Bee's First Week Home

Wow. I had a baby, and she lives with us now. While I have endless streams of new mom memories I want to write about, I have a hard time putting her down during the day. Forgive me if posting seems light. I waited for this precious little girl for so long and now that she's here I'm trying to enjoy every second of her existence. All while sneaking in a shower and sometimes a snack. There have been countless moments during the first week of having Phoebe home, but here are a few unforgettable ones.

• The long sloooow drive home from the hospital on Sunday morning. It was totally surreal. I had my eyes glued on the passenger vanity mirror peering back at her the entire way. Do we risk it and make a stop at the pharmacy? I was happy to be leaving the hospital, but a little nervous about being on our own. ON OUR OWN. With my hormones.

• Sunday afternoon I walked into Bee's nursery and found BD holding her tight against his chest with tears streaming down his cheeks. We brought her home on June 3rd, which also happened to be the 9 year anniversary of his mom passing away. It was a tender moment for him when he put that together. I know he feels his mom close to him during this special time. In the days leading up to her delivery BD would tease me that his mom wasn't ready to let her go yet. Thank you, Grandma Judy for sending her down!

• The way she snorts when she cries really hard. A little sad, but pretty much adorable. 
• Her first stroller ride on Wednesday. We got her all situated in the bassinet, binki, blankie, and that clueless look on our faces that said "what else?" We decided to risk it, being the brave new parents that we are. And out we step onto the sidewalk of the great outdoors when two seconds later and not 5 feet from our building a wounded bee flew right past my face and into the hood of her bassinet where it bounced around frantically and couldn't get out. I lost all sense of control, started flipping out, handsagoing screaming and such. Capt. Awesome-Under-Pressure, swiftly picked her up and escorted the wounded bee out with a stick. Then I stepped on that little bee, momma bear style, because it had attacked my first born baby girl on her very first excursion out into the wild wild world. I felt really awful for the rest of our walk. Poor little bee, don't mess with Little Bee's mom. Also related: hormones.

• The ease in which Brad and I became Mom and Dad, like in an instant. And it's not weird or anything to call each other as such. I'm  a mom. He's a dad. And it feels like an honor.
• She gets the hiccups about 14 times a day, same as in the womb. Poor bug.
• All of her dark hair! It was such a surprise to us that she had hair at all. I love to run my fingers through it while she's nursing.
• My mom stayed with us the first two nights which was awesome. She did lots of laundry and cleaned out my entire fridge. She would rock Phoebe back to sleep after nighttime feedings. She also reminded me several times how lucky I was to have Brad, who was not about to miss out on one diaper change, one burping or one feeding or pretty much anything having to do with Phoebe those first few days. Apparently this new breed of hands-on dad was not available when my mom was rearing her babies. Her mind was completely blown  away with the diapers that change color when wet. What will they think of next?
• According to Grandma we took at least 75 pictures of her first sponge bath. According to our camera, she was about right! Can you blame us?  

• Her sweet milky breath.
• We felt rushed out the door trying to remember all the right papers to bring for her first pediatrician appointment. We were supposed to go to the hospital lab first and have her bilirubin levels checked again. But the lab visit took much longer than expected and there we were, 30 minutes late to her first appointment, trying to look like competent parents but feeling like we had pretty much failed the first test. Thank heavens she passed with flying colors and made mom and dad look good while at it. Perhaps a glimpse of what's ahead.
• The way she grunts when she's eating. 
• The way she sleeps on my chest.

• Meeting her new friend Eleanor for the first time. Deedee and I had these babes just 9 days apart. I loved being able to share this pregnancy with a close friend who was expecting at the same time. We hope they love each other as much as we think they will ;).

• The way she smells like perfection, like a dream, like a newborn. I just look at her and weep. I can't control it, it's just a thing that I do right now. Being her mom is everything I could have hoped for and much more. It's all a bit overwhelming. Again, with the hormones.
• We had one of my dear friends Jessie take her newborn photos on Saturday. It was such a neat experience to have Jessie in our home with her hubby Cole and their new baby girl. Jessie is the baby whisperer and had Bee melted into soft blankets and asleep in no time. My eyes kept welling up with tears. She's the most beautiful little creature I've ever seen. We will cherish these pictures forever.

• The way she fits so perfectly into the crook of my arm. 

• The way she fits so perfectly into our lives.