Hardest thing ever....

Izzie turned 1 week old yesterday!

The past one week was probably one of the hardest in my whole entire life. Everyone says that being a parent is one of the hardest things that you'll ever do - but nobody tells you why or how hard it is.

1. Constant worrying... omg, the emotional pressure is just too great sometimes
2. All these things that I wish I knew beforehand. For instance:

- Did you know that when newborns are born they lose some weight and they're supposed to gain it back? Until they gain it back, if you have a sleepy newborn, you have to wake her up and make sure she feeds every 2-3 hours. Izzie loved to sleep, so its been a challenge, waking her up every 2 hours, stripping her down naked, and trying to get her to feed. Al and I wrote down a log tracking her feedings and her diapers, and I'd always be nervously making sure she was getting enough, and get myself into a near emotional breakdown when I thought she wasn't.
- Breastfeeding is friggin hard! I thought she was doing well at the hospital, but for some reason she just started freaking out at home. This combined with me worrying about not getting enough to eat... not good.

Yesterday was a good day though. We went to the pediatrician, and Izzie has officially regained all her birth weight. What this means:

1. We no longer have to wake her up every 2-3 hours or keep track of her diapers. We were told that if she's hungry.. she's hungry
2. We had a lactation consultant come over yesterday and she was so helpful and reassuring. We tried some new positions and devices to get her started. I'm still on a somewhat grueling schedule.. I have to pump everytime she feeds. But, I'll try to stick it out.. hopefully, she'll be a fast learner, and all these tricks and tips will be unnecessary.

Sigh.. I've become one of those ppl that only know how to talk about breastmilk, poopy diapers and my baby... but oh well.