Update

More drama, but just a little bit.

AnnaRay and Sister - or Swordhook, as The Boy likes to call her - came home yesterday after four days - or an eternity, as I like to call it - in the hospital. AR's recovery was hampered by an infection of her uterine lining, which they treated with 24 hours of antibiotics, and little Sister had to spend two days in the nursery under ultraviolet lights because she was jaundiced.

Their homecoming has been a lot easier than I remember Griffin's. Back then, we had just spent three days in a cocoon as I recovered from my c-section and the nurses took care of everything so all we had to do was marvel over this tiny creature that bleated like a sheep and made us a family. Then they discharged us and we kept asking each other what were they thinking just letting us leave like that with a baby? - I mean, come on! We had no idea what we were doing!

This time around I couldn't wait for that discharge. I was all set to take care of that baby, but I wasn't prepared for the stress of having my girls in the hospital while I had to take care of my boy back home. We are so lucky to have a network of great friends on whom we relied for child care, and while The Boy wanted his mommy and the baby to come home, he was perfectly happy rolling his Thomas the Tank Engine suitcase from one sleepover to the next. But I was constantly torn by my desire to return to that cocoon of the hospital room and my need to deal with what was going on in the real world.

Meanwhile, AR was dealing with the stress of breat feeding when her milk had yet to come in and the baby had yet to learn how to nurse. I had totally taken it for granted that the one thing babies know from the get-go is how to suck, since The Boy, having 50 percent of his genetic makeup come from my DNA, started chowing down as soon as he was given the chance. (Five days of parenting two children and already I'm starting with the comparisons! Sibling rivalry, here we come.)

Now everybody is home, and things get easier every day. The Boy is a little bit whinier than usual, but he's also clearly excited about having a baby sister. "Ima, I want to hold the baby," he says. "I want to rock her back and forth."

I'll have to tell you more about it later, because sleeplessness has overtaken my brain, and I feel my coherence ebbing with every word I type.