3 weeks

well, today is our first day without family here. my (eileen's) parents were here since oct. 5, noemi's birth. my mom and grandma were able to be at the hospital with me and jared. it was fun and a great help for them to be there with us. it is neat to look back and think all that has happened since her birth! she is almost 3 weeks old.

after the surgery and noemi's arrival, i left the hospital the next day around 1pm. then, we stayed in a great hotel until friday. this week was a time of healing for me. it was very hard for me to get in and out of bed and walk around. i was walking very slow. during the first few days, i was also having a hard time breastfeeding. noemi was not latching well and seemed like she was not getting down much colostrum (what comes in before milk). i called the midwife to come and help me with some breastfeeding tips, which worked very well. since then, we have had no problems and she is eating very well. my milk came in around day 4...and woah, did it come in!!! ouch!! :)

on friday, we visited the pediatrician and everything was well with noemi. she is a healthy baby. she lost 7 oz, which is normal. when she was born, she weighed 7 lbs 80z and was a little under 20 inches long.

my mom helped me a lot when we got back to our house in quepos....esp with handwashing dirty cloth diapers since our washer is broken. she also helped me get organized and cleaned a bit as well. my dad arrived a few days later and my parents had a few days to themselves at a nice hotel during their 28th anniversary! we had a party at our place celebrating their anniversary and the arrival of noemi.

my dad was a big help as well. he cooked breakfast for me every morning and made fresh juices as well. he liked taking naps with noemi and took care of her as well. they got along well. we went out for nice dinners and had a good time together. we went to san jose with him to run some final errands and say good-bye. my parents are now back together in sao paulo brasil.

we have had some great news, by the grace of God. He has allowed us to get noemi's costa rican birth certificate in 2 1/2 weeks and we have an appointment to get her US passport this tuesday. after that, we will wait about 10 business days to get her passport, then hopefully fly to the US on November 13 for a week. We hope to return around christmastime...when all of our family will be around.

noemi has been sleeping pretty well. we find that she sleeps better when she sleeps in bed with us. it is also easier to nurse during this time and i dont have to get up to go to the rocker. i have been getting a little more sleep every night. hopefully this will continue....we will see!! i have to admit that i have been exhausted.

jared has been such a good papi. he is a huge help. he loves his little girl.

we are planning on getting a maid to help us out with cleaning. hopefully this week. it is very common to have maids here and they are very inexpensive...like around 2 dollars an hour. we continue to enjoy our house and hope to keep settling in more and more. we keep adding little things here and there to enjoy it more. i am thankful that jared is a "handy man."

keep our new family in your prayers!