She’s here!

On Valentine’s Day, Ms. Evelyn Rosemary Winifred Howard arrived  was forcibly removed from my uterus. She’s obviously perfect. No time for a proper post, but here are a few highlights:

1) C-sections are weird. Not bad, not good, just weird. It is weird, for example, to be lying totally nude on a table in a room full of people. It is also weird to have WARM liquid (via spinal) course through your body in an effort to FREEZE it (what?). And it is weird to have someone staple your stomach closed, feel said stapling and yet have no pain. WEIRD.

2) While I cannot recommend c-sections, I will say this: the recovery from a c-section is infinitely less painful than the recovery from a botched stitch-up job on your lady parts (see my previous birthing experience).

3) Your abdominal muscles are really quite necessary for all activities. ALL activities. Just so you know.

4) Nothing you say or do for the 39 weeks leading up to the event can really prepare your toddler for a new sibling.

5) Nor can anything really prepare you for your toddler’s reaction to a new sibling.

6) I still hate breastfeeding. I don’t care what that makes me (selfish, a terrible person, the anti-woman), I simply hate this necessary activity. I’m too cheap and too green to formula feed on a regular basis, but I. Hate. Breastfeeding.

7) I do, however, love that point in the breastfeeding timeline when the kid truly gets the latch on/latch off thing, and I can start multi-tasking whilst providing nourishment to my offspring. For example, knitting while breastfeeding? Totes possible.

8) Second babies are SO MUCH EASIER than first babies. Even if that second baby is a crying beast of rage, at least you aren’t worried that a one degree change in a room’s temperature will kill your child. You can change a diaper, latch on a boob, and wrestle a carseat with the greatest of ease. Three cheers for experience!

9) Babies are the best. And I love this one with every ounce of my being. That said, this uterus is closed for business.