It’s Good to Be Back Home With You….

Ah, I am showing my age, quoting from an old, not very well-known Jethro Tull song in the title of this post. (Points to anyone who recognizes the song in question.)

It is just that, because of Zak’s LiveJournal post on the subject, I cannot quote from an old, very well-known Pink Floyd song in my title, because he has already done so. (I refuse to steal a title, even for a blog post, from my own husband. I am no literary magpie.)

Tomorrow, which will be exactly one month from Kat’s turbulent, dramatic and early entry into the world, I will return to posting about food, cooking, culture and the like. For tonight however, allow a thoroughly besotted mother one more chance to write about her new daughter, who has been home for nearly a full week now.

It has been both a remarkably uneventful and busy week. I had forgotten, over the past sixteen years, what early motherhood was like, and the surreal confines of the NICU at Grant Medical Center did not truly remind me of exactly how exhilerating and exhausting the first days home with a newborn infant can be. The one silver lining that this unexpected storm-cloud of a birth had was that because Kat was kept in the special care nursery for three weeks, I am coming home with her pretty much physically healed from the ordeal of birth.

I am already back in my pre-pregnancy clothing, and I mostly feel physically fine. Of course, I am tired. What new mother isn’t? But I am not having to care for and breastfeed a new infant -while- in physical pain and a state of advanced exhaustion from the rigors of labor and birth, and that is a good thing. I -do- remember what that is like from Morganna’s birth all those years ago, and I recall it as being a pretty miserable experience. (Of course, it wasn’t all bad–I also got to gaze for hours into the eyes of a very pretty girl-baby whose face could entrance me for hours. Yes, Morganna, I was just as goopy with you as I am with Kat.)

But this time around–it is different. Kat is growing beautifully well. We took her to her first pediatrician’s appointment on Friday and found that she is putting on about an ounce a day, which is perfectly right and proper for her to do. This thrills me because it means that my milk is not only her best food, but she is getting enough of it to grow well upon it. (Breasts don’t come with convenient ounce markers on them like bottles, which is about the only disadvantage to breastfeeding I can think of. And I am glad that they lack those ounce, or if you are anywhere else in the world, milliliter markers, because they wouldn’t look very aesthetic, now, would they?)

Zak is a wonderful father, and is very devoted to Kat and her well-being, and the two of us are splitting parenting duties equitably. He gives her all of her supplemental bottle feedings. Yes, she is getting bottle feedings of expressed breastmilk mixed with Neosure Advance formula as a fortifier. This is pretty standard treatment for breastfed preemies, and other than the fact that I am pretty sure that this soy and cow-milk based formula is the cause of Kat’s intestinal gas issues, I have no problem with it. She is still primarily eating breastmilk, both direct from the source and from the bottle, and since we have started using the Playtex VentAire bottles, her gassiness has lessened greatly.

She has started becoming more reactive to her environment, and has begun to recognize our voices and her face radiates joy when we pick her up, talk with her, carry her around in our arms (or in the sling) or when we play with her, as you can see in the photo above. She still hasn’t shown much reaction to the cats, though they have all been curious about her. Dandelion follows Kat and I around, and when Kat isn’t where Dandelion last saw her, she goes off looking for her diligently. When we adopted Dandelion, she had just weaned a litter of kittens, and so I think that the maternal instinct is still with her and she regards Kat as some sort of odd naked kitten, and so feels responsible for her.

Gummitch likes to be on my lap when I nurse Kat or have her sleeping in my arms. He was the first of the cats to come greet his new little sister when we brought her home, in large part because he was so insistent upon seeing me. Grimmy acted somewhat jealous at first, but has been warming up to the little girl, while Ozy becomes distraught if the baby cries, and will run to wherever she is and head-butt us until we make her stop crying. Ozy, for all that he is a big old manly cat, has never been able to bear anyone crying, and has always rushed off to console whoever has burst into tears in our home.

