Liam's Got Mail

Technically, Liam received his first piece of mail months ago when Aunt Debs sent him a postcard from the shuttle launch in Florida. However, a mere 12 days after his birth, and only 11 since we filled out his birth certificate information and a request was sent to the Social Security office, imagine our surprise when TODAY in the mail was his first official, government document - his Social Security card. Apparently, some form of our government manages to function in a timely fashion. I would also like to take the time to point out that the federal government managed to respond to a request even faster than Comcast, and I'm pretty sure Comcast has fewer "customers" to keep up with (Thomas and I have been waiting for our rebate for switching providers since May...after significant battles and numerous phone calls, supposedly it's in the mail).

I guess all we need now is his birth certificate and he'll be 100% official. I told Thomas we didn't need a special birth certificate, but apparently, one with the Texas flag and "Native Texas" written on it will be arriving in our mailbox in the near future. Only Texas would make a special birth certificate announcing the baby as a native Texan - as if the birth certificate stating he was born in Texas wasn't enough proof. Sometimes you just have to laugh...and then order another plain birth certificate because you aren't going to want to hand that one over to anyone that needs a copy.

In terms of my recovery, I'm doing pretty well. I still don't move very fast, and I can't bend way down, like to put Liam in his swing, but overall, I'm pretty functional. It's surprising how fast you can feel better after what is considered major abdominal surgery. I finished one of my prescriptions and actually have a little left of my main painkiller prescription - one that during the first few days at home I took every four hours like clockwork, much like I pushed the magic epidural button every 20 minutes while in the hospital. Lack of sleep continues to be the biggest hurdle, although now I'm also convinced I have carpal tunnel syndrome. My hands hurt a lot when I wake up in the morning and my symptoms are very similar to what Thomas describes, and we know he has carpal tunnel. Apparently, carpal tunnel is very common in postpartum women and it typically goes away. Here's hoping...

I did managed to pull all the surgical tape off my incision this morning, too. They are supposed to fall off about a week after you go home...I was at a week + 2 days, so I decided to peel them off myself. Much like getting the IV or epidural taken out, the worst pain was the fact that the tape was stuck to hair and you just have to suck it up and pull (or have the nurses do it). You know where the c-section incision is (roughly), so just imagine what I'm talking about here...not pleasant. I'm fairly positive I'm going to have a charge on my hospital bill for a back wax...or maybe that comes complimentary with the epidural. ;)