For hubby, that is. After a week of staying home to pamper me (not to be confused with diapering the baby – he didn’t do any of that), today I bade my hunney goodbye as he went back to work. I always miss him after a weekend at home but it feels downright strange not to have him here after 10 days.
Lest you think poorly of him for not doing diaper duty, let me confess that I have probably changed less than 10 of Bethany’s diapers so far. There are just so many willing hands that it would be selfish of us to do more. I can’t share feeding duty (though I gladly would; ouch!) so I’ll share what I can. 
While I’m confessing things, I’ll also tell you that like several other of our children, Bethany had a mild case of jaundice. It’s mostly cleared up now and that’s not the confession part anyway. The confession part is that I think jaundice is pretty. It makes the baby’s skin color look so rich and smooth – I was disappointed the first time a midwife told us that it wasn’t our baby’s natural color and I couldn’t attribute it to our American Indian heritage. Go ahead and laugh at me, or shake your head in horror at my naivete. I was a new mom once, too.
And while we’re still on true confessions, go ahead and hate me: she has slept 7-8 hours straight through every night for 6 nights in a row. All of my babies have been good sleepers, but this one takes the cake and I can’t take an iota of credit. Isn’t that the best sort of blessing?
Related posts:
our baby is due in a few weeks….praying for a good sleeper. especially since our 23 month old is in a crib beside our bed. Adding a baby to the room could be pretty exciting at night.
I too have thought that a mild case of jaundice can look pretty. And while I can’t despise you for having good sleepers as I’m not a mom, I can certainly hope and pray that I have the same blessing! Sending prayers your way as hubby is away from you. Thankfully you’ll have help!
Congratulations and welcome to baby Bethany. What a wonderful blessing all around.
Okay- I’ll be honest! I AM jealous… though just a wee bit b/c ours do sleep through the night after a few months. Ah, sleep! It is the hardest thing to adjust to not having.
We all LOVE that time having hubby home after a baby is born. Though my hubby has confessed that work is much easier. LOL
Isn’t it wonderful to have a good sleeper? I finally got one–after having six of the Other Kind.
Congratulations on a beautiful birth, and Welcome, Sweet Bethany!
Robin
Well, I don’t hate you — but I thought about it for a moment! lol What a beautiful baby. Thank you for sharing your story
~kjl
quiverfull blogroll
Oh, it is just the best kind of blessing! My third baby was like that. I’ve had some really ‘challenging’ sleepers and a few good sleepers but that number three baby… he was a dream come true!!
That is so great that she sleeps so well. I read through your post with how the boy slept so well too! It is so true that each child is different, I have four and my second and third slept through the night basically from birth too! It was a huge blessing. But my youngest is two and still wakes to nurse at night and I am going insane! Not really, but I am planning on weaning him completely in the next week or two in hopes that he will stop waking up in the night…
Dear Mother-of-the-Shoe,
;0)
I am so glad to hear of the arrival of Bethany. The arrival of her into your arms, that is.
…may each blessing rise up and call you blessed…
I was told by my mom that I slept through the night pretty quickly – and then she had to start waking me up and feeding me in the night because I was too skinny! None of the other babies has had that problem, fortunately or unfortunately…
Sorry about the nursing pain–I know all about it! I had about 8 weeks of excruciating pain nursing both my babies. But I had to keep it up because I knew that if I stopped, I would heal up and then be stuck using formula and wondering if I could have just stuck it out for one more week. Now I have no problems whatsoever! Have you tried using a comphrey gel? That’s what healed me up the first time.
Concerning nipple pain, my midwife for my first child recommended steeping a tea bag in hot water, allowing it to cool a bit, and then using it as a compress. I would just stick it right in my bra. (You’d want to be sure you had a nursing pad in to prevent stains!) It provided great relief for me.
My #5 is due any day now. He’s our first son. Having big sisters is wonderful, isn’t it?!