Tatter is jealous, because she is no longer the baby; Jack and Tristan are afraid of Kat, and Schmoo–well, he is curious, and wants to cuddle with her, but we have to watch him carefully, because he is so big that if he overlaid her, he would likely squish her.

Life is settling into a comfortable and comforting routine.

We are catching up on all the laundry.

I am cooking again, in large part because most of the food I cooked up in preparation for coming home was eaten in the weeks we were in Columbus. My mother, who stayed to take care of Morganna for most of the time we were there, used those meals to feed herself and Morganna, so my best laid plans went awry, but no matter. It kept Mom from having to cook every night, and frankly, since I am no longer recovering from delivery, I am fine to cook. In fact, I am champing at the bit to get back in the kitchen, and so this Saturday, we went to the farmer’s market so that I could buy as many autumn vegetables and fruits as the fridges would hold. Since then, I have been cooking up a storm, which has been a theraputic activity after the enforced inactivity of being ensconsed in the NICU where much time was spent sitting and watching my daughter isolated in a plastic box.

And it is so good to eat my own cooking after three weeks of mostly eating out. Even though we ate really good food, it was still tiresome. Not enough vegetables, too much grease, and very few great salads. I am rectifying that situation, and starting tomorrow, will tell you all about it.

But for tonight–I am still basking in the glow of my new baby and the joy of having our family grow by one tiny, very bright light.

I feel so very lucky, and when I look into Kat’s eyes, I can feel all of the sorrows, worries and fears melt away.

It is so very good to be back home, with my two daughters, my husband, my cats and my dog.

And my kitchen! Boy–did I miss my kitchen!

And it is good to be able to write about it all, too.

So, thank you all for your patience in my indulgence as I post yet more pictures and blatherings about my baby girl here on my food blog. Tomorrow, the regularly scheduled food banter will return, with only minimal incursions of Mommy-blogging in the future.

25 Comments »

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  1. Thanks. Your posts have been a wonderful reminder of what’s really important.

    Comment by Dave — October 15, 2006 #

  2. Aw, go ahead and mommy-blog all you want. (And although I am quite old enough to remember Jethro Tull, for the life of me I can’t remember that song.)

    Comment by Kalyn — October 15, 2006 #

  3. You rock.

    Comment by lisa — October 15, 2006 #

  4. I’m so glad you and Kat are finally home and doing well!

    And, yes, I recognize those lyrics. Might I recommend two more recent Ian Anderson albums: Secret Language of Birds and Rupi’s Dance.

    Comment by Jack — October 15, 2006 #

  5. Welcome home!

    You have a very lovely daughter, but you knew that anyways, I’d guess. :-)

    Comment by Dan Jenkins — October 15, 2006 #

  6. Welcome back Barbara, it’s lovely to hear that you and Kat are home and both well.

    Comment by kathryn — October 16, 2006 #

  7. I am so happy to hear that you are all home and that Kat is doing so well. Congradulations. I hope that its smooth saling from here on out!

    Comment by Kitarra — October 16, 2006 #

  8. So very, very happy to hear you are all home and doing well! She’s absolutely gorgeous and you have every excuse to shout it from the rooftops!

    Comment by Meg — October 16, 2006 #

  9. ” … I also got to gaze for hours into the eyes of a very pretty girl-baby whose face could entrance me for hours. Yes, Morganna, I was just as goopy with you as I am with Kat.”

    Kat, Morganna, food … write what moves your fingers, we’ll be here.

    Comment by Alanna — October 16, 2006 #

  10. Has it been a month already? My, my….

    Well, I am very happy to hear this latest report. Bless you all! Kat is beautiful, and it sounds like you four (sans kitty) are adjusting wonderfully. Keep the news coming - food and motherhood. They really do go hand-in-hand!

    Comment by Maggi — October 16, 2006 #

  11. It’s nice hearing about your family. I’ve checked for updates fairly regularly over the past month, and have always been glad to see them. Take care, congratulations on having all of you home!

