July, 2006
Enter Z! At 6:15am on July 1st! She wasted no time. We have joked that she really wanted her doctor to deliver her, because she was born ~2 hours before he was leaving town for 4th of July vacation. I was glad of this, because I didn't want a doctor that I wasn't familiar with delivering my baby. It all worked out.
We spent the customary time in the hospital. That was heaven compared with coming home. It was the first time either my husband or I had put a baby in a carseat. We had no idea what was going on. We came home in a daze. I was already sleep-deprived. That first night home from the hospital was the worst. I was in such a state I couldn't sleep for more than about 30 minutes at a time. I would put Z down next to me after feeding her, and then lie awake just knowing that she would wake up any minute hungry again. It drove me nearly insane. My husband isn't too good at waking up in the middle of the night, and at one point that night he was shushing me like a newborn. I had had it at that point and I cried even harder. I spent a lot of those first few days at home crying. I called my mom and cried, and I even cried to my dad on the phone, which I never do. There was so much crying.
Then my mom came and saved us. She cooked and cleaned and held the baby while I slept. Moms really know their stuff. By the time she left we had things much more under control. Sleep was a very precious commodity that first month. But we made it through the first visitors and all was ok. Looking back now I can hardly believe she was so tiny! And, I've got the amnesia setting in, because I can't exactly remember the hardships. I remember that it was very tough and while I was there I swore I'd never have another child. But it is fading... and I'm starting to think more kids would be absolutely wonderful...
August, 2006
The rest of the family came during this month. I also had to get ready for a conference! I made a poster, with copious amounts of my husband's help. I basically put all the things that needed to be on the poster there, and he arranged them and made it look pretty. He's my "art director". The poster was a success! I celebrated my birthday as well, and my father-in-law made me a delicious cake.
August was the least eventful month. Nothing much else happened. Our baby just kept growing and growing. I think this was the month that we figured out breastfeeding (yes it took us that long!). Z began sleeping longer and we started getting more sleep.
September, 2006
In September we took our first overnight trip! We went to Grand Teton National Park and stayed at the research station there for me to present my master's work at a park colloquium. We were there two nights. We were nervous before leaving, but Z slept like an angel. At that point she was waking up twice a night for food, and I thought that sleeping somewhere different would lead to more frequent wakings, but it was not so! She slept wonderfully, and hence mommy and daddy did too. It was such a fun trip!
Otherwise during September we focused on getting Z on a good sleep schedule - including naps. It took a bit of work, but I think by the end of the month she was taking fairly good naps with no crying involved. That way I could finish my thesis and dad could work on his schoolwork.
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