Winter baby

Before Alice was born I was somewhat anxious about having a winter baby. Edith was born at the beginning of May, possibly the perfect time of year to be born -- at least in New Jersey. Flowering trees were coming into full bloom, warmth was beginning to creep into the air, and one felt in sync with the natural order giving light to new life at that time. The prospect of having a baby at the start of winter, by contrast, seemed profoundly out of sync with the natural order. I worried about the logistics of it: how does one get out of the house with a tiny baby if it's frigid out? does one really have to stay home all the time? what if one absolutely has to go out in miserable weather? how does one keep the baby from getting sick? how does one keep the baby warm, period?

Unfortunately my concerns on this score seem so far to have been justified. When Alice was born we had to bring a sick older child to the hospital to meet her, since all the families we had lined up to watch Edith had sick children at home themselves. Now, at at a mere three weeks old, wee Alice is battling her first cold, complete with raspy breath, interrupted sleep, and stuffed nose.

We've also taken down the Pack-n-Play we intended to use as her bassinet for the first few months and rolled her into bed between the two of us, where our body heat warms her. It's simply too cold in our room to have her sleeping alone in a bassinet under the drafty window. Our parenting books assure readers that they don't need to overdress infants for cold weather or for sleep -- they recommend that parents cover a child only as much as they cover themselves for comfort in the same environment. But Tom and I are sleeping in sweatshirts, sweatpants, and socks under flannel sheets, three blankets, and a quilt. So how can we put Alice down on a bare mattress in just a sleep sack? We already have the thermostat cranked up to $300/month, but the insulation isn't great in this old house, and we're not prepared to push it further.

Alice has been out in freezing rain several times out of necessity, but for the most part we're staying home far more than I ever thought I could stomach. She and I have been in the house for the last 48 hours straight. We're managing better than I feared, but it's a far cry from the fresh air baby Edith got on a regular basis.

Tomorrow, however, we have to take Alice into Manhattan for a couple of days. Granted some of us entered the world in Manhattan in January and lived to tell the tale. But I'm not looking forward to the schlep through those midtown wind tunnels with a tiny, sick infant.

Alice is wonderful. But all in all, I don't recommend the winter baby thing. And we're not even in one of the regions of the country buried in snow.