Writing from Blocked Blogger

No, Blogger is not accessible from China. Neither is Facebook, or, randomly, Google Docs (even though most other Google applications are available). So I'm writing through...a secret location :). And glad I've kept my name off this blog so I don't mind telling you all.

We arrived here last Sunday night after a long but fairly smooth flight. Braxon slept for about 70% of the trip. Those little airplane bassinets are fantastic, as is the white noise provided by the airplane engine. Our only mishap was when we were changing his diaper the first time in the bassinet and he decided to pee (a common occurrence when changing little boys' diapers, and one for which I am usually more prepared). Then I had to change his whole outfit, and they had just served the plane meals, so my husband was trapped in his seat by the meal tray, and I had to pull the heavy roller bag out of the overhead compartment to find a new outfit. I will also say that I've never wished more that we were using formula. Sure, breastfeeding takes up less space, but finding the time and places to breastfeed in airports and in between flights and airplane meals is a royal pain. And I hate having to wear a sheet over myself. I can't see what's going on down there, and it's HOT.

We are settling in pretty well here. Our apartment is a little more spacious than expected. Braxon finally gave us our first night last night of only one middle-of-the-night waking. I think he was on jet lag the first few days and waking at least twice a night and fussing at different times. Then, two nights ago, he was up almost every hour and hungry. Not helping his parents adjust to a new time zone. So I added another feed to his day yesterday, and he made it for two good 4-hour stretches. Ah, sleep!

I'm afraid my picture-posting days may be on hold for a while. We haven't figured out a way to get the pictures from our computer to this...ahem...secret online portal yet. But Brax is officially six weeks old tomorrow and getting soooo big! He's such a happy baby and gives us beautiful big smiles and coos. Other than when he wakes up hungry or has gas, which is infrequent, the only time he cries is occasionally when we put him down for naps. I think he just misses the company. But even that has been decreasing as I've let him cry it out more consistently the past few days (I didn't want to do it too much before we made it through this big transition, and before he was closer to six weeks old and I was more confident that letting him cry is okay.

Six weeks also means that I'm probably allowed to attempt sex, or so my husband is reminding me. But I'm pretty nervous about that prospect. I had to have my "six-week" postpartum appointment a bit early at four weeks postpartum, and at that point, most of my stitches were apparently still intact. So how am I supposed to know if they're gone by now without checking? And while I stuck my fingers up there with abandon to check cervical mucus and position while TTC, I'm a little more squeamish about "up there" after all the trauma it went through. My doctor still gave me the clear to try sex after six weeks, but I'm thinking eight weeks sounds better. And the in-laws will be gone by then...

Speaking of whom, we just realized that they're staying a week longer than we expected. My husband is not very detail-oriented when it comes to dates. It's going okay with them, and I haven't offended anyone yet (that I know of), but two and a half weeks is a loooong time to have anyone stay with you, even if it's your best friend and you have a huge house. They have been a huge help, though. I really don't know if we could have made it through the past week without them to carry suitcases, watch the baby when we both needed to be out (like to sign up for language tutoring), go shopping for us, clean the apartment, etc. But I will be ready to see them off on May 31 (I know the date now).

Time to sign off. Another fun aspect of our internet is that only one computer can be logged on at a time, and we currently have four people who like the internet around here. So must share.