Adventures in Parenting

3 AM

Disclaimer: As usual,I only own Avery and Lynsey. I own no one else. Song belongs to Chicago.

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Trish groaned, trying to get comfortable. Her breasts were full and uncomfortable. Avery had finally fallen asleep. It wouldn't be long until the little girl would want her next feeding. Why was sleep so hard to come by?

Avery was colicky. That had become apparent after her first night home. Two days later, the baby still spent a good portion of the night crying. Trish and Randy were sleep-deprived. The only fool proof way to get her to sleep was driving. Yet, neither wanted to go out every night just to get her to sleep. That disturbed Lynsey as well. When Lynsey didn't sleep, she was brattier than usual.

Sitting up, she glanced over to Randy. Her husband was sound asleep. She couldn't figure out how she had gotten so lucky. He could have had any woman he wanted and yet, he had chosen her.

She was a mother. Even five days later, it still seemed surreal. She couldn't believe she had had a baby. She couldn't believe she now had a little girl that depended on her for everything. Had it really been just last week that she had been begging the baby to come out? Had she really been pregnant just last week?

Just as she had suspected, Avery began to snuffle softly. Trish gently picked her up and made her way over to the changing table. At Randy's insistence, they had put a changing table in their bedroom. He was afraid one of them would trip in the dark and injure themselves.

"All better," Trish cooed, fastening the diaper tape. Avery began to scream louder. Trish rolled her eyes. She knew what Avery was saying. She was saying 'Mom, I'm hungry and I'm gonna wail until I eat!'

Trish settled into a rocking chair. Undoing her shirt, she struggled to get Avery latched on. Once the baby did manage to get latched on, she had to bite her lip to stop from crying out in pain.

Breastfeeding was not coming easily to her. She had problems getting Avery to latch on every time. When she did get Avery latched on, it was a struggle to keep her latched on. Some feedings, she wasn't sure why she kept up at this. Bottles were easier. They didn't cause her pain.

Randy watched her from the bed. Trish was unaware that she was being watched. Quietly, she began to rock, struggling to cope with the pain. He could sense her discomfort and wished he could take the pain away from her.

"Oh, Avery," she murmured, rocking slowly. "I do this for you," Randy got up. She jerked her head back, startled that he was up.

"You okay?" he asked, watching her. She sighed. Where to begin?

"It hurts a little." she said. Randy gently kissed her cheek. He couldn't go through all she had been through. Women were tougher than men. He knew he couldn't have taken labor pains. He knew he couldn't handle the discomfort of breastfeeding.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked, watching her. She nodded slowly.

"A bottle of water would be nice," she replied. Randy dashed downstairs. Rocking slowly, she glanced down at the soft, dark hair of her daughter. "Beautiful girl,"

As much as she hated to admit it, she missed being pregnant. She missed knowing she was sharing her body with a human. She missed being kept up by gentle kicking. She didn't miss the nausea, or the backaches. She just missed pregnancy.

Randy handed her a bottle of water. She opened it and took a long, cool sip. That was the best water she had ever tasted.

"My girls," Randy murmured, grinning. "Why did we name her Avery?" Trish looked at him.

"We named her Avery because (A) she didn't look like a Georgia and (B) I just loved the name!" she said. She glanced down at the baby. "I think Miss Avery fell asleep," She handed Randy the baby. Then, she managed to get comfortable again. "Ow," she murmured. He looked at her."What? I'm still getting used to these!" She gestured to her breasts.

"Why don't you just go to sleep?" he asked. "I'll get the kids in the morning," She looked at him.

"How exactly do you plan to feed her?" she asked, smirking. This would be a good answer. He closed his eyes, and snorted.

"Alright, I didn't think of that one. I'll change her, and do the normal prefeeding routine," he said. He jumped, Avery beginning to wail. "You just fed her. What could it be?"

"She wasn't burped," Trish murmured. Randy picked her up, and gently began to pat her back. "You're going to want a rag," He glanced down at her.

"I'll be fine," he murmured. Then, Avery burped and proceeded to throw up on his shoulder. "Ugh," Trish snickered softly.

"Told you so! Why don't you go clean up? I've got the baby," she said, accepting Avery. Gently, she wiped the baby's mouth. "I tried telling Daddy," Avery hiccuped and cried. "I have an idea. Daddy used to play this to you when you were in my belly," She took a deep breath and began to sing. "Baby, you're the meaning in my life. You're the inspiration. You bring feeling to my life. You're the inspiration," Glancing down, she noticed the baby was sound asleep.

Her mother was right.

Sometimes, a good lullaby was all that was needed to put a fussy baby down for the night.

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I LOVE writing this story! Keep up your wonderful reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

ENJOY!

Jen