    P.S. how many cats do you have???

    Comment by Amie — October 16, 2006 #

  12. Just a simple congratulations. She has a beautiful smile.

    Comment by Christopher Gordon — October 16, 2006 #

  13. Wahoo!! Glad you’re home and things are going well.

    Comment by Ardene — October 16, 2006 #

  14. The cats like the Kat!

    I love the picture of her wiggling. Glad to hear everyone is home safe and happy, and that you’re enjoying yourself in the kitchen again.

    Comment by Alexis — October 16, 2006 #

  15. “I believe in fires at midnight,
    When the dogs have all been fed.
    A golden toddy on the mantel,
    A broken gun beneath the bed.
    Silk and mist outside the window,
    Frogs and newts slip in the dark.
    Too much hurry ruins a body,
    I’ll sit easy, fan the spark…”

    One of my favorites from Songs from the Wood.
    Fire at Midnight.

    Comment by FatFred — October 16, 2006 #

  16. Again, congratulations, Barbara, Zak and Morganna! Kat is beautiful, and I’m so glad that you’re all at home now, enjoying its comforts.

    Comment by Andrea L. — October 16, 2006 #

  17. What a delight - to see all of you safe and home. Blog all you want about your daughters, the cats, the dog, Zak, your garden, the farmers market…. We will be here to delight in the tale.

    Comment by Maureen — October 16, 2006 #

  18. Thanks for sharing this (and all the photos) with us - she is beautiful!

    I miss cooking when I have been traveling for work for a few days - I can’t even imagine the joy at being home with family and cooking again after such a long stressful few weeks. Welcome home!
    :)

    Comment by Diane — October 16, 2006 #

  19. But what does the dog think? And why don’t we hear more about the dog? Welcome home :)

    Comment by Steph in the UK — October 17, 2006 #

  20. Made me think of other Pink Floyd lyrics - Biding My Time, on Relics,
    “And if you don’t mind
    I’ll spend my time
    Here by the fire side
    In the warm light of her eyes”

    That song is always in my mind when I’m coming home after bing away… although I change “her eyes” to “his eyes” ;)

    Comment by Steph in the UK — October 17, 2006 #

  21. Thanks all!

    Fred and Jack win extra points for recognizing “Fires at Midnight,” from my favorite JT album of all time, “Songs from the Wood.”

    As for how many cats we have–we have eight. That is our limit. We have a huge house and thus can handle eight, but no more than that.

    And as for the dog that no one hears much about–that is because she lives outside. She lives outside because she thinks that cats are snacks. When we found her as a three-quarters grown dog, she was running wild, feral, starved, beaten and pregnant. She had been on her own long enough that any small animal is deemed food in her mind, so when we let her in the house, she tried to kill one of our cats by taking her head in her mouth.

    Luckily, she failed, but it still scared the crap out of us. Since then, she has lived outside. She is still afraid of many people, particularly men, but she is sweet to children, and to us.

    Nani is a sweet dog, just not very well socialized.

    Comment by Barbara — October 17, 2006 #

  22. I do love Songs from the Wood…”to make you feel much better than you could know”. But the last two Ian Anderson solo albums I listen to a LOT, esp. when my little guy took naps in my arms.

    Comment by Jack — October 17, 2006 #

  23. So happy that you’re back. Welcome home!!

    -Elizabeth

    Comment by ejm — October 18, 2006 #

  24. The pics of Kat and you are great. She is beautiful. I loved hearing how the cats reacted to her. Glad all is going well for you. Love and hugs,
    -Theresa

    Comment by Theresa — October 20, 2006 #

  25. […] Once again, Danielle (Habeas Brûlée) is hosting the Spice is Right (SiR) while Barbara (Tigers and Strawberries) is welcomes home her lovely new baby. […]

    Pingback by blog from OUR kitchen » Event: SiR VIII: Frankenstein’s Monster... we adore good food — October 23, 2006 #

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