Surprise surprise!

This morning, Mary Ellen had her first well-baby appointment.  Initially it was for 8:30am, which I knew we’d never be able to make.  I managed to swindle a 10:10am appointment out of Pediatrics, which, in hindsight, I am hugely grateful for.

Kurt had to go into work this morning, basically just to show his face.  We’re sort of scamming the system regarding his paternity leave — he’s actually not taking any leave.  Instead he’s going in every morning and staying only long enough to get a few things done.  This morning he only had to go in for quarters, which is where everyone gets together and discusses what needs to be done that day.

Come to find out, they wanted him to come in just so they could present him with an enormous basket of stuff for Mary Ellen!  The female Chief in his office organized the whole thing and got folks to donate a bunch of cash.  Then she went out shopping and filled a huge basket of lovely things for the baby — everything from diapers to a calendar to keep track of Mary Ellen’s milestones over her first year to cute outfits to onesies… not to mention a gift card for what was left over!  It was everything we could possibly need for a baby.

I was really, really touched.

But I sort of underestimated how long it would take me to get ready in the morning, even though I only had one kid to take with me!  I got up at 8:15, thinking it would be no sweat to be ready by 9:15.  But feeding a newborn, changing her diaper, and getting her dressed somehow takes twice as long as it does with a nearly-four-year-old.  I forget that Grace does most of it herself, and I have to do everything for Mary Ellen.  It’s not like I can hand her her outfit for the day and tell her to put it on, or ask her to grab a particular pair of shoes so she can put them on.

What was I thinking?

Kurt got home just in time to finish helping me get ready, and off we went to the naval clinic, only a few minutes late.

Our first stop was Women’s Health, where the baby was weighed.  She’s down to 6lbs 9oz, but it’s normal for babies to lose weight over the first few days of their lives.  Now she just has to start gaining back the weight she’s lost.  The way she’s eating, I wouldn’t be surprised if she made up the deficit and then some within the next week or so.

But before we left Women’s Health, we had to watch a video on Shaken Baby Syndrome.  Yeeesh.  Not the best thing to watch when you’re already somewhat hormonal and emotional from having given birth just three days ago.  I guess it’s a Navy thing; my best friend Caroline says she had to watch it before she even left the hospital (she delivered at a Navy facility) when she had her son.  I didn’t see it when I had Grace, but then I left the hospital just 14 hours after delivering her because she had already been airlifted to the children’s hospital.

Then it was off to the pediatrician.  He was a recently retired Navy officer who came back to work for the military.  He was so personable and likable, and he really put me at ease.  He also was perfectly okay with my bottle-feeding Mary Ellen, especially since his wife had had problems nursing all three of their kids.  I never got a lecture from him, which I really appreciate.  I’m hoping we can see him again; we just need to put in a change of care provider the next time Mary Ellen goes in to be seen.

He also got us set up with an order for a referral to the children’s hospital so she can have an ultrasound on her kidneys.  Once we finished with him, we headed over to the insurance area to finish up the paperwork for the ultrasound request.  The lady who helped us managed to get her part done in a very timely fashion because by the time Kurt called the hospital to make the appointment, all of Mary Ellen’s information had already been sent over to their system!

I am amazed, truly.

Her ultrasound has been scheduled for this coming Tuesday, in the afternoon.  I am so surprised that she’s being seen so quickly, but it’s very reassuring.  I doubt there is anything wrong with her, but it will be nice to know.

Apparently the reason bilateral skin tags on the ears can signify kidney problems is because the kidneys and the ears develop at the same time in the womb, so if something goes wrong with the kidneys, it can show up on the ears.  Who knew??

Kurt and I took advantage of my mom being here and taking care of Grace and decided to have a little bit of date time to ourselves.  We grabbed some lunch at our favorite diner, where they were really shocked to see I was no longer pregnant!  I was thrilled to see lobster rolls on the menu today, so of course I ordered that.  And let me tell you, there are few things more delicious in his world than a lobster roll.

Then I got the brilliant idea of stopping in at the tea room where I’d had my baby shower just last Sunday.  There was nowhere to park, so Kurt double-parked in front of the tea room’s driveway.  We just figured we’d be inside for just a few minutes, and hopefully it wouldn’t be a problem.

As soon as the proprietor opened the door, I introduced myself as the woman who’d had her baby shower there on Sunday — and the poor lady’s jaw almost fell off her face!!  I told Kurt later that she had asked me to bring the baby by after she was born, but I doubt she expected me this week!

She was so thrilled to see me and to meet Mary Ellen.  She invited us in to enjoy a cup of tea and reassured us that the police would knock on her door if they noticed us double-parked.  That would give us a chance to move the van, so we took her up on her offer.  This time I had the rooibos spiked with vanilla, which was really delicious.  Even Kurt tried some herbal tea (he generally isn’t a fan), a berry blend that he said tasted like hot cranberry juice.  She also brought us another of her delicious scones, which we split between us.

Finally we knew we had to go.  We’d been away from home for too long.  As we walked out of the tea room, the meter maid who was starting to write us a ticket asked us if that was our vehicle.  Amazingly enough, she was able to cancel the ticket and let us go on our way unmolested.

Maybe I’ve seen too many “Parking Wars” episodes.

So we had a fairly exciting day!  I did spend most of it sitting down, so you don’t have to fret at me.  During one of my lengthy sit-downs here at the house, I received a most wonderful phone call from both Poolagirl and Cocoabean!  Poolie wanted to congratulate me “in person” on the birth of Mary Ellen, and Nancy chimed in as well.  What wonderful friends we’ve made over the blogosphere!

The weather is starting to turn.  I ended up putting jeans on in the late afternoon, and I’m also wearing a ¾-sleeve shirt.  Not only that, but I’ve got socks on!  I can’t remember the last time I wore socks, unless you count during my stay in the hospital this week.  Don’t ask me how I remembered to pack them, but I did, thankfully.  The nurses kept putting the air conditioning well down in the 60s!  I had to sleep with two blankets over me to stay warm.  Brrrr!

I can’t wait till you can start to smell fall in the air, though.  That has to be one of my favorite scents ever — the tang of smoke in the air from folks burning their leaves, the crispness of the fall air, and the sunlight starting to slant in like it does all winter long.  I can’t wait!!