7 Quick Takes on Friday: The from-the-hospital/ different-day edition

1. I sent Dennis home tonight to sleep in our own bed in hopes that he can get some good rest. We had a good day here yesterday. It's the first time in the last week or so that we've pretty much have answers to the question, "What comes next?" It's a good place to be.

This postpartum experience is so different from the previous kids. It is, arguably, the most difficult set of circumstances, both emotionally and physically that we -- Dennis, baby and I -- have faced. Grammy's death, the unexpected C-section, the infection in little E, the extended stay for me, the really extended stay for her... there's just been a lot. But I feel so much more equipped to handle most everything. It's amazing.

2. Today, Emmeliese's jaundice got worse. She was too tired to nurse at every feeding. When this happened with Annalivia and Daniel, I was panicked. But today, I felt calm about it. I wasn't surprised when it happened. I let her try to nurse, woke her up everytime she fell asleep for the first 10 minutes and then handed her off to Dennis who gave her formula from the syringe while I came back to the room and pumped. And when I pumped, I didn't get hardly anything. But rather than freaking out, by now I know that my milk doesn't come in for a few days. And since I've already fed one child formula and had to let go of my formula-will-ruin-a-baby worries, I'm ok with supplementing until we get coordinated. It's very nice to meet breastfeeding without much anxiety.

3. I've been getting up and around and walking a lot, staying in front of the pain from the incision with the meds, etc. I guess I sort of overdid it yesterday and the incision is a little sore and red this morning. The resident will be here soon and I'm guessing she's not going to be super-happy with me.

4. I've been crocheting another little dress for Emmeliese. Once again, I got through the first couple of rows and realized that I could be doing something cool with it instead of the same old thing. So I'm going to be asking Dennis to stop at the yarn store on the way here later this morning. Have I mentioned how much I love that yarn can just be remade in whatever way one desires? I know I have, but it bears repeating. I love it.

5. Yesterday, I had a visit from The Aunties (pronounced the Minnesota way) and my cousin. Sublime Aunt, sister of my dad and daughter of Grammy, walked in the room and said, "Yooooohoooooo!" really softly. It sounded exactly like Grammy. I got sort of verklempt. It was very, very sweet.

6. Really great news -- my blood sugar readings returned to normal yesterday! AND my blood pressure readings have been very, very good -- generally in the 110's/ 60's. This is such good news. If my blood sugar level will go back down and stay down, it would be just wonderful. And, every other pregnancy, my blood pressure has stayed up for a couple of months. But so far, I'm good. I've had I've been very careful to eat well and drink a vat and a half of water each day. So far, it is working well. I'm sort of hungry. But it's good.

7. I think that my mother should be a candidate for sainthood soon. She's been putting little Daniel -- just turned 2 -- on the potty every morning and he's been going by himself. Yesterday, she was asking Annalivia if she needed to use the restroom before they left later in the day and Daniel piped up, "I need go pee-pee!" Mom put him on the potty and he went! He was very, very excited to get to wear Pull-Ups now. I'm just astonished. I had no energy or desire to deal with potty-training and frankly, didn't think Daniel was ready at all. He may not have been ready for Mommy to help. But Grandma is another matter. She really is a saint.

For more quick takes, check out Conversion Diary.