Nacelle Estelle

"Nacelle" is the word in French for "carry cot". I've taken to calling my daughter with this rhyming nickname because it is where I always want her to be - asleep in the carry cot. How far from my wishes this is, however....
Who told me to have a kid? In fact, I think my ex-boyfriend #1, Allen, told me on email last year to "have a kid, Julie. It'll relax you." What? Was he on drugs?
Last night I said to my husband, at about 1:45 am after trying for 3 hours to get Estelle to sleep: "Demain on la rends". This means "Tomorrow, we are taking (xxx) back." Due to the ambiguity of the French masculine and feminine articles, and the essential non-existence of the word "it" in French, my husband was forced to ask me to clarify what I meant when I used the word "la". I could be referring to anything feminine, alive or inanimate, as long as it is a feminine word in French. I could mean "it" if I'm talking about "la table" or "her" if I'm talking about, say, my sister. He was amused but deep under the surface probably more alarmed when I responded "the baby".
When Scarlett O'Hara realizes that her waist will never be 18 inches again, she announces to Mammy and Rhett "I'm simply not going to have any more children then." Last night I said to Thomas "I can't do this again. Ever." He responded "You said you wanted 3 kids."
I said "take her away". Who takes care of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughter when she cries all the time and won't go to sleep in the middle of the night? Thomas, ever the optimist, said "They do." "You fool!" I said "They have a wet nurse, I'm sure." "What's a wet nurse?" said Thomas.
I'm renting any future kids starting at the age of 6 months. Enough of this newborn stuff. There's no glory, only fatigue.
In all seriousness, Estelle gained 90 grams between Saturday and Monday. This is very good news. The trip to the hospital on Saturday was just as traumatic as the one Thursday night, due to a stupid nurse who told us the wrong weight - she was off by a pound and a half, the idiot - she hadn't calibrated the scale first. When I said to her in my choking-thru-the-tears-French "do you think it is logical that a baby who has never lost more than 10 ounces since birth has lost a pound and a half in 48 hours?" I was less than calm. Anyways, she never apologized, and the whole incident threw me into a complete hysterical fit. Then they stuck 2 more urine bags on Estelle and made her scream bloody murder. That's how I know that I must truly love her and have a mother's instinct because when she started crying I started crying. Except I ran out of the room and into the parking lot of the hospital in hysterics. Less stellar motherly behavior, but true to Julie-style dramatics. Even in moments of extreme duress, it appears I haven't lost my touch to make a moment for the stage.