A word from Mommy

Instead of attempting (and failing) to write to everyone individually I will post answers to all your questions in my next blog entry. That's what it's meant for after all. Just post them in the comments section. Or you can email me if you want.

First I want to thank all of you who sent me emails and cards regarding my Dad. It was the saddest moment of my life followed shortly by the greatest moment of my life. I think Ryan knew I needed him so he made an early appearance. Thanks Ryan.

You may not have been able to tell by the photos but I was in the worst physical pain of my life once the contractions started which was around 3-3:30 am (I think). And they only got worse as the morning progressed. I learned new things about my body like exactly how much pain I could withstand without the aid of drugs. I think Mike forgot to mention that I DID NOT HAVE AN EPIDURAL OR ANY PAIN RELIEF OF ANY KIND. I feel I've earned bragging rights. Fortunately (according to the midwives anyway) the labor was really short, and all of a sudden I was a mommy.

They put him on my chest almost immediately. (I wouldn't have minded if they had given him a quick bath) He looked looked up at me and I fell in love right away. It took a while for them to get me a bed and I stayed overnight in Unit 7 where there were about 6 other women who had also recently given birth. We all shared our stories. It was like a college dorm room only we all had babies instead of exams. I went home the next day, Wednesday afternoon.

At one week since Ryan's arrival I am feeling pretty great. My feet and ankles are no longer swollen, I can walk without waddling, I can bend over to put on my shoes and I got 3 straight hours of sleep last night, the most I've gotten since Tuesday November 6th at 1:30 am . I will omit all the gory details for the sake of the men folk but things are healing up nicely and my belly is shrinking a tiny bit every day. I'm not that tired in spite of the lack of sleep. Ryan is a beautiful and well behaved baby (knock on wood). Breast feeding is no walk in the park and I can see why some women give it up (Ireland has the lowest breast feeding rate in Europe) I think I was the only woman in Unit 7 who was breast feeding.

I'm looking forward to our new life and Whiskey seems to be adjusting. I think he misses our daily walks though. I know I do.

Mike has been great. He walks the dog everyday, cleans the house, runs errands, goes grocery shopping and feeds me whenever I'm hungry which is basically all the time. On top of that, he's resuming his normal hours this week at work. Had I known he'd be this helpful around the house I'd have had his child a long time ago.