I am a mother of two now. Our daughter was born 5/27/2010 at 12:48am.
Our son is 7 and absolutely adores her.
To have a son is one thing, to have a daughter is another.
I look at her tiny being and marvel. She looks nothing like me. I await in wonder as time unveils the origin of her genes. It seems she has my mother and grandmother in her. I wonder if she will keep her delightful brunette hair, I wonder whose toes she has and hands. Such a glowing beauty. I am humbled.
There are things I have learned since my first pregnancy. I would like to share.
I am calmer this time around. I understand the demands and let the demands shape me and mold me. Instead of fighting nature's law. Such as fighting for more sleep or fighting for a break from nursing. I lean into the demands. I give beyond myself to see what comes of it.
When she demands more nursing, we nurse. And I await to see what her body has told my body to do. I had to nurse several hours in a row before bedtime one night, the next night I nursed before bedtime and then we slept almost 4 hours before our next feeding. She knows more than I what needs to be done. I understand this dynamic between the two of us. If I am upset, she wants to nurse. Amazingly enough, she wants to nurse because she wants to calm mommy.
I'm more aware this time. My milk lets-down moments before she stirs from her slumber. I still have yet to figure out if I'm waking her up in those moments or if I'm sensing her awakening in those moments. Either way, it's pretty miraculous how in synch we are.
We use the sun to regulate. Little sun baths of 5 -7 mins a few times a day. They've helped clear up her jaundice. I read that baby's who poop a lot will clear their jaudice sooner. We've all heard how the sun helps clear up jaundice. Well, every time we gave her a sun bath, she would have a poop. It was fascinating. The sun was literally pulling it out of her body!
The sun is also helping her regulate her internal clock, with it she is learning to sleep more at night.
I do not find that I am "sleep deprived." We cosleep and she nurses when she needs to and then were able to drift off to sleep again.
I am more patient. Perhaps because I'm older, perhaps because I've done all this before. Or perhaps because I believe she is our last child and want to enjoy every single moment of this delicate age.
Such joy.
