Life with two kids is going well, and it's not much more chaotic with one than two. But my job is ridiculously busy. Want to know how well it's going to be back at work? I've been back at work for two weeks now, and yesterday I was diagnosed with shingles. Yes, shingles. That disease that old people get.
Yes, yes, I know that anyone who's had chicken pox can develop it at any point. What I didn't know was that being postnatal can trigger it, too. And I am annoyed, because I originally got misdiagnosed (thank you, crappy European socialized medicine. Sure, everyone has coverage, but how does that help if you get diagnosed incorrectly? I've used the crappy medical system here twice, and been misdiagnosed both times. But I digress). By the time I was correctly diagnosed (by my private doctor here--couldn't see him the first time because it was a Sunday, so I had to go to the ER), I was outside the treatment window to take the medication for shingles. And, then we had to deal with whether the girls would get chicken pox as a result of my shingles. We ended up vaccinating Miss M, as it was the only vaccination she has not gotten. It turns out that I had sky high varicella immunity levels during my pregnancy, so SB should be well protected. So they are safe, at least. And I am in pain and run down and generally don't want to get out of bed in the morning.
So yeah, that's my crap news: I have shingles. That's how being at work is going. Sigh.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Last Day of Maternity Leave
It's back to work for me tomorrow. I scheduled myself to go back to work at the end of the week so that we had the weekend to work out any problems that might come up for T. and the girls. This way, they just have to get through two days without me, and then I'm back. Next week will be another story, but hopefully there won't be any problems.
I'm not looking forward to going back to work. I'm not dreading it, exactly, but I've been enjoying myself now that I'm feeling mostly back to normal post-pregnancy. I've enjoyed snuggling with my baby and coloring with my toddler and hanging out having lattes with my husband. I really liked that we could wake up every morning and decide together what to do for the day. These last few weeks, in particular, have been really fun. If only there were some way that we could earn money by both hanging out at home with the girls all day! Sigh. Money is such a necessary evil.
With our last day, we cleaned the house and made cupcakes and colored and played outside and went to lunch at a new Mexican joint and visited the zoo. It was a nice sunny day, and the perfect end to my leave. I need to go to bed now, so that I'm rested for tomorrow and ready to get out of bed early, but I'm reluctant to let go of the day. I want to snatch up every minute of time and hold it close. I know all too well how fast these early days go by (how is Miss M 28 months already?!), and I'm sad that I'll be spending less time with SB now. But I guess it's time to put on my jammies and snuggle SB close for her last feed of the night, and then put us both to bed.
I'm not looking forward to going back to work. I'm not dreading it, exactly, but I've been enjoying myself now that I'm feeling mostly back to normal post-pregnancy. I've enjoyed snuggling with my baby and coloring with my toddler and hanging out having lattes with my husband. I really liked that we could wake up every morning and decide together what to do for the day. These last few weeks, in particular, have been really fun. If only there were some way that we could earn money by both hanging out at home with the girls all day! Sigh. Money is such a necessary evil.
With our last day, we cleaned the house and made cupcakes and colored and played outside and went to lunch at a new Mexican joint and visited the zoo. It was a nice sunny day, and the perfect end to my leave. I need to go to bed now, so that I'm rested for tomorrow and ready to get out of bed early, but I'm reluctant to let go of the day. I want to snatch up every minute of time and hold it close. I know all too well how fast these early days go by (how is Miss M 28 months already?!), and I'm sad that I'll be spending less time with SB now. But I guess it's time to put on my jammies and snuggle SB close for her last feed of the night, and then put us both to bed.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Visitors, 8 Weeks, and Little Adventures
SB is 8 weeks old, and just a fantastic baby. She's super mellow (except during fussy time, which reliably happens around 6pm every night, when she screams inconsolably), sleeps well, and loves to smile and laugh at me. She's still waking at around 11pm, 3am, and 6am to eat, but that's a schedule I can live with. She gets right down to business when she wakes: she eats, and then she falls back asleep. She is seriously adorable, if I do say so myself. I love to make her smile and giggle, because it is just the cutest thing.
A few days ago, I noticed that she was restless after her 6am feeding, which is very unlike her. She didn't cry, though, so I didn't pick her back up, and she eventually drifted off to sleep. When I picked her up a bit later, I discovered that she was soaking wet. She was sleeping in jammies and a sleepsack, and everything was wet, including the sheet below her. When I changed her diaper, I discovered that although it was on in the front, in the back, it was completely off her bum. Her bum was literally hanging out of the back of the diaper. Epic fail for diaper application by our babysitter! I couldn't believe that she didn't cry. Poor kid.
