There is joy here.

Sometimes in my sleepless haze, I forget that there are some pretty awesome things happening.

Like how Evelyn smiles in her sleep. I know it's involuntary, but good grief I can't get enough of it.

And how, the other night, Jonathan and I were tag-teaming the food/diaper/dressing/etc. routine and I was also pumping on and off. He started changing her diaper and then she decided she wasn't quite finished pooping, so he was dealing with that and I got up to help get him more wipes and such. And then before we could get another diaper set up, she decided it was a good time to pee. I so I started cleaning that up. But as an added bonus, I wasn't wearing a shirt because I'd been pumping and sometimes it's just easier to not wear a shirt or anything... so I'm bending over her cleaning her up and suddenly milk starts dripping all over the place! Jonathan and I were laughing at ourselves and Evelyn and the whole situation. Aaaah, parenthood.

And this morning, we went to the Birth Center to see Ellen, the world's best lactation consultant (seriously). And Little Mouse decided to EAT! After some frustration with latching and realizing that we were going to make her work for it this time, she gave in and nursed for 25 minutes on one side and 10 on the other, taking in a total of exactly 2 oz. which is our goal at each feeding. It was SO good. And it made a giant difference in my morning to know that I didn't have to pump or finger-feed after a nursing session like that! What a difference that makes. I love nursing and I don't mind doing that with Evelyn for as long as she needs, because I get to hold her and look at her instead of stuffing her with milk and then running off to pump, clean up, etc. We're all hoping that we're starting to turn a corner with nursing. She still isn't back to birth weight, but she's gaining at above the minimum 1/2 oz. per day so we feel pretty good.