A smile

So, Max is finally starting to smile for us. He is so close to cooing and making those cute little baby noises too - instead of just crying or fussing when wet or hungry. It is amazing how much that makes the newborn stage worth all the struggles. I swear I have been through it with this postpartum nonsense. I started with a rash from the tape they used for my epidural. Unfortunately I got an anethesiologist with a notion for A LOT of tape, so it was all over my back. I then proceeded into some sort of allergic reaction to it. It lasted at least 3 weeks. Finally after days of lotions, benedryl and 2 rounds of steriods my back cleared, then I got hives. Not just a few. A LOT! All over my body. When those cleared it spread to my hands. It was sooo itchy that I would wake in the night and want to cry because they would be on fire. So, again I got some cortizone with a kick called in from the doc. It finally has gone away and let an aweful dryness all over my hands. I don't know quite what to do now except A LOT of lotion. It seems to help, but not enough. In the middle of this somewhere I also got a bladder infection - NOT fun. Now, I have strep throat! Yep, it doesn't end. I went into the instacare last night with a sore throat and a fever and I just knew since I felt so crummy yesterday. I am sure I got it due to my immune system going crazy and just DONE popping pills, since no one else in my family got it (and I hope they don't). The point of my complaint is that I don't think of it much now that it has mostly subsided, especially when Max smiles at me. Or when he is just laying in his bouncy chair being content. Amazing what a smile can do... We have yet to catch the cute little smile on camera, but here is a darling picture I took of him anyways.