt all over the floor. What will I do when she is consistently smiling at our attempts to make her happy? As if I wasn't already in love...






I am thoroughly enjoying motherhood. Each day passes with lightening speed, even when we don't leave the house for days in a row (mostly due to the freezing weather...ugh). I am learning that more rest for me means a more pleasant evening for the entire family, although Lucy seems to be increasing her length of sleep time at night and is more alert during the day. Wednesday was the first time I felt a bit alien in my body and wanted desperately and selfishly to be able to at least a few of things I could even while I was pregnant! Crossfit, racquetball, soccer...I miss it all. I love and enjoy being Lucy's mommy more than any of those things, but it really hit me when I was walking with Lucy at the indoor track on Cornell's campus. I used to get comments about how strong I was and how hard I was working during pregnancy. While we were walking I got looks of, "Oh, how cute that you are walking with your sweet baby." That was hard. Harder than it should have been. I know as she gets older and my body heals I will forget I ever felt this way, but my body did not respond well to carrying her on me for four miles. I felt great...my uterus apparently felt otherwise. I never want to wish away time. She is so big already. I do want my body back sometime soon, though.

In addition to athletics, childcare has also been on my mind a lot lately. I am hoping by the time Lucy is three months old I will be better able to picture someone else caring for her for part of the day, but right now that thought is excruciating. Who can love a baby like her mommy and daddy? No one. Who will provide her snuggles at the breast while I am at work? No one. Who knows her communication like Jim and I do? No one. I am not putting too much energy into this decision yet. I am frustrated that this country thinks it is a good start for a baby to be in daycare 45 hours a week at three months old after a mom already spent 12 weeks not getting paid.

In sweeter news, the sun was actually shining brightly today and Lucy took a two hour nap in the sunshine after a nice, long massage. Since she slept on me for most of it, she even got to sleep on her belly, a treat I hope she doesn't want to make a habit. Jim even came home for lunch and soaked up some of the warmth with us. Days are best spent with the three of us together. All is right in the world when we have each other.

The Planks Have Paid Off

During tummy time, Lucy has been diligently working to perfect her plank. All the work paid off this weekend when she crushed her first boulder problem (outside of my belly) at the rock climbing gym in Syracuse. Of course, she was exhausted after and slept for an hour while I got to get back on the wall for the first since I was 37 weeks pregnant. It felt amazing. For added enjoyment, I easily back into my pre-bump harness. My body seemed to handle the exertion well and I am looking forward to going back this Sunday.

Part of what made the experience successful for everyone is the set-up and the culture at the gym. There are great spaces for breastfeeding (per chance, not on purpose, but I will take what I can get) and no one gave us dirty looks for having our baby there. The people who work there were all about getting back into a "normal" life with baby and were welcoming when we walked in the door. Although sometimes Lucy McGoosey absolutely loathes being put in the carseat, she did really well on this trip, with the exception of two "mommy, P-L-E-A-S-E get me out of here and snuggle me" fits on the way home. We stopped, got her out and snuggled her (twice) and she slept the rest of the way home. 

Speaking of breastfeeding, this country is just not set-up for it, physically or emotionally. The three of us were putting in some walking miles out of the cold at the mall on Saturday and we walked by the Victoria's Secret store. I would like to nurse Lucy on a bench in front of one of the mostly naked models in their windows and see what people have to say. This carseat bottle holder is a choking hazard and disregards the important and special time that feeding provides for mama and baby gets four out of five stars on Amazon, but breastfeeding mamas get harassed for doing what is best for their baby. Maybe if all of those people who are so critical had been breastfed as babies they wouldn't be so miserable and judgmental now. Don't get me wrong, no one should receive criticism for bottles, formula or whatever their choice is. As with anything else, you never know another person's circumstances. But for the love of all that's good, leave my baby and my boobs alone. 

In good news on the topic, I have started taking inventory of places that I can comfortably feed the Sweet Potato in public. 

• The  car
• Any Wegman's with a cafe
• Barnes and Noble
• Restaurants, preferably booth seating
• Dressing rooms at any clothing store

We have been lucky enough to have some very special visitors in the past week. Grandma and Grandpa Bisha came to read Lucy mother goose nursery rhymes and brought us dinner. Marnee came to meet Lucy and brought her a very special, personalized book, Lucy Can Change the World. (What Lucy doesn't know is that she already has.)  She seems to do well with new people, although my prolactin is still pumping and I don't give her up for long. I am also not willing to interfere with her basic needs to pass her around. If she is hungry, needs changing, tired or just needs her mama, she gets those things on demand. Luckily all of our visitors have been sensitive to this and this makes having folks over to our place low stress.

