3 months of Louis

So this was the post where I was going to put some photos up, but my computer died last Friday and that makes things a bit trickier.  I had backed up on Thursday, via Time Machine, but organising accessing the backup is going to take more time than I currently have. I'm using my old G4 dinosaur as an interim replacement.  It is slow and clunky and not much fun.

Louis, on the other hand, is lots of fun.  He has a rather endearing smile and is capturing many hearts.  The presents are STILL rolling in and over the past two days I have completed another 8 thank you cards which need to be written and sent by the end of the week. I have also made the background for a further five, so there can be some up my sleeve.

Today I managed to get into town, between 4.20-5.10 pm.  That's how long it took me to get out of the house.  But I DID it.  Great time to go in, too, not much traffic and no crowds, so I got everything done quickly, including a nappy change and about 6 people wanting to stop and coo over the baby.  It always surprises me that there are still people who don't know we did surrogacy and had a baby.  I'm sure they are more surprised than me, but still. Such a small town, and folk talk, ya know?  Not enough, it would seem.

I also managed to cook dinner when I got home, after unpacking the car and changing and feeding Louis again.  I feel like superwoman. He didn't get a bath today, but something has to give.  I did fill the woodbox, keep the fire going, wash his bottles, make the feed mix, fill the bottles, do two loads of washing, make 8 cards, a massive batch of muesli for Mike, iron 8 shirts and 2 pr trousers, put washing away, pop in about 12 nappies, do a load of dishes and tidy the kitchen, wiped the inside of the fridge, changed Louis's bedclothes after an escaped wee, posted a parcel to Oregon (one of my readers is having her second baby in August and Louis has outgrown a few things...) and fed and changed Louis umpteen times.  Bought my niece's next birthday present on the internet and texted with a couple of people.  Played a few games of words with friends.  Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Spent an hour and a half chatting with Mike after work and made it to bed by 7pm.  Feeling like I have a handle on this thing now.

We have had a pretty massive week.  I think Louis interacted with about 70 new people.  Which means I did too (although they were not 'new' to me, that is still a lot for an introvert.  No one can accuse me of being 'isolated' this week!)

Mike had last week off work and we hosted a BBQ lunch for his 40th birthday on Sunday, with about 30 people attending.  I was dog tired after a bad night Saturday, but I struggled through til about 6.30.  It took a day to set up and two days to clean up afterwards.  Then Wednesday we drove to Busselton (3hr round trip) to get haircuts and packed in a whirlwind of shopping and a post haircut visit to my SIL (bro was at work) and the two cousins, none of whom had met Louis yet.  The drive home was hard, both of us thoroughly exhausted. But our hair looks fantastic!

Thursday we had an afternoon visitor- one of the other doctor's wives who had just been to France, and brought Louis back a gorgeous outfit from Petit Bateua, Paris plus a 'gro bag'.  Very thoughtful to have bothered to lug all that halfway around the world!  The rest of the day that wasn't taken up with Louis's immediate needs I spent packing for a trip to Perth (6 hr round trip) and laughing at how much crap we needed to take.  We left the house by 10.30 Friday morning and stopped halfway to visit my grandfolk and more Aunties/cousins, none of whom had met Louis.  Made it to Perth by 4.30 and stayed with Mike's Dad for the weekend.  On Saturday I had five visitors (including Millicent who dropped off another massive box of breastmilk!) 3 of whom had not met Louis yet. By 6.15 when Mike got home from the medical conference I was beside myself with exhaustion.  A ten hour shift just breaks me.  I don't know how single parents do it.  I don't care how many times I say that, I just will never never comprehend how they don't go mad in the first week.

Sunday was the 'big' event, of morning tea meet and greet Louis for all Mike's Aunts/Uncles etc and we had about 12 people milling around from 11-2.30.  My little brother also finally got to meet Louis for the first time, which was pretty special.  Not surprisingly, I was almost crippled with tiredness and had to go off and do yoga nidra immediately the guests left so I could make it through the rest of the afternoon.

We headed back home Monday morning, arriving at 2.30.  I unpacked the car and put a load of washing on, then had my therapy appointment at 3-4pm, and upon finishing and checking my diary realised I had a pedicure booked for 4.30.  Managed to get the load of washing hung out and the fire box cleaned of ash, and the fire lit (while Mike was managing Louis who was spacking out big time-predictably, after so much intense stimulation and interaction), and left them to it.  Had a lovely restful hour with my feet being attended to, then back into the fray of unpacking and preparing for bed. Mike cooked dinner, which was both delicious and gratefully received.

Tuesday I spent dealing with the aftermath of getting the house back together after a trip (fortunately the cleaner had been in on Friday so the place was immaculate, it was just the 'putting things away' that took all day).  Wednesday I filled to the brim with goodness knows what, but it seemed essential at the time.  Organising and wrapping friend's kid's birthday presents, getting that Oregon parcel together, making a start on the thank you cards, a warm lentil salad for dinner. Researching IKEA options for a book shelf for Mike's office so my Mum can buy it on Thursday. Etc.

And this week Mike is NOT off work. No, he is definitely ON.  In fact, on top of Tues-Fri 9-5.30, he is on call Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Ugh. 

Meanwhile, Louis is becoming more 'settled'.  Predictable.  Almost. Getting there. While we were in Perth he slept really well.  We had taken the gro bag instead of blankets and wonder if this contributed to his more solid sleeping. I think it did, as we've used it since getting home and is having the same effect.  Woo!

However, I am still having trouble nodding off if he has woken me.  For instance tonight I took over at 12.30 and he was already awake, having just had a change and feed.  He wanted to play but I wouldn't let him.  Neither of us were sleeping so I put him out under the (inside) line while I took the washing off and popped nappies back together, until he was tired enough for bed. He went to sleep but by that time it was close to 2am and I was wide awake.  Now it is 3.30 and I am still not really tired.  It is annoying, because I know I will be jolly tired in the morning. I can only hope that his next feed is soon, and that it is trouble free, and we can both sleep afterwards for an hour or so before 6.  He is feeding around every two hours at night now, but of course, he would stretch it out to three if you want him to be quicker, or shorten it to an hour and a half if you wanted to sleep longer. Lol.

Anyway, I'm still loving it. It is nice to feel competent and successful after many years of failure.  It is heart warming to have a live baby to cuddle.  It is satisfying to manage all our needs and still stay sane.  It is enchanting watching him develop new skills and pay such close attention to our faces and watch his eyes light up and broad grin develop when we enter the room. It is entertaining to see him discover something new, like his foot.  Or hold his dummy but not quite manage the association enough to transfer it to his mouth.  But knowing that will come and looking forward to seeing the development. Knowing how lucky we are to have such a thing to look forward to.

He really is a bundle of joy.  I've never been happier or more content. We count our blessings every day.  We are both constantly telling him how much we love him. We are both constantly telling each other how happy we are to have him in our lives. Three months has gone quickly, but at the same time it feels as though he was always here.  And that is as it should be.

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