Perfecting The Art of Doing Nothing

As If You Don't Want to Do Nothing with Her

Today Isla is 1 week and 2 days old. Right now she's finally sleeping on her own in her crib. Pretty much every other minute she's been home she's been in either my or my husband's arms (with the occasional cuddle from the grandparents). And, oh yeah, she's is totally textbook when it comes to nursing. Every 2 hours, without fail. It was like she was born knowing how to do it. My boobs on the other hand... oy. Too much information, right (must remember, work colleagues read this...)?

Anyway, although all of this cuddling is admittedly a little boring - particularly when you end up making crappy movie choices while cuddling (just finished The Green Hornet - can anyone explain to me, btw, why Seth Rogan is ALWAYS YELLING??), the thing that I know now, that I didn't know with Archer, is that this perpetual cuddle time in these early days, when you can do nothing but watch tv or chat with whoever is around, is so temporary. Soooo short.

So while I'm complaining a lot about other things (like the fact that I'm always needing someone to get me a drink or a cookie (diet comes later), or that I'm cold, or that I literally cannot find a nursing cover on the internet that doesn't have flowers on it), the fact that we are doing nothing this week, and that all I can do is hold Isla, is not one of the things you'll hear me complain about.

All this being said, there are some things you can do while doing nothing, if you're properly set-up. Here are my must-haves:

1. Blackberry must be in reach at all times. I'm not sure I could manage an iPhone one-handed (a necessity while nursing), I've never tried really, but I love having my blackberry close at hand. On said blackberry, I am constantly checking in on Facebook and Twitter for useless bits of information. I feel like all of you should take it quite seriously that your status updates and tweeting makes me very happy and entertained. I get to live vicariously through Flare editor @Lisa Tant and her glamorous life, and laugh at @AmandaFactorOMG musings on veganism and rom coms on Netflix.

2. Snacks. On a shelf beside my nursing chair right now, I have a little bowl of pistachios. I like to mix this up with trail mix and I just bought dried pineapple and yogurt covered almonds. Yummers.

3. On-demand programming. I'm not going to make a plug for RogersOnDemand per se (which I should given my corporate affiliation) but it does make me pretty happy. If you can swing it, I highly recommend subscribe to The Movie Network with its rich OnDemand offering (despite its recent failings around the whole Green Hornet incident mentioned above).

4. Finally, most importantly My Brest Friend. My nursing pillow of choice for Archer and now for Isla. I love this thing. When I was having problems with mastitis with Archer and went to the infamous Jack Newman clinic they told me the pillow was creating bad habits. Making my nursing habits lazy. I feel so strongly about My Brest Friend and how much better it makes my life with baby that my relationship with Jack Newman ended then and there. And as much as they say it creates bad habits, other lactation consultants recommend it. Anyway, if you haven't decided what nursing pillow you're getting yet, I can't recommend it more.

So now we do nothing. But I am plotting. While we did make our first trip out yesterday - (woo hoo Loblaws!) - I am thinking of some post-cuddle time adventures. Will we go to that early family NYEs party we're invited to on Saturday? Can I make it to Sears to upgrade the Baby Bjorn Carrier I got for Christmas? Big questions, people!

But for now, they're just questions. Right now, it's time to get back to doing my favourite activity with my favourite girl.