While in the hospital I received many samples of baby essentials – diapers, binkies, soap, wipes, etc. One of the things I received was a sample of Dreft baby detergent. I had already started using Dreft so I was happy to get the coupon – until I saw it had expired 9-30-04!

So I hopped online and went to their website. My thinking was that if I sent them a nice email they would send me another coupon. I know, I know… Sometimes I am just too idealistic for my own good.

So I wrote:

Dear Dreft,

It was great to receive a sample of your product in the hospital when I had my first baby a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the coupon with it expired 9-30-04. I know the coupon is not good. Is the sample still safe to use?

The hospital was (name of hospital and location).

Thank you,

Sallie

Today I received the following reply:

Thank you for sharing your disappointment with our product. Our goal is to produce high quality products that consistently delight our consumers and I’m sorry this wasn’t your experience. Please be assured I’m sharing your comments with the rest of our team.

Thanks again for writing.

P&G Team

So I wrote back:

Dear Dreft/Proctor and Gamble,

Thank you very much for your automated, prewritten reply that had absolutely nothing to do with my question. It certainly makes me feel like your company cares about its consumers when you take the time to send me an irrelevant answer to my question when I have taken the time to visit your website, find out how to contact you, write a letter and then read a reply.

You can be sure I will share this experience with the 2,500 women who visit my blog each week.

Sincerely,

Sallie

I haven’t heard back yet, but I’ll let you know if I get any kind of answer. 🙂

I wrote just prior to having Caroline that I was living in a baby bubble. Pretty much all of my thoughts and actions revolved around the end of the pregnancy and getting ready for her arrival.

Well, fast forward a few weeks and I’m still in a baby bubble. The only difference is that the baby is a concrete part of the bubble instead of just theory about to happen. Between baby stuff, home stuff, work stuff and the baseball playoffs… Well, that about sums up my life right now. I’m clueless about current events, haven’t kept up with hardly any other blogs, etc. One of these days I’ll be able to start thinking about other topics to blog about, but it hasn’t really happened yet. I do have a couple of posts forming in my head, but haven’t had time to sit down and write them. One will be about our birth experience. Another will be about things I learned during pregnancy. Eventually they will be about non-baby stuff!

We have started to settle in and are finding out what works for us as a couple and a family and what doesn’t. I think one of the biggest adjustments for us so far has been learning to get things done in small time periods when Caroline is napping. As I get stronger, I am able to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time, but at first this was a real challenge for me as I was so slow and it seemed like there was very little time between feeding times, even though it was a few hours. But I’m getting around better now and that has made a big difference. Actually, I should clarify that. I’m getting around better as it relates to the delivery. However, I managed in just ten short days in the hospital and at home to aggravate my back. Too much sitting around and now I have a fairly strong dull ache in my leg that won’t go away. The irony of making it nine months with no back problems and then hurting it within a few days after the delivery is not lost on me. I think picking Caroline up and putting her down, carting her around the house, etc. has contributed to it. So actually I feel really quite good from the delivery but am in constant discomfort from my back/leg. Sigh. Will I ever catch a break? I know how to make the problem in my back/leg go away, but I can’t do my physical therapy exercises yet because they will pull too much on my incision area. Sigh.

I’m also longing to become a little more mobile again. I will be able to drive pretty soon and look forward to going out to do errands by myself, without dragging along my glucose testing pack, my emergency juice, etc. I would also really like to get out for some walks, but the weather has been so disagreeable lately that unless I go by myself (which I’m not comfortable doing yet) I can’t walk because the weather is too yucky for taking out a newborn. But yesterday afternoon we went for a drive around the back roads of the county to look at the fall colors and that was really a nice outing.

This is our first week on our own in terms of no help and meals. My mom was here for eleven days, starting with the day Caroline was born. She left us in really good shape in terms of a clean house, meals in the freezer, laundry caught up, etc. We would never have made it through that first week home from the hospital without her. Last week David’s mom came over for a couple of afternoons and we also had four meals brought in from church and our next-door neighbors. Most of the meals were more than enough for us to eat two or even three times so it made life so simple. I cannot overstate what a blessing it was to have people bring in meals. It made such a huge difference in our week. Now I’m starting to do some cooking and using some meals from the freezer so I’m transitioning into more regular meal preparations.

One of the things we have discovered about Caroline is she loves her bathtime. Actually, David and I call it her “spa time. We bathe her together and she absolutely loves it. We’re still doing sponge baths because she hasn’t lost her cord yet, but it doesn’t matter to her! She loves having her hair washed and even loves it when I comb it at any time. I think we probably have got a girly girl on our hands who loves to be pampered. She was actually so relaxed during her spa time a few nights ago that she fell asleep! Go figure!

So we’re having fun amidst the adjustments. Caroline makes us laugh daily, scratch our heads, and wonder at times whether we really have any idea what we are doing! But we pray daily for wisdom and trust that God is guiding us. It’s an awesome thing to shape a child’s life and it humbles me many times a day as I think about this task as we seek to raise our little Peanut for God’s glory.

Today Caroline is two weeks old! We’ve already had such exciting times with her.

On Sunday I had to call David at church on the cell phone during the sermon to have him come home so we could take Peanut to the emergency room. She had green spit up and when I called the doctor about it he wanted her checked out. Apparently the green means there is bile in it and it’s not supposed to be that way. The main concern in a situation like that is a twisted intestine.

So she had an x-ray of her tummy and then an Upper GI with barium. She was incredibly good during the Upper GI. It was about time for her to eat and she drank the barium bottle I had to give her. She never even flinched at the taste or consistency. She was also well strapped to a board so they could rotate her to the left and right during the exam. She was so good!!! I just kept stroking her hair and talking to her. At one point, she actually fell asleep during the exam! Praise God! If she had’t taken the barium bottle they would have had to use a tube and I’m so thankful she didn’t have to endure that. In the end, everything checked out fine and we are thankful to know that all her little digestive parts are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Today was her first trip to the pediatrician. We took the family two week picture (above) just before we left for the doctor. She checked out very well and the pediatrician had no concerns about her or what we are doing. So we were thankful for that!

Caroline is still a really good baby overall. However, she has developed a new habit of screaming every night for about an hour around the time we want to go to bed. (Fortunately, at least for now, we are up late every night anyway since we are following Detroit Tigers in the playoffs!) As the doctor said, it’s harder on mama and daddy than it is on her. But other than this development, she continues to be a good eater and sleeper. I have to admit that I’m anxious for her to get a little more interactive (read: fun), but I’m also keeping myself in check and not wishing these days and weeks away. They only happen once!

Today we had our first snowfall of the season. This is pretty early, even for Michigan. It won’t last, but David took the opportunity to capture me and Caroline enjoying the snowy view from the office. Weather like this makes me want to make a big pot of potato soup and put on Christmas music! Well, the Christmas music is playing while I type this and I’m contemplating making the soup this evening for supper. Is there anything more cozy and comforting than a bowl of hot, homemade soup on a blustery day? Maybe only if you are eating it in front of a roaring fire.