So far so good, overall. I'm recovering well, and Elie seems to be pretty amenable to whatever I'm doing.
We had all grandparents around for FOUR days, which was a LOT of people in our super small 1100 square foot apartment, but it was also super nice. It actually felt like a holiday or celebration, which it was! Samara LOVED the attention, and we loved that someone was always doing dishes and organizing the next meal. Elie didn't seem to notice. Honestly, we are appreciative that everyone could be here with us and to help us.
The Bris was on Friday. We ended up flying out Dr David Ungar from Melbourne. He's basically the only progressive Mohel in Asia/Aus/NZ. He is a GP who was recently trained as a Mohel to fill the need in the community there. He put together a really meaningful service, and overall we were really happy with it. Our friends Pam and Marc ended up hosting the event, which was SO SUPER GENEROUS. We had around 40 of our friends and co-workers and generally our support system out here. It was so amazing that so many people could take time out of their Friday morning to share our simcha. I have to say, though that circumcizing a little tiny boy in public like that seems an awful lot like a horrible barbaric tradition. Elie had local anesthetic and didn't seem to be too bothered by the procedure, but I did not enjoy the circumcision. I did, however, enjoy the bagels, lox, kugel, cakes and fruit...and of course seeing all of the people who have helped us for the last few months and actually catching up a bit with people I haven't seen in weeks (I kept thinking I was going to give birth, so I didn't make plans). Overall, it wasn't too bad, but I will determine that once this little penis heals and I see that all is alright.
Other than the Bris, another big thing that stands out (so to speak) about the last 11 days is that having a boy is waaaaay different to having a girl...already. When Sam was a little baby Matt and I asked each other, "Why do people seem to have so much laundry with babies?" "Why is changing a diaper such a big deal?" "Why do babies go through so many outfits?" Samara had her blankets and sheets changed after a week, she almost never soiled an outfit, and she never peed on us. Life was a breeze. We knew it, but we thought other people just must not cope well or something. Well, it turns out Samara was an anomaly. Elie is more normal, it appears. He goes through a blanket a day, at least three outfits (t shirts only so far since his silly umbilical cord still hasn't fallen off), multiple sheets per week...He pees nearly every time we take off his diaper (on my shirt at least four times), and he poos also. It's as if he has the feeling he's sitting on the toilet when I change his diaper, and it just all comes out. It's a mess. I'm getting better at managing it, but boy was it a shock the first few days, and it's pretty inconvenient. Luckily he's super cute, so it makes it easier to take.
Otherwise, I'm sorting out how I will be with two kids at the same time - luckily I don't have to do that yet since Matt's parents are here, but it will be challenging. Clearly people do this all the time, all over the world, but I suppose everyone has to figure it out for themselves. As I mentioned last time, too, I'm looking forward to figuring it out when I'm not in pain (the pain is getting MUCH better, but still...).
I can't count my sleeping chickens before they hatch, but so far, Elie is sleeping like a champ, so nights aren't so bad...but somehow I still feel super exhausted. I guess that's part of the recovery. We will see how much patience I have to parent Samara without sleeping through the night. It's all yet to be practiced.
All in all, though, so far so good. We're working on it.
We had all grandparents around for FOUR days, which was a LOT of people in our super small 1100 square foot apartment, but it was also super nice. It actually felt like a holiday or celebration, which it was! Samara LOVED the attention, and we loved that someone was always doing dishes and organizing the next meal. Elie didn't seem to notice. Honestly, we are appreciative that everyone could be here with us and to help us.
The Bris was on Friday. We ended up flying out Dr David Ungar from Melbourne. He's basically the only progressive Mohel in Asia/Aus/NZ. He is a GP who was recently trained as a Mohel to fill the need in the community there. He put together a really meaningful service, and overall we were really happy with it. Our friends Pam and Marc ended up hosting the event, which was SO SUPER GENEROUS. We had around 40 of our friends and co-workers and generally our support system out here. It was so amazing that so many people could take time out of their Friday morning to share our simcha. I have to say, though that circumcizing a little tiny boy in public like that seems an awful lot like a horrible barbaric tradition. Elie had local anesthetic and didn't seem to be too bothered by the procedure, but I did not enjoy the circumcision. I did, however, enjoy the bagels, lox, kugel, cakes and fruit...and of course seeing all of the people who have helped us for the last few months and actually catching up a bit with people I haven't seen in weeks (I kept thinking I was going to give birth, so I didn't make plans). Overall, it wasn't too bad, but I will determine that once this little penis heals and I see that all is alright.
Other than the Bris, another big thing that stands out (so to speak) about the last 11 days is that having a boy is waaaaay different to having a girl...already. When Sam was a little baby Matt and I asked each other, "Why do people seem to have so much laundry with babies?" "Why is changing a diaper such a big deal?" "Why do babies go through so many outfits?" Samara had her blankets and sheets changed after a week, she almost never soiled an outfit, and she never peed on us. Life was a breeze. We knew it, but we thought other people just must not cope well or something. Well, it turns out Samara was an anomaly. Elie is more normal, it appears. He goes through a blanket a day, at least three outfits (t shirts only so far since his silly umbilical cord still hasn't fallen off), multiple sheets per week...He pees nearly every time we take off his diaper (on my shirt at least four times), and he poos also. It's as if he has the feeling he's sitting on the toilet when I change his diaper, and it just all comes out. It's a mess. I'm getting better at managing it, but boy was it a shock the first few days, and it's pretty inconvenient. Luckily he's super cute, so it makes it easier to take.
Otherwise, I'm sorting out how I will be with two kids at the same time - luckily I don't have to do that yet since Matt's parents are here, but it will be challenging. Clearly people do this all the time, all over the world, but I suppose everyone has to figure it out for themselves. As I mentioned last time, too, I'm looking forward to figuring it out when I'm not in pain (the pain is getting MUCH better, but still...).
I can't count my sleeping chickens before they hatch, but so far, Elie is sleeping like a champ, so nights aren't so bad...but somehow I still feel super exhausted. I guess that's part of the recovery. We will see how much patience I have to parent Samara without sleeping through the night. It's all yet to be practiced.
All in all, though, so far so good. We're working on it.
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