The dog children and other parental reflections...

So it's 5am and I still only sleep about 2-3 hours a night so if something I type here sounds dumb, give me a break. ;) I thought I'd follow up to say the dog children have gotten WAY better. They still are pretty stressed when he's crying but they are otherwise pretty calm. We had an "ahhhh" moment last night when Declan was totally asleep on my chest (about to be put in his car seat to sleep) and Mark had opened the window and it was raining and the fresh air filled our living room. We were just as we were 1 week ago- sitting on our big couch with both sleepy dogs just enjoying relaxing together. Of course now there was a pretty cool addition to the picture. It was a really cool "this is us now" moment and it made me teary. The weird thing is that I haven't been weepy really at all so far. We were in shock for a couple days and that was a tear blocker and, fortunately, I don't have to deal with all the crazy hormones I would be if I had birthed him. Side note- I have much respect for women who have babies and go home to recover and have to care for an infant. I'm physically the same as before he joined our family and I still struggle so I can't imagine.

One thing I want to openly admit is there is no way to be prepared. I pride myself on all my reading and research. I had pretty definite opinions on things I want to do (my baby will sleep in their crib right away!). What have I learned? Having a newborn is living in SURVIVAL MODE. You do what you need to do to have him be happy. I'm also in shock how much stuff you go through: diapers, wipes, formula, bottle washings, laundry. He's such a little guy and I've done 3 loads of wash in 6 days! Ha! Maybe I should have bought more newborn clothes, huh? ;) So, to summarize, my life is no longer mine and that's a million percent fine. I wouldn't want it any other way. He's amazing and we're smitten. :)