Four Weeks of Fun

A Christmas gift from the Hosker's.

At four weeks old, Lucy has grown and changed so much right in front of our eyes. She has delightfully fun waking hours where we enjoy singing, dancing, bathing, massages, tummy time and the occasional photo shoot to make sure we capture every ounce of cuteness (see right :-). Lucy is definitely responsive to my voice and stops to listen for me when she is with daddy and I am talking. She is pushing forcefully with her pudgy little legs when she is held chest to chest and is majorly interested in bright lights and contrasting colors. In fact, Jim has discovered that bright lights can be a nice distraction from gas or fussiness.


Nursing is continuing to go very well and we swear she grows a little every day. She did have a pretty rough day last week. Her belly was gurgling and she couldn't get more than 25 minutes without being interrupted by it. Lucy and I did everything we could to make her feel better, but by the time Jim got home we were both exhausted. Lucy was so overtired that she couldn't even think about going to sleep. It was painful for me to see her like that I can only imagine how hard it will be to watch her struggle with any pain throughout the rest of her life. Jim and I agreed that seemed to be milk protein that was upsetting her tummy and I have completely cut all dairy out of my diet. Hopefully we will be able to slowly reintroduce it later, but for now it is gone.

We made it to our first party together and Dave
and Nico's and mommy made her wear a pretty dress.

On any account, the three of us had the opportunity to do lots of learning that day! I also got to see that Jim has his own techniques that work and I have to trust him to employ them, or at least being willing to give him the chance to try. (Sometimes you just need your mama and mama just needs her baby). I finally got in the shower with her (her first one!) which really seemed to soothe her. When she seemed nice and calm I plopped her in a towel covered daddy's arms and he snuggled her tight, I dried off, then we put her little naked body on my bare chest, stuck a pinky in her mouth. She was so tired she was startling herself awake with the sound her own sucking, so daddy bear rescued us again with the sound machine and we all finally fell asleep.

To give you an idea of how rare this day was, let me describe a normal day in the life of Lucy Lynn. Her and I usually join Jim in bed by midnight (or so). She sleeps for about 2.5 hours, I change her, nurse her and she falls peacefully back to sleep for about another 2.5-3 hours. We wash, rinse, repeat and she usually sleeps until about 9:00 or 10:00. Then we have some play time...a bath, a massage, dancing, reading...any of her favorite activities, before she takes another 2.5-3 hour nap. Wash, rinse, repeat. Then we try to get outside for a walk if the weather lets us. If not, we do some baby yoga or some more playing. Or I strap her to me and we start dinner or do some chores together. You guessed it, then she naps. From about 7:00-11:00 in the evening she is a little less easy. I know, poor us :-). For some reason she fights sleep at this point, so we have been trying to get to an indoor place to walk so she will take a snoozer in the front carrier. Then we wash, rinse, repeat and crawl in bed with daddy. She is unbelievable. I would find her incredible no matter what, but she is so fun to hang with all day. And, although I am definitely always a little tire, am overall very well rested. Because she doesn't stay awake at night, so far anyway, Jim hasn't had to get up with her at night at all yet. I have also learned that babies are always in REM sleep. This means that they will tend to move and make noises a lot. This does NOT mean that mommy should scoop up the baby right away. I could hold her alllll day long, but even mommies need to eat and use the bathroom and I want her to have some sleeping skills as she grows. She usually naps on me once a day, which is down from ALWAYS, and it seems to be making a positive impact on her day to let her sleep. And then I snuggle her so much when she wakes up that I am pretty sure is already embarrassed by me.

Sack o' Taters

Lucy McGoosey had her second pediatrician appointment this morning. The nurse came into the waiting room and called for Lucy and I didn't realize that was us until she called a second time :-). On any account, we brought her home from the hospital at 6 pounds 2 ounces and she was up to 7 pounds 6 ounces today! She also grew about an inch in length. We are so, so proud of her! Jim and I were hoping for at least 7 pounds so this was great news. Lucy has been a bit gassy in the evenings, which causes her to be a bit restless, which leads to an overtired baby. The doctor suggested I cut our dairy (yogurt and butter, in my case) and we are going to try to start swaddling and using white noise. She hasn't needed either of those techniques up to this point, but Jim suggested them last night and they worked well.

We have also noticed in the past three days that she is starting to make eye contact with us. For me it often happens when she is nursing, which is the perfect distance for her to see clearly. Because we are not yet using bottles, Jim doesn't have this advantage and has to get down to her level or hold her close, but when he does this she makes eye contact with him, too.

