Update from TiredLand

There are so many things I have been wanting to write about all that has happened in the last week.

But I'm just so tired.

I have heard of women who have had more than four C-sections. For me, #4 was probably a little past the reasonable limit. I have little tidbits of conversations with the doctor running through my brain from the time I was in the hospital. "Thin layers." "Adhesions." "Basically, you have no stomach muscles left." "Smart decision this is your last."

It's definitely been a slow recovery. I'm not sure if my expectations are too high. I just feel like my body is working much harder to mend itself back together.

I ended up spending four nights in the hospital, rather than three, for what looked like an infection in my incision. I think it might have been an allergic reaction to the surgical tape. Whatever the case, it was a minor complication that stalled my recovery.

At the same time, I'm sooooo thankful to have little BabyCake with us. I finally feel like our family is complete.

She is just so one of us.

She looks like a perfect mixture of all three of our other children. She is super sweet in her little baby way.

She and I are working together to help her get enough sleep. She was kind of cranky the first two days. I finally figured out she just wasn't warm enough to sleep as long as she needed.

I remembered an old trick someone had told us with our first son, who was born in November. You put a heating pad down on the sheets to heat them up before you lay Baby in the crib. (Of course, you remove the heating pad first!) Then, when she hits the sheets, they aren't cold, which wakes her up.

Also, her hat. It's an absolute must to keep the little bald head toasty warm when she hits the sheets.

Now, I've been getting some good three hour stretches of sleep out of her. The trick is to shut down my brain so I can sleep during that time, as well.

I'm trying my best to make sure the other three children get nutrition. But everything else is pretty much on hold. We do a little bit of school work each day when we are just hanging out anyway. We might as well do something productive. The kids love piling on my bed and taking turns holding Baby while we read Astronomy or another subject.

My goal today is to move as little as possible. I would really love to wake up in a few days feeling just a little energy again.

Until then, I'm just glad to be on this side of the process. I'm so happy to be able to hold her in my arms and see her cute little face. And everyone else in the family is completely in love with her, as well.

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