Homeostasis

Homeostasis: "The ability of a system or living organism to adjust its internal environment to maintain a stable equilibrium".

I think, optimistically, that we are starting to get it together as a family of three. Ten days after Giovanna was born I felt like breastfeeding was finally manageable (not that we are pros, but at that point we had experienced enough success that I at least had confidence in us), and now at twenty days after her birth, I think we've figured out a few more things to make our parenting manageable. We used to jump when Giovanna made a noise, and fluster when she cried and we couldn't soothe her, and growl when Giovanna peed on our sheets (again!) during diaper changing time, and be overall a little on edge about our capability to raise a newborn with any semblance of grace and skill, but I am relieved to announce that we are finally hitting our homeostasis and it feels SO GOOD.

(This is the part where you are allowed to scoff and say to yourself, "ha! we'll see how long this lasts...").

But seriously, as new parents it feels like having endless riches to be privy to the secret that if Giovanna is distracted and not latching well she either needs to be burped or is waiting for some gas to pass, and that when she's screaming, swaddling her and putting her upright with a gentle pat on the back and a "shhhh" in the ear will calm her down immediately. Just by watching her face I can tell if she is about to poop, and we know now that there is nothing we can do about her body-rocking hiccups except to wait them out. For those of you who have raised kiddos this probably sounds like old news, but we are still awed that God gives us such a gigantic capacity to love these little ones that even though their communication is completely non-verbal, we can start to make sense of their needs and respond in effective, loving ways.