Great Expectations: Liz (& Isadora) @ 3 Weeks Postpartum

My darling Isadora is three weeks old! She is a fabulous baby, nursing well and sleeping for long stretches at night (don't hate me--I have three others to chase after and need the rest), and even starting to smile! She definitely loves her mama, wanting to be held more than her siblings did, but I don't mind one bit. I gladly snuggle with her as much as possible and am very thankful for the fact that she loves hanging out in the sling (READ: get a good baby carrier and/or sling.) It's odd to me how she's so new, yet I feel like I've known her forever. It probably doesn't hurt that she looks so much like my other three that it kind of freaks me out from time to time. Her siblings love her to pieces, showering her with kisses (that sometimes involve a transmission of chocolate milk mustaches and bread crumbs to her forehead) and affection. My oldest two proudly brought a picture of her to school the day after she was born, and my son requested to bring a different one the following day, this time of her nursing. As much as I promote breastfeeding, I decided that it was probably not something that he should share with his first-grade classmates.

My fabulous birth high was met quickly with heartache. The day after Isadora was born, I learned that my other two daughters also have mytonic dystrophy, though not quite as severe as my son. Last week, the results came back for Isadora, and she, too, is affected. We are thankful that it is not so severe to have impacted her at birth, but it is making for an exceptionally emotional postpartum time. I have, once again, found myself heeding more of my own advice for the postpartum time. I have been asking others for help (namely my husband and mother, but I know there will be many others added to my village in the coming months), had a friend set up a meal delivery schedule for me (check out www.foodtidings.com or www.mealbaby.com to do the same), and have been trying to take it easy, as much as a mother of four can.

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