So Spaketh The Zombie Milk Cow

Hard to believe it, but the Joob-beastie is now 2 weeks old.

Is that all? Feels like it's been forever. Some days have been better than others. People tell you about the sleepless nights, but they don't mention that a good day is one where you get to shower and change before noon. Not that it matters much, since you invariably change out of one set of jammies and into another.

By those standards, today was so-so, since I didn't get to shower until half past three in the afternoon. On the bad days, you get to shower just before bedtime.

At least the sleeping thing is beginning to sort itself out. The Joob-beastie generally has a feed around 11pm-ish, another around 2am-ish, and another around 5am-ish. A good feed - plus time spent wrestling him in and out of nappies, and persuading him to go back to sleep - generally takes at least an hour. In between feeds, sleep happens.

Something else they don't tell you: breastfeeding is hard work. Really really hard work.

Something absolutely no one could have told us: the Joob-beastie suckles at a teat like a dog worrying a bone. Gnash gnash pull bite grunt twist gnaw yank snort dribble and repeat. This is particularly endearing at 3 in the morning. I'm thinking about getting him a muzzle.

Hard to believe, but only a matter of weeks ago, I had a job and hobbies and time to net and a life outside of this flat. Now, nothing exists beyond the Joob-beastie. Zero. I have no energy to expand on anything that doesn't relate to feeding and nursing him. I live in my pajamas, and doing anything outdoors beyond hanging out the laundry or taking out the rubbish is physically exhausting. And time has become a luxury I can't seem to afford anymore. Babies are a time-sink.

And we're lucky. Because the Joob-beastie is healthy and whole, and gaining an estimated 60gms a day, and he can almost hold up his head entirely on his own, and if you give him something to push against he can even crawl... and he's only two weeks old.

Two weeks. Feels like it's been forever.