Surviving Solo

Another week has passed. Lola is now 3 weeks old. And I'm awake enough to blog about it. :)

This week had special significance because it was Josh's first week back at work and the first week that we did not have house guests. This meant, obviously, that I was flying solo with the bean.

The first two nights were rough. Waking up every one to two hours to change a diaper and feed a wailing baby (I swear her cries sound like, "miiiiiilllllk! miiiiiilllllk! miiiiiilllllk!") is definitely an aspect of mommyhood that I do not enjoy. I've done pretty well at following the advice of many, and I try to sleep when Lola sleeps, but still its hard when you only permitted to sleep in such small increments of time.

By the way, total out of character events ensue when you are sleep deprived. For example, one morning, I started the tea pot but forgot to put water in the pot. At some point later that morning, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I wonder why the tea pot isn't whistling." That would be because tea pots don't whistle when there isn't any water in them. I have no idea how long I left it, waterless, on the stove, because time is something that I no longer pay attention to. (Don't worry, lesson learned: I'm no longer allowing myself to walk away from anything I put on the stove).

But I believe this week, I've sucked it up. I've accepted the fact that 6/7/8 hours of sleep is a luxury afforded to those who either A) feed formula to their baby or B) forgo children and college funds altogether in exchange for large retirement funds and nice vacations. Two options that aren't really options at all to me.

However, after the initial rough start and ruined tea pot, the rest of the week improved mostly because Lola started to sleep for 2.5 to 3 hour stretches. It is incredible how nice it feels to sleep for 3 hours after two straight days of tortured two hour increments.

The week was also made easier by the fact that two friends of mine brought Josh and I some pre-cooked meals. Besides sleep, there is no greater gift to a new mom than delicious homemade food that she did not have to cook herself. And, I'm lucky that I have friends who are really good cooks. Maria and Ellen's enchiladas, pot pie, and lasagna made life much less stressful. Maria also made us some of her infamous cupcakes, brought a variety of soft cheeses (she knows me so well!), and some See's cigars for dad. Needless to say, Josh and I were very grateful (and well fed).

When I uncovered Ellen's pot pie, I had to snap a photo before we devoured it. It totally made me smile. CUTE!