Sleep. Feed. Poop.

Peanut spends most of the day and night sleeping. I don't want to jinx it; the truth is that she has been a sweet baby so far. All have warned me that the worse is yet to come. I cross my fingers as each day goes by smoothly.

She wakes up every four hours for her feed. The sound of her smacking her lips is an indication that she is awake and ready for a feed. We first take her to the changing station to change her diaper. The whole process wakes her up from her half asleep state and she becomes cranky and impatient for milk. I first feed her. If she is cranky after having her fill, we give her a little formula. The formula kind of knocks her out most of the time. A then swaddles her and we take turns in walking up and down, rocking her to sleep. We put her in her crib or have her next to us on our bed and doze off with her. I am still amazed at how she wakes up every four hours as if she has a preset alarm clock embedded in her.

She sometimes smiles in her sleep and at other times sticks her lower lip out and makes a crying face. It is all too cute to watch. When she is awake and trying to sleep, she makes funny faces. I am curious to know what babies think or what's going on in her head. She loves it when I cozy her up in blankets and cuddle her close to me.

The other day she cried and cried for no apparent reason. I fed her but that was not it. A then gave her some formula thinking she may be hungry, but no, that was not it either. We swaddled her thinking she may be cold, but no. We then tried to rock her to sleep, but she was letting out an ear splitting scream and I was starting to panic. Then it struck me. Diaper! Well, she had pooped. Plenty at that. I was so horrified at having made my baby sleep on a pile of sh$t all the while. How could it have not struck me before? Once we changed her diaper she was quiet. Sigh, we still have to learn to troubleshoot faster.

How are we coping? A still manages to watch In the Arena and the unimpressive comedy shows ( Conan, are you reading this?) and I manage to blog and tweet when am not feeding or pumping or rocking my baby. I can't wait to put her in my sling and head out for a walk.

Peanut is here!!

I started this blog when I was pregnant with Peanut, with an intense desire to share with the world of the impending addition to the family. Blind superstition kept me from making my blog public. Finally, D-day arrived. The stork delivered our Anniversary present a week earlier, making it a lovely Father's Day gift. Peanut entered our world on June 17th 2011. A and I are absolutely delighted at being a happy threesome with little Peanut filling our life and thoughts with love and laughter. Oh, what joy. What excitement. The little person we dubbed "Peanut" (she was as tiny and cute as a Peanut) in our first ultrasound at ten weeks, made a grand entry blowing spit bubbles at us.

The feelings I went through were just too many. I was overjoyed when I heard her first loud cry. When I first saw her as the doctor lowered the curtain for me to take a quick look, my jaw dropped. OMG!! She is so tiny and oh so cute, I exclaimed to A who was standing next to me, engrossed in capturing her on his video camera. I was elated when everyone around me were showering me with congratulations. A brought a neatly swaddled Peanut over to me and I pecked her soft-as-a-petal cheek. I felt pride at the beautiful being that A and I had created. I felt thankful to God for bestowing us with the most precious gift possible. A and I held hands and looked at each other and smiled. We are now complete. What more can one ask for?

How as our life changed? Well, sleep is rarer than the blue moon. Any spare time we have is usually reserved for cat naps. Burp is a much awaited event. A and I can now change diapers at supersonic speed. We are usually terrified at carrying teeny tiny babies, but have adapted like fish in water. I am still recovering from a blasted c-section and A takes care of me and Peanut. He has mastered the art of swaddling her so well that he sometimes manages to suffocate her. I love how she deftly pulls out her hand after he has struggled and finally succeeded in pinning it down under the blanket. Dad and daughter are bonding pretty well. He sometimes even finger feeds her. He cuddles her when she is cold and showers her with kisses. He runs errands and cleans up the house every now and then. The last one week was a bliss having him around. Next week he is off to work and am not sure how I will cope. My parents are here. So, let's see how that goes.

Are we there yet?

June 13th 2011-

I am so close to the finish line. Baby Center app says 2 weeks and 4 days left. Yes, 18 days. But am getting very restless and am ready to have the baby. Now. My friends want to know if the baby is here already. One pings me on Facebook, wondering how am doing. Let us know the good news soon, she says. Another calls me. Let's go for a night out before the little one gets here, she pleads. Sigh, I wish I had the energy to put on a shiny lipstick and a sparkling dress with my favorite espadrilles and just hang out.

I missed the U2 concert happening right here, in Seattle. Some goofhead said all the noise in the amphitheater will bring on labor. It scared the sh*! out of me and I chickened out. Now I am starting to think if I should have indeed gone. May be it would have helped bring on labor. Damn these coulda, woulda, shoulda.

In other news, the lion and elephant have taken their positions on the yellow wall in Peanut's room. The crib and mattress have been delivered. So have the bath tub, diaper depot, changing table and the changing pad. Diapers need to be ordered. We plan to get the stroller after Peanut is here. And the diaper bag will be here tomorrow.

Hopefully my next post will be about introducing Peanut to the whole world!