Another development she has made is her voice. She is making more frequent and varied sounds (some which have gotten much louder :-) and we are looking forward to hearing more of what she has to say.

Hollywood Debut

Lucy is in her third week of life and she continues to be an absolute gem. Last weekend Maggie Gallagher, who did our maternity photos, came to our house to do a newborn session with Miss McGooster (poor child already has about 30 nicknames). We had a great time and Maggie was wonderful, although both Lucy and I were exhausted for the rest of the afternoon. Here is a sneak peak of some of the photos.

We were also lucky enough to have a few visitors in the past couple of weeks. Aunt Joan came to see us and gave Lucy a pediatrician once over. She even gave her a score of 10/10 on Jim's "chill baby" scale. And that is from an expert. Danielle and Kusal also came for a visit to meet Lucy (and brought wine...yay, I am still a real grown-up)! There are so many wonderful people who have already surrounded our little one with love. We are grateful to have these special folks in our lives to share in our joy.

Tummy Time with Daddy Bear.

The past week has continued to bring us more learning. Jim is back to work full time and this can make for lonely afternoons for me. If the weather is decent, Lucy and I try to get out of the house, even it is a brief walk in one of our baby wearing devices up to the mailbox or to take out the trash. Admittedly, I have not been making napping a priority and this translates a grumpy mommy around 11:00 when Lucy often needs the most attention. I have been restful and content wasting away the days talking, singing, playing and snuggling with Lucy, but not actually falling asleep. This weekend it became clear that my eyes need to shut for at least 20 minutes once a day, AT LEAST. The hardest part about that is that she is a great night sleeper. She is usually down for the count by midnight and wakes for feedings and diapers between 2:00-3:00 a.m. and then again between 6:00-7:00 a.m. We usually go back to sleep until about 9:30/10:00 a.m. and that really does feel like a good amount of sleep for me, until I crash and burn at night. Nursing in a side-lying position in the bed and co-sleeping with the little angel continues to prove to be a way for everyone to get more sleep, but I didn't finally make napping a priority today. Hopefully this evening goes a bit less grumpy :-).

First visit to Lindseth so Mommy could walk. 

My body is healing every day and I have made that a priority. If I am feeling well, the rest of the family tends to be happy. We went on our third three mile walk today and it took just under an hour. My body definitely appreciates the gentle activity and I am grateful to have a partner and baby that enjoy this time with me. Lucy really likes being in the front carrier and Jim likes to do that with her which means I can walk without extra back or ab stress. I also started body weight squats (60) and planks (3 @ 1 minute each) yesterday. I could tell this morning that I had used in my body in a way I hadn't in almost three weeks, but it felt really good. Jim and I are working through a plan that allows the three of us to spend time together in the evenings, allows him to get a movement break at lunch from his desk, allows me to go to the gym or get some exercise daily (the gym can't happen for at least two more weeks per the doctor) and gets him to the climbing gym a few nights a week. We are hopeful that next weekend Lucy and I will be able to go along to the Syracuse rock climbing gym for some VERY light climbing on non-overhanging walls, but we are letting her steer the ship and will see how she is doing then.

The only real issue that we have had is a clogged milk duct. Being frantic at the thought of antibiotics for mastitis, Jim did the research while I tried every remedy he threw at me. I pumped, hot showered, vigorously massaged, heated, nursed her on that side, nursed her on my hands and knees and asked gravity to be on our side and massaged some more. Luckily all of this seemed to work and the swelling is going down. The unfortunate part is that this seemed to be a product of Lucy sleeping for SEVEN STRAIGHT HOURS a few nights ago. While this felt like an enormous gift, it can't happen again, for both of our sakes.

Head and sponge bath followed by a massage. 

Jim and I have also decided that reading little kids books to Lucy at this point is probably not as important as reading in general and using language with and around her often. I have decided to read Little Women to her while I nurse, well, during many nursings. Of course, at night the goal is to change, eat and then sleep quickly before overtired sets in for anyone. Jim is still reading poetry and rhymes to her, as the rhythm used for that kind of reading does not occur in day to day language. I love singing to her and lately we have both enjoyed making up versus to Shortenin' Bread concerning whatever is happening at the moment. She seems to enjoy dancing and being sung to and really it is fun to do this with her.

And, finally, Lucy's belly button has fallen off and almost completely healed! Hooray! This was not my favorite part of newborndom. Sadly, it looks like she is going to have her daddy's belly button. Sorry darling :-).