So how's the first week alone with baby going, you may ask?

I'd say lousy, considering that I'm no longer alone and my mom is back, at least until Saturday.

At least I have a decent excuse, in the form of a 101 degree fever on Tuesday, most likely caused by a pulled muscle and stretched stitches around my incision. The fever has broken, but my abdomen is still sore. A nurse-practitioner at my OB/GYN's office examined me and told me to not do anything to hurt the muscle, which I really can't do if I'm watching the baby alone. Why can't I limit my movements, you may ask? (Well, you probably won't - common sense will prevail - but I'll tell you anyway.) Because my baby has gas.

Laugh all you want, if you think that's funny, but I've never been so unamused by farts before in my life. In fact, it's safe to say that I've never before looked forward to someone farting. But no matter what Veronica eats (breastmilk or soy formula), no matter which bottle it's in, she gets horrible gas. She burps, she spits up, and of course, she farts. She's even started projectile spewing - lucky, lucky me. :-P And she cannot sleep, poor thing, until the gas has subsided.

I'm giving her gas drops, my mom and Jason have come up with a billion different ways to burp her, but we still cannot seem to help her all that much. To make matters worse, although Mom and Jason can handle her gas, I seem to be unable to. l do the same stuff they do, but to no avail. They relieve her discomfort, but I only seem to piss her off.

I'd like to kvetch some more, but now that it looks like she might finally be out, I need to get some things done. Mom's already commented that Veronica was awake too long today and therefore will not sleep well tonight. For once in regard to all the things Mom's criticized about my mothering style, I think she might be right. So wish me luck as I try to get a little shut-eye tonight, and also try to keep my child comfy - a feat I often thought I could accomplish much easier than this.