Newborn Nuances...

Here are a few fun facts about my daughter I don't want to forget:

• Belen has a huge Michael Douglas dimple in her chin
• She has the thickest, longest, darkest hair of all my kids up to this point (which I know doesn't look like much, but coming from a clan of baldies...I'm just loving her lucious locks!), but has a total Hugie hairline (kind of looks like a receding hairline).
• She came out looking like she had just had a manicure. She has these gorgeous long, skinny fingers, and these long perfectly rounded fingernails. I haven't had the heart to cut them yet, so I just keep them covered to protect her from herself.
• She has had a lot of tummy issues, but they seem to be slowly working themselves out.
• She is very serene and is usually content to sit and stare at things and people for long periods of time. She's like a fish tank...you can feel your blood pressure going down as you watch her...unless her tummy is hurting. Then, since she takes after her brothers in her capacity for volume control (or lack thereof), you can feel your bp spiking pretty good ;)
  

Here are a few things I am learning...

It's funny (probably more amazing than funny) how perfectly she fits into our family already. Not only do the kids all completely love and adore her, but she just fits. This is one of those concepts you feel and is very difficult to explain, but hopefully, that makes sense.

Five kids is not the chaos wagon I was expecting...no more than four anyway... so far :)

In ghosts of deliveries past, the post-partum period has always been, by far, the most difficult for me, both physically and emotionally. I don't feel like I ever got full-blown post-partum depression, but it was pretty close a few times. This time is, so far, different. I think that because I was in such crummy shape those last few weeks, that it has made even my recovery feel like a walk in the park. With all the fun little things that come with recovering from the birth of a child, compared to how I was a week ago, I feel wonderful. I'm hoping it lasts, but if not, that I can remember how I feel now, and remember that the yuckiness is temporary.

I'm not as afraid of pain as I was before this pregnancy. Bryan has told me many times that he understood what Elder Maxwell said when he described pain as a friend. I didn't think I could ever understand that at all. I am the BIGGEST wimp when it comes to pain and discomfort! But the past 3 months have taught me that with Heavenly Father's help, "I can do hard things." There is something very gratifying about doing hard things. The trick is maintaining this perspective when all 5 kids are crying and/or fighting, and Bryan is curled up on the couch with his "friend," and my body and mind won't cooperate with my agenda. We'll see if I feel all flowery and grateful then, huh :)