Pictures

Elodie is almost 3 weeks old.  I cannot help but feel foolish for the expectations I previously had of the way life would change with a child.  I envisioned spending the first month of Ellie's (we call her Elodie and Ellie) little life off of work.  I assumed she would be healthy.  I figured we would put her in daycare when I returned to my job.  I pictured myself having time to relax with her, having an influx of friends stopping by, doing crafts and writing in my blog while she napped. 

Clearly that was a fantasy.  Per the doctor's instructions we are not to have visitors in our home for at least another week and a half. At a minimum, I am not to return to work until Ellie is at least 7 weeks old.  When I asked the doctor about daycare he smiled and said that we will have to see how she is doing in a few weeks.  Ellie is on her third different formula and is still vomiting. She is certainly less fussy than she was but between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. she cannot be consoled.  She screams.and screams.and screams. The only people in our home are us and the service providers working with Ellie.  I live in p.j.'s. and feel as if I won the lottery if I get a chance to shower every few days. I've now stopped putting make-up on for the service providers.  They can put in their notes that I am disheveled.  I am. There are no friends, few breaks, about 2 hours of sleep a night, and most definitely no time to do crafts or write daily in my blog.  I am not complaining, just want to give an honest portrayal of my own stupid assumptions of what parenting an unhealthy infant looks like. 

 Ellie is very different  compared to a week ago.  She has grown out of her newborn clothes.  When I look at her, she looks back at me, which was something she was unable to do before.  Her little cheeks are squishier and her appearance is brighter.  Her cry is less "nails-on-a-chalk-board-ish" and more "normal." She grasps my hands with her little fingers.  She prefers me over JG (which the doctor reassured him would change when she gets older). 

On another note, Dani (of the wonderful tuttebelle photography ) came over a week ago and took the most beautiful pictures of Ellie.  You can view Ellie's proofs at http://www.tuttebellephotography.com/ by entering the code elody11.   Shannon would be sooooooooooooo stinking proud of Dani's pics.  I like to believe it was Shannon's divine intervention that caused me to win Dani's giveaway, rather than a random number generator. She wanted Dani to take Ellie's pics just as much as I did and it was the topic of one of the last conversations we had.  God knows, if she were here she would already have one of them framed and in her living room as soon as Dani posted them:)