day 6

saturday: to babies-r-us and beyond

Some friends of ours with a baby of their own came by for a visit this afternoon. Their 14-month old son, Eamon, had for the previous nine months provided Clara and I with the closest simulation we could find for our own child. While we had always thought of him as small, we were surprised at how gargantuan he seemed compared to our own five-day-old child. I know this should have been a no-brainer, but somehow the contrast was shocking.

Later on we went for a walk with Eamon and his parents, the mothers pushing strollers and the fathers (one of which, oddly enough, was me) walking a few steps behind discussing the cruel irony of engorged breasts that are painful to the touch.

Later on that afternoon I was once again released into the wild to run a few errands including what will no doubt be the first of many Babies-R-Us runs. Through an awkward combination of broken English pantomime, I had just awkwardly asked a where one could find “breast hydrogel pads” when I received a text from my wife asking for a “nipple shield”. This required me to go back to the same employee and ask where one could also find these items as well. It is worth noting that describing “breast hydrogel pads” and “nipple shields” is difficult when (A) you have no idea what they are exactly and (B) when you’re trying to avoid using the terms “breast” and “nipple”. It is also worth noting that by this time the terms “nipple” and “breast” has lost nearly all of their erotic content.

By the time I got home Clara was a bit frazzled. Having not yet mastered the ninja potato-sack hold she had been unable to comfort our precious Little Dictator. Nursing had become incredibly painful (hence the afore mentioned hydrogel pads and nipple shields) and because of the fact she had not enjoyed the same uninterrupted sleep that I had, Clara began to feel a bit overwhelmed. Luckily her parents arrived at the same time I did and we were able to send her to bed and allow the rest of us to do what needed doing. Clara got in a well-deserved nap and afterwards it was decided that she and I should get out of the house for a quiet dinner and yet another run to Babies-R-Us for more nipple accessories. The break did both of us good and the subsequent decision to let Clara sleep through the night and feed Baby Poogie formula was a good one. Breastfeeding books can be a little judgmental about the use of formula, equating it to feeding your baby liquified asbestos.

We went to bed early and slept the innocent sleep of a baby knowing our very own baby was in good and capable hands. I relieved Clara's family around 1am and managed a few hours of sleep thereafter.