One Week Old Parents

This morning, after the four hours of sleep I received between 10 PM and 6 AM I realized that I had just completed my first week of parenthood. I'm told it is the hardest week of all. We'll see, its been quite a roller coaster ride; the birth experience, the welcome home events thrown by parents and close friends, and the new nighttime roles and realities. You could say we have our own circus here.






It was helping Rachel becoming an accomplished breastfeeder that was the biggest challenge of the week. I had no idea that nature had created a system that looks great on paper (and glossy photos) but is so complicated in real life - more so than even diaper changing. It was the wails of hunger combined with Rachel's wincing as he latched that led me to investigate a product known as the "nipple shield". The nipple shield truly saved us. A silicone relief of a nipple, the nipple shield acts as the layer of first defense against the mighty suction of a hungry baby.








Slightly less painful, but no less constant was the joint pain Rachel experienced from assuming odd positions holding Sol with one hand, her boob with the other, hunched over, twisted slightly in her chair, and then holding that for 20, 30, even 40 minutes afraid to move lest she break the hard-won nursing latch. In fact, at one point I would pack pillows around the final position Rachel would take, and then kneel next to Rachel and hold Sol in his position while she relaxed for a few minutes. I couln't imaging us doing this at the park or a restaraunt. Didn't get a picture of that unfortunately.

I'm excited going into week two with new skills and new awareness, but I know that above all I should be ready to have patience and love, cause I sure don't know what to expect.