A stretch of almost-warm days has whet my appetite for spring, even though I’m a snow lover at heart. During winter I crave snow days, but once the warm weather begins to return, I find myself searching the garden for the telltale leaves of daffodils and tulips.
This spring in particular, I need these simple reassurances that the cycle of life continues. And indeed it does…
The girl
At six weeks, Geneva is doing fine. Growing like a weed, despite some possible reflux issues. Somehow she has deflected all the germs her brothers keep pitching her way—a sneeze here, a cough there, an errant slobbery kiss on her tiny fingers. She was 8 pounds two weeks ago, and last week was her official due date, March 11. She is sweet and pink and cuddly, and she sleeps really well. During the day.
The mommy
The doctor’s verdict is in…I’m a free woman! Free to roam, to drive, to exercise, to lift heavy boys, to do whatever I can find the energy for. Surgically speaking, I have almost no abdominal pain, except at the end of long days, or when I forget that I have no stomach muscles and blithely try to sneeze.
My world is slowly expanding again. Last week I walked to my neighbor’s house and drove to the store. This week I took the kids out by myself for the first time. It was exhilarating, like being 16 again, except with a van full of noisy children, and they’re all mine.
We can almost catch the intoxicating scent of normal life in the air. Even mundane tasks are novel again: carrying laundry up the steps, taking the boys outside to play, giving them a bath, cooking dinner (I haven’t actually done this, but I can imagine it…).
Today, for the first time, Dr. K admitted that the surgery had been scary for him too. We’re all relieved to be on the other side of it. Never mind the calendar—at our house, it’s spring.
What did YOUR mom used to do when you were breastfeeding?