What's new?

Well, the answer to that is "not much".  Life has become fairly routine around the "M" house and I think it's just perfect that way with a new baby!  (Routine is a life-saver these days.)  And I sometimes forget that people don't know what our routine is, so here is a bit of an overview of where each of us are at these days...

All ready for church, wearing "big-boy" clothes! 3 weeks, 2 days old.

Levi

Levi is growing and changing almost constantly.  I'm guessing he's over 10lbs already.  He hasn't been weighed in 2 weeks so I'm very curious to know how big he is!  I suppose I could try to figure it out with our home scale.  Hmm...I might just have to do that.  It feels like Levi has been here so much longer than just 3.5 weeks.  We know him so well.  His hungry cry is different from his pain cry.  We can tell when he's tired or when he's just content to look around (that's an easy one!).  How did I not know this little guy just 4 weeks ago?!  He is absolutely amazing and we love him so very very much.  His sleep schedule is mostly figured out, I think.  He is up for feeds at 2am and 5am most nights.  And I am so thankful for a quick eater, making our night-time feeds usually no longer than 20 minutes.  Last night went about as smoothly as I could hope.  Levi and I went to bed at 9:30 after a bedtime feed at 9:15. (I wasn't about to miss out on a couple hours of sleep if Levi was sleeping already so I went to bed when he did!)  He slept straight through until 2:15am!  (He has only slept longer than 3 hours a handful of times since he was born)  I got up, fed him and he was back in bed by 2:30am.  He then slept until 5:15am.  I fed him and he was back in bed by 5:35am.  After his 5am feed, he is usually done with his 3 hour stretches and is wanting to eat every two hours (minimum) for the rest of the day.  But an early morning is much easier to handle with a 9:30 bedtime.  If he sticks with this routine for a while, I will definitely be able to handle it.  That said, how long does a newborn stick with anything?  Things are changing much too fast and before I know it, I'm sure I'll be adjusting to something new!

Nathan

Nathan is busy these days with homework and with his "internship" at Bethany.  Working at the school (grading assignments, teaching classes, etc) takes quite a bit of time, but it is good experience for the future so hopefully it is worth all the time it is taking!  Homework is a constant as well.  There is always a textbook being read or a paper being written around here.  I think Nathan is finding it a bit hard to focus on homework when Levi is such a tempting distraction, but I think he's doing pretty well. : )  His biggest challenge will be getting the required work done on his thesis by the end of the semester.  There is not much happening with Nathan besides school right now.  (Poor guy...SO not jealous!)  But I think he's still enjoying it...and enjoying life too.  I believe he would say that the highlight of his days are the times when Levi and I join him on his daily dog walks.  What's better than a walk with your wife, son, and dog in the beautiful weather we've been having?

Me
I've been doing very well since giving birth.  Physically, I'm feeling pretty much back to my "old" self.  There is still a little bit of sensitivity around the incision site, but it is certainly nothing that slows me down. (don't worry, I'm still taking it easy...don't want to push myself and then end up paying for it later)  I was worried that the recovery time would be long with a c-section, but I've been feeling fairly "normal" since around the 2 week mark.  I think that is actually a record recovery time, and I am definitely not taking it for granted.  I am very thankful for how this recovery is going and for how good I'm feeling already.  Emotionally, I am also doing really well.  I was wondering if baby blues or post-partum depression would be a struggle, especially after dealing with infertility.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how smooth and natural the adjustment to motherhood has been.  I keep half-expecting a huge melt-down with tears and worries and tons of emotion.  But it hasn't come yet and I feel so much "myself" in this new mommy role that I'm in.  It has definitely been affirming of the feelings I've always had of just wanting to be a mom.  This really does feel like a perfect fit and I feel so unbelievably blessed to be able to do this.  After wondering for years if I would ever have a chance to be a mommy, I am thankful that I'm feeling so much at home in this role.  Definitely loving life.  I can't imagine a better fit than being Nathan's wife and Levi's mom.