Let's Have a Baby: Week 2

Week 2 was an eventful one. Here are some highlights:

First Outings: One of our first outings was to the Pitt Street Bridge in Mt. Pleasant. It was a gorgeous day. Owen got very put out with us because we would not let him push the stroller by himself (meaning no one's hand could be touching the stroller or even acting like it might touch the stroller) the entire time. First big post-Leo tantrum ensued.

Leo slept soundly through the fuss:

A Hail Storm: I don't think I had ever really seen hail until this happened. April in Charleston, 80 degrees outside, and balls of ice the size of big marbles came tumbling down. Here is what it looked like:

Alex's Last Week: Alex has been taking care of Owen two days a week since February 2010. She is now finished with her graduate program and moving to California to pursue her career. We are so sad to see her go and miss her terribly already. As a parting gift, Alex gave Owen a book with her voice recorded reading it, including a special message to Owen and the song she sings him before nap time. In my hormonal state, I cried the first several times I listened to it. Fortunately, Owen proceeded to read the book about 100 times a day after that, so I've toughened up a bit after so many listens. Here they are:

Breastfeeding Woes: Leo was born with a tight frenulum (the part that connects your tongue to the bottom of your mouth), which led to some significant breastfeeding problems, including marathon feedings, nipples that looked like new members of Fight Club, and quite a lot of pain, all of which culminated in mastitis (accompanied by a fever, flu-like symptoms, etc.). At a week old (and not a minute too soon), I took him back to the Birth Place and they snipped the frenulum. (A drop of blood was all, and he was mad about being held down, but stopped crying as soon as I picked him up.) I have now recovered, and we have finally hit our stride, but it was rough going there for about a week. Now that I'm not in excruciating pain through feedings anymore, the world is a much brighter and sunnier place. Here we are - survivors! - during a breastfeeding intermission:

Going Outside: With all the various breastfeeding ailments, I was instructed to go topless as much as possible for faster healing. Being without a shirt for almost a week meant that I was confined to the indoors (especially with neighbors as attentive as ours). It was a joyful occasion when I was finally able to put on a shirt and go outside!