A Day in the Life

So what goes on in the Chen household these days? I'm still in the middle of taking a bit of time off from work, so I've been at home full-time since Lina came into the world. It's been good. I have to admit I sneak a peak or two at the blackberry, but other than that, it is all Liz and all Lina.

Today, it felt like all we did was feed the baby. [skip the following if you're a parent - you already know this]. People warned us about this, but I didn't really understand it until now. Did you know that you have to feed the kid like 8-12 times a day!? And we are (actually, Liz is, not me) breastfeeding, so it is a very time-consuming thing. If you do the simple math, it's about every three hours at the minimum. So you think to yourself, hmm, that's not crazy, right? Wrong. It is. Because the process goes something like this:

Step 1: Get the baby ready to feed

• change the diaper(s) - 2-3 minutes
• mommy gets ready - 5 minutes

Step 2: Feed the baby

• 30 minutes to 60 minutes, depending on whether the baby is sleepy or not (ours almost always is)
• burp the baby halfway through (5-10 minutes)

Step 3: Burp / Change again

• burp again - 5 minutes sometimes less, sometimes more
• change diapers again (if applicable) - 2-3 minutes
• Swaddle the baby - 2-3 minutes

Step 4: this is the part no one tells you about: if the baby is fussy - and Lina sometimes is because, let's face it, getting smacked in the back repeatedly by the old man (burping) is not exactly a peaceful experience - it can take a very long time to soothe the baby back into a state of peacefulness or sleepiness.

Anyway, my point here is just that it's not as simple as a single event every three hours. This "event" almost takes up the entire three hours. So, today, it really felt like all we did was feed, burp, change, rock, repeat...

Liz and I are really enjoying Lina. We feel like we are getting to know all these little things about her - it's pretty amazing. A colleague recently told me this, regarding becoming first time parents - "all the good things you imagine about being a new parent - it's all true, and a million times more than you imagine. All the challenging things you imagine and have heard about - that's also true, and much more than you ever imagine." It's so true. I should do another post listing all the interesting things people have said to me about becoming a parent. There are some really wise things and some really funny things.

Random thought - the backdrop to all of this is that I've been following the events in China and Burma online (in between feedings). I can't even fathom the extent and magnitude of the human misery that is going on. And the military junta keeping aid from reaching their citizens. sigh. Sorry, what a buzz kill.