Visit to the pediatrician.

Hi again,

We went to the pediatrician this morning and learned that Maia is just thriving! What a thrilling thing to know. She's already gained almost a pound beyond her birth weight (7 lbs. 9 oz.)--today she weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz.! She'd also grown about an inch in length, I think (although I didn't really focus on that number). That's just fantastic news, and it means that other good things can follow:

• I need not wake her from sleeping every 2 or 3 hours to eat. As the RN said today, "She seems to know what she needs, how much she needs, and when she needs it." Now, this doesn't mean that we expect to go 5 or 6 hours yet or anything like that, but I don't have to try to convince a very sleepy baby to be interested in eating. What a cool feeling it is to be able to trust (for the most part) a 16-day-old person in this way.
  
• Brian can begin giving her bottles of my milk now once a day or so. He's missed the opportunity to bond with her through the feeding process, but it's been really important for Maia and I to make sure that we have our connection established before bringing a bottle into the picture. This also means that I can step out of the picture for a feeding a day, which might allow me to get a couple more hours of continuous night time sleep or napping.

She's sleeping right now in our portable crib downstairs, and I'm about to go try to take a nap on the sofa near her. I might just make myself a big mug of hot cocoa, too. This is our first day home together on our own, and it feels cozy and quiet and very, very good. Of course, the good news at the doc's office probably has added to this warm fuzzy feeling. But we'll all take it when it comes! I'm feeling really proud of the three of us right now.