2008 November 21 « Fawnahareo’s Place

Archive | 9:51 pm

A mostly pictures post with a few useless filler words

Halia on November 12

Halia is just starting to be a little more wakeful. The last two days, she’s been sleeping so much, I sometimes almost forgot we had a second child in the house. And not that I’m complaining at all, but I was starting to worry about whether she was getting enough to eat in her little nips between naps.

Sleeping on Papa's chest - November 12

Not to mention that my boobs were totally confused. They were all, “Hey, girl, you were totally non-stop attached to us for the first two days of your life, insisting we get the milk machine going, and now we’re producing and you’re not having any?!” All I can say is thank goodness for breast pads, or we’d have a lot more laundry to do.

Papa and sisters - November 12

Anyway, it seems that the sleepy phase is passing and we’re getting a little more awake time. Which is how I was finally able to assess the colour of her eyes and decide that they’re a kind of dark blue.

She loves holding her baby sister! November 13

We haven’t caught it on camera yet, but I swear she’s already smiling. I know they say it’s just “gas” the first month, but I’m telling you, there are smiles happening.

: Halia discovers her thumb – November 15

Today marks the last day of my “official confinement” (yesterday’s whole episode will be our little secret right?) and it’s also the first day that I have not been wearing the abdominal binder Heather gave me. I would still be wearing it, actually, except I picked Jade up when she was getting a bit squirelly and she was sitting on my hip when, in answer to the question, “Do you have to go to the potty?” she responded in the most affirmative way. (It’s a bizarre feeling to have your underwear soaked with someone else’s pee, let me tell you.)

Hanging with Papa - November 15

Ready for my close-up - November 18

You might not know what an abdominal binder is. Basically, it’s a very wide (from hips to ribcage) stretchy belt that wraps around your belly and helps everything stay put. If anyone had advised me to bind my belly after giving birth, I would have told them, “Yeah, whatever.” Heather said her first reaction was the same. (“And next I’ll bind my daughter’s feet, you freak, “she added.) But! It really helps! After giving birth, everything is so stretched out and saggy, it’s actually hard to breathe. Having my belly bound was extremely supportive and helped to reduce that “hole in my middle” feeling. I highly recommend it.

: Tummy time with Jade – November 18

Apparently, women in Brazil and the Philippines (and probably lots of other places) always bind their stomachs after giving birth. Well, with the reputation Brazilian women have for bikini-worthiness, just that much information should be convincing, shouldn’t it?