I have started this post so very many times in the last few weeks and always get interupted. Holy cow what a four weeks it has been! Our little Harlow turned one month old at 9:29 this Saturday morning. I find myself looking at the clock every Saturday around this time and thinking "Hey ____ weeks ago I was in a tub in the middle of this very living room pushing her out of me." Then I look at the size of her head and think, "holy god, how did I ever push her out of me!"
This last month has been pretty consistently amazing. Sure there are challenges, the stereo sound of two little gals screaming at me, Cora adjusting to our new addition which has lent itself to her very first double ear infection which then lead to several sleepless nights for us. All of that considered, it has still been an absolutely amazing time. It feels as if Harlow has always been here, that there was never a time when we had only Cora. I was worried about how it would feel to transition to parenting two so this is a lovely and suprising emotion. Speaking of lovely and surprising, I can not get enough of saying 'my kids'. It is similar to when I was first married and saying the words 'my husband' seemed so foreign and exciting. I catch my heart skipping every time I refer to my girls in the plural.
My recovery is going great, and just like after Cora's birth I am raring to get out into the world and start moving my body. It is so strange to feel all that weight and bulk gone seemingly overnight and I want to leap around and swim laps until I am exhausted. Of course I can do none of that until the firmly set 6 week mark and hopefully my doctor's sign off on my big plans. So for now some walking, stretching, and just delighting in being able to reach my toes is as exciting as it gets.
I am almost done writing the birth stories, both since I have yet to share Cora's. I will say this in the mean time, there is absolutely a link between quick healing/good bonding/lack of post partum depression and a positive, gentle, non-medicated birth. My two very different experiences brought this into sharp focus. Also, hypnobirthing is a pretty fantastic technique.
I am loving our shift into fall weather. Our current home is located in a stand of hardwoods and all day long the leaves are gently raining down around us. We just had a load of firewood delivered and I broke out the soup cookbook and chose a lovely sweet potato and chard number to start us off. I have big plans to start baking bread again and just froze a huge batch of homemade applesauce. We went back to the apple festival today and fetched another 23 pounds of apples to turn into more magical sauce. Cora can not get enough of it so we will see how long it lasts us.
Cora helping by cooking in her kitchen
Harlow is growing in leaps and bounds. She has already gained almost two pounds, girlfriend likes to breastfeed. We have fought back an early appearance of Thrush which is such a pain in the butt, luckily it is responding quickly to treatment. So far she is a champ in the sleep department and most days I don't feel too horribly exhausted, I really, really hope it continues this way. Fingers crossed that she continues to be a great sleeper.
And even though I can not go running a marathon yet, it doesn't mean we haven't gotten out of the house. We have rocked the local apple festival TWICE in two weeks and hit up the pumpkin patch where Cora rode her first pony and I manage to get a nasty bee sting on my right hand. Our pumpkin patch adventures will always be one of my most favorite parenting activities. I love being able to take my kids to the pumpkin patch, ride the hayride and pick out a perfect squash, it's something I always hoped I would be able to do.
Riding the tractor out to the field
Grandma Pam (Scott's mom) helping us pick a good one
Cora with Uncle Jeff who was visiting from Missoula
Our close friends who are a major part of our Portland family
Self portrait
My view these days, oh how I love wearing my babies
And of course, the pony ride
This rounding into fall and welcoming the new one has me pinned with an understanding of just how quickly our children grow. The photo below is Cora at the pumpkin patch just one year ago. My oh my, what a difference 12 months makes. Bittersweet to see my first babe leaving behind her baby face and forging full speed ahead into little girlhood. Click here to see my post from last October.
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