sophie

Today is my friend Michelle’s wedding. It’s up in Jersey City, and we’re going to leave here at 9:30 or 10 to head to my mom’s. We’ll drop Sophie off there, get dressed, and finish the drive to the wedding.

I can’t wait to see Michelle and her groom, Michael - and the rest of my college friends who will be there. I know I’m going to cry the ugly cry when I see her walking down the aisle, so I’d better bring lots of tissues.

I’m still feeling pretty weak, and my knees are hurting - probably from lack of use for so long - so after the ceremony we’re going to head back. The nurses all encouraged me to go and have a good time at the wedding. It was really nice. They told me not to feel guilty about not seeing Ben until later on tonight. I’ll see if I can work on that.

Last night, my mom and stepdad met us at the hospital, and my stepdad got to hold Ben for just a little bit. It was fun to see that. Sometimes I forget what a little guy Ben is until I see a grown man holding him.

When they left, Chris came in and got Ben ready for his feeding. He took Ben’s temp and then changed his diaper. I was super impressed with how calm Chris remained - Ben’s such a little guy and even though he was afraid to hurt him, he did so well. He’s got a really bad case of diaper rash, and they’ve prescribed an ointment for him. I think Ben likes his dad better than he likes me, because earlier today when I changed his diaper, he was yelling up a storm. Tonight, for dad? Not a peep. It was like he wanted to impress Chris.

We weighed him and then we fed him. Of the 44 cc’s he needs, he got 39 from me. Again, I think Ben’s trying to impress dad because usually when it’s just me he only gets half of his dosage. I think he likes Chris’ voice and likes when dad rubs his head. I’m still hormonal, I guess, because if I think too much more about how cute the whole thing is, I’ll cry. But it’s just fun to watch Chris with his son.

Chris’ Aunt Carol (Aloha, Aunt Carol! Hello, Tim and Desiree!) sent us some ‘before and after’ pictures, for lack of a better phrase, of Chris’ cousin’s daughter, Scarlett. She was a preemie too. The ‘before’ shot is of her in the NICU looking so small - at three weeks after she was born. The second picture shows a happy, healthy, cutie-patootie one year-old. You would never, ever know that Scarlett’s life began the way it did. Aunt Carol, I know I haven’t replied to your email, but I want you to know that I look at those pictures several times a day and it really does help. I can’t wait for Ben’s cheeks to get chubbier and chubbier. So, thank you.

Have a good Saturday!