11 Days Old

Today Caroline is 11 days old. I know the past 11 days may have been uneventful for most of you, but they have been some of the most eventful of my whole life! It has been a whirlwind, a blur, but at the same time has gone by slowly, and I feel like I've definitely gotten my share of quality time with Miss Caroline. Every day she becomes more and more comfortable "in this world," as my mom says. She is more alert, and can now stay up for an hour or so in between feedings before going back down for a nap.

In the past week since I've been home from the hospital, Katherine has left and my mom has come in to town. She has been a huge help, taking Rocky for walks/making sure he is fed, helping out with nighttime crying spells/feedings, and making sure the house is still standing. She's also helped me get Caroline registered in all of the systems on base (there is a massive checklist they give all new moms, and it is quite the task!), and giving me some breaks so I can get out of the house to walk Rocky, go to the grocery store, etc. I am very grateful! She will be here until next Friday, and next Sunday Linda, Greg's mom, will come for two weeks. Thank goodness for my wonderful family!

Today Mom and I are starting to really focus on the "Babywise" routine. "Babywise" is a technique for helping newborns sleep through the night that many moms either swear by or are not so fond of. Because I am the biggest creature of habit/routine freak in the world, I am a big fan of the idea. The concept is based on the "eat, wake, sleep" cycle to help your baby transition to a "normal" human schedule of sleeping at night and staying up for longer periods during the day. It also has opinions (which I find have worked so far) on allowing your baby to fall asleep on her own, without rocking or being held (which sometimes involves 10-15 minutes of crying before she falls asleep), pacifiers (they are good, but not to be used for babies to put themselves to sleep), and other things. I've heard many positive reviews, so hopefully baby Caroline will adapt well to this routine. The book says the first 10 days should really be focused on giving your baby a full feeding (and not necessarily the routine yet), which Caroline has gotten for the past week or so, but now I think she's ready to ease into it. We'll see!

Tonight my mom is having a "date night" in Palm Springs with my dad, who came out here for a few days. That means it is my first night alone with Caroline and Rocky. I'm actually kind of excited, since I've had nonstop visitors for the past month. I'm looking forward to catching up on all of my TV shows that I've missed the past two weeks (thank you, DVR!), and just having some "me" time.

Thank you all for the wonderful emails , letters, and gifts. I will get back to you all individually at some point soon, I promise, but I haven't had much time recently - I'm sure you understand!