Monday, November 29, 2004

Purple Scare is six months old. Rejoice, one and all.
If only they all came with such explicit, concise instructions.

Sunday, November 28, 2004

My daughter is now four weeks old. She coos and burps and sleeps through the night (if you count "the night" as 2 a.m. till 9 a.m.) She still has the hair she was born with, a sweet blonde shade which may or may not last. Her eyes are still blue. My unscientific survey shows her weighing in at six and a half pounds. She "smiles" when she has gas and doesn't care who holds her, as long as Mommy or Daddy is within earshot. When her hands are not locked in a kung-fu grip, she's wrapping her daddy around her tiny little finger.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Okay, so it's highly unusual for me to go for a whole week without blogging. Be assured, I did not accidentally drown in diaper gravy. No, we've been having issues with the computer and our Damn SLow connection.
I've been more or less solo with the baby for the past three days, too. My husband, who usually telecommutes, has been putting in some obligatory office appearances this week. Yesterday my homegirl came over and took me out for grocery shopping and coffee. Considering that I haven't left the house except for trips to the pediatrician all month, I jumped at the chance to see a different set of walls. Hazelnut latte never tasted so good.
The truly funny bit is that my friend had brought over a copy of "The Stepford Wives", but we couldn't watch it because we couldn't get the VCR to work properly. Yeah, that works on so many levels but I'm too tired to dissect it right now.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

My mother returns to her coast of habitual residence tomorrow. I expect there will be much wailing and hysteria when her absence becomes evident. And the baby will miss her, too.
The results are in: Baby Gigi weighs in at just an ounce shy of six pounds. I think she finds visits to the pediatrician inspiring. She's been ravenous all day. The doctor says that all is fine and we don't need to bring her back until she's a month old. It's nothing but "well baby" visits from this point on, knock on wood.

Monday, November 15, 2004

Back to the pediatrician tomorrow for another weigh-in. I'm back in Weight Watchers mode for myself, stepping on the scale and hoping the numbers don't change a lot (or, preferably, go down), and transferring my reverse-WW mode to the baby. But I refuse to cheat by stuffing her like a Christmas goose the night before her appointment, nope nope nope.
Well, this weekend took an unexpected turn. I found myself confined to bedrest when I started having some "postpartum bleeding" - nothing serious, it turns out, but it's one of those things listed on the "Call Your Doctor If..." lists in all the books. So a few pills and 36 hours spent mostly horizontal seems to have taken care of it.
Of course, the goofy part is that I absolutely suck at enforced bedrest. Ask me what my dream vacation is, and I'll tell you it's a long stretch of uninterrupted time with my case of unread books, preferably on a sunny beach or some sort of shoreline. And on any day of the week I can sleep in with the best of them. But if you tell me, "Mugs, thou shalt remain at rest, no getting up for anything but the bathroom; here, have a few books to pass the time," I get stir crazy. Go figure.
Fortunately, there were three grandparents in the house this weekend to do all the cooking and take care of Gigi. My confinement really ends next week, I think, after I have my followup visit with the OB and he clears me (I hope) to start driving again. Now that our car has arrived from Europe and we've gotten the sucker registered, I'd like to use it once in a while.

Friday, November 12, 2004

In the first two weeks of her life, my daughter has lost ten percent of her birthweight, gained it back (and then some), found her fingers, lost her umbilical cord stump, gone through two packs of disposable diapers, started holding her head up for a few seconds at a time, and met all of her grandparents. No wonder she's sleeping so much - I'd be exhausted, too. Oh wait, I am exhausted.
My mom has agreed to stay on an extra few days before returning to her coast of habitual residence. It wasn't hard to persuade her to change her flight, really. It has nothing to do with me recovering from the C-section, oh no, it's all about quality time with Gigi, we know. Still, I'll take all the help I can get.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Milestone du Jour: Baby Gigi's umbilical cord stump fell off last night. I guess this is nature's way of telling us All Sales Are Final.
Tomorrow night my mother-in-law arrives for a long weekend visit. This means there will be two grandmothers under one roof for a few days. I don't know whether to seek asylum in another country or just use the opportunity to sleep in.

Monday, November 08, 2004

It's Official! Gigi has regained and surpassed her modest birthweight. The doc pronounces her "great." If it weren't for my stitches I'd be doing backflips down the block.

Sunday, November 07, 2004

The good news is that little Gigi is able to sleep for up to four hours at a stretch if we let her. The flip side to that is she wakes up even hungrier than usual. My baby is a Hoover with eyes.
She was small for her gestational age, i.e., even though she was overdue she was just a wee thing at just over two and a half kilos (or five and a half pounds). All babies lose about ten percent of their birth weight shortly after the event; she lost hers in under 48 hours. By the time we left the hospital she had gained some back. We took her to the pediatrician on Thursday, and learned that she was almost back up to her birth weight (most babies take up to two weeks to get it back). I damn near did a victory dance in the parking lot.
We're back to the pediatrician tomorrow for another weight check. At the rate she's been eating this weekend, it would not surprise me if she's back to birth weight. Then again, looking at the diaper volume... well, I won't go there.
I usually refrain from political commentary on this site, but I found this article quite entertaining, eh?
By the way, anybody check Alanis Morrisette's passport lately? I caught her on TV offering commentary on the U.S. elections last week.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Six days ago, I had abdominal surgery. My recuperation has been a joy ride of hormonal tidal waves and sleep deprivation. Nevertheless, I'd say I've had a damn good week compared to some folks.
Name Change: Henceforth, The Child Formerly Known as Bizzleburp will be called "Gigi" on our militantly anonymous blog. Yes, I know most of my readership knows who we are, but I started out this way because I was still at work when the blog was born. This policy has served me well.
Why "Gigi"? It's an abbreviation for "Gurgleguts" - which is an apt upgrade from Bizzleburp. Our wee bairn already boxes above her weight in eating and making noise. I'm so proud I could burst.

Monday, November 01, 2004

It's a GIRL!
We welcomed our little darling to the world Saturday morning. She's 19 inches long and weighs a wee five pounds nine ounces. A little on the small side but all fingers, toes, and other appendages are accounted for. The doc assures us that we did the right thing, going in after her, because of the amount of meconium in the system. (I'll let y'all Google that term, I'm too tired to explain it.) So yes, the due dates were not wildly off. She just didn't want to come out.
But now she's here and she's beautiful. And no matter how out of it I think I am, if she's sleeping in a bassinet near me, my eyes fling wide open every time she makes the slightest sound. I still just stare in wonder that she actually breathes.