Yesterday marked one week for us as a family of three. It was an intense roller-coaster of a week and we’re grateful for all the grace God poured on us through all the adjustments.
From the get-go, Alena has been a champion eater. At our checkup on Monday (day 6), she weighed 6 oz more than at birth and had grown 4 cm longer. We were told that most babies lose weight in the first few days – not ours – she was actually discharged from the hospital heavier than her birth weight!
For me, this first week was extra difficult because of the physical recovery required. Although I gave birth naturally (full birth story here), the first four or five days afterwards felt like I had run a marathon AND undergone surgery. On top of that, we were all adjusting to a new round-the-clock schedule so we were sleep deprived. And because Alena was so eager to feed, we encountered some complications with breastfeeding. As if all that wasn’t enough, we also had to work through some misunderstandings with my parents (which, by God’s grace turned out for the better for all of us).
Throughout the week, this one song kept repeating in my mind, giving me strength and courage. There’s a line in the chorus that says, “It is in you to carry on.” Whenever I felt defeated and disheartened, that truth would come up and I would remember that I would make it. [Side note: In scriptures, it says that God delights over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17), I wonder if my experience with this song this week was Him singing to my heart?]
Anyway, to mark the occasion, Tim went and got me the biggest bouquet of flowers he could find. =)