My sister babysat so that we could go to dinner with friends. It's been forever since we've had a dinner out without the kids, and it was really nice. We went for Turkish food and hung out for a couple of hours at a restaurant that we hadn't been to before. It was reasonably priced, and the food was excellent. The other couple have a toddler the same age as Miss M (they play together a lot), so we spent a lot of time swapping stories about the kids. I was thinking about it later, and was thinking that it is weird that I don't usually talk so much about my kids when I'm out with other friends. It took me a while to realize that this is because most of my other friends either don't have kids, or have kids who are much older and in developmentally different places. We spent a lot of time talking about the kids that night because we are both in the same place, dealing with the same stuff. It made me think about how much different our relationships with our friends at home would have been if we'd been having kids when they were having kids. It was kind of nice to be hanging out with people who are going through the same stuff. It's something I never realized we miss out on by being "older" parents. Guess we'll just have to get more young friends (or find some other geriatric new parents!).
My mother-in-law was here for a week, and left a few days ago. It was nice to see her, and I'm glad that T and the kids were able to visit with her. It was nice for me to see her, too, although there were some difficult moments for me. She has become a stream-of-consciousness talker, and seems to say anything that pops into her head without thinking about it or editing her thoughts. I think she just thinks that at her age, she's earned the right to say anything she wants. I try to let it go, but it's not always easy for me, especially when she says something that sounds critical. I mostly just tried to stay calm and not complain to T while she was here. I really wanted him to have a good visit, and I am mindful that she is not a young woman. I want to make happy memories for my husband and my girls. It was funny after she left, though, to compare notes with T about the things she had said individually to each of us, and to hear his responses. I tried to be polite and calm and NOT say what I was thinking in those moments when she said something unfortunate. He took a totally different tact, and left her have it (in a humorous way), and really gave her a hard time about some of the stuff. Anyway, I'm glad she came, and I'm glad to be free of company again.
We are in the waning days now of my maternity leave, which is why I'm glad to be free of company. I'm really sad that my maternity leave is ending. I have NO desire to go back to work. My office is really chaotic right now, and I've really been enjoying having this time with T and the girls. Every day we try to do something fun and new.
Today we told Miss M that we were going to go off an an "adventure." She kept talking about our "adventure" all day, and it was adorable to hear her pronounce the word. We had intended to go hiking, but when we got to the train station to catch the train to get to the trailhead, the train had been cancelled due to an accident impacting the tracks. We wandered through a neighborhood near the train station, instead, had Mexican food for lunch, then got cupcakes and had coffee. Miss M refuses to eat the frosting on cupcakes, and makes me take it off and eat it. My mother is convinced that I've brainwashed the child so that I get to eat her frosting. She just won't eat it (and yes, I DO eat it--it works out for everyone). There was a group of violinists busking outside the coffeehouse, and Miss M insisted on standing there for the longest time listening to them, dancing and clapping. She loved every minute of it. A bit later, we visited a nearby farm, where Miss M got to see "chickens with big beaks" (her request for the day), giant pigs, and sheep and goats. She didn't like the sheep and goats, which were being noisy, and she started lecturing them. When we left there, we went to the bookstore, which she also loves. It was a wonderful day.
I am enjoying spending time with her so much. Her little personality is just unfolding at such a rapid speed, and she's such a great kid. I love hanging out with her.
A few days ago, I noticed that she was restless after her 6am feeding, which is very unlike her. She didn't cry, though, so I didn't pick her back up, and she eventually drifted off to sleep. When I picked her up a bit later, I discovered that she was soaking wet. She was sleeping in jammies and a sleepsack, and everything was wet, including the sheet below her. When I changed her diaper, I discovered that although it was on in the front, in the back, it was completely off her bum. Her bum was literally hanging out of the back of the diaper. Epic fail for diaper application by our babysitter! I couldn't believe that she didn't cry. Poor kid.
My sister babysat so that we could go to dinner with friends. It's been forever since we've had a dinner out without the kids, and it was really nice. We went for Turkish food and hung out for a couple of hours at a restaurant that we hadn't been to before. It was reasonably priced, and the food was excellent. The other couple have a toddler the same age as Miss M (they play together a lot), so we spent a lot of time swapping stories about the kids. I was thinking about it later, and was thinking that it is weird that I don't usually talk so much about my kids when I'm out with other friends. It took me a while to realize that this is because most of my other friends either don't have kids, or have kids who are much older and in developmentally different places. We spent a lot of time talking about the kids that night because we are both in the same place, dealing with the same stuff. It made me think about how much different our relationships with our friends at home would have been if we'd been having kids when they were having kids. It was kind of nice to be hanging out with people who are going through the same stuff. It's something I never realized we miss out on by being "older" parents. Guess we'll just have to get more young friends (or find some other geriatric new parents!).
My mother-in-law was here for a week, and left a few days ago. It was nice to see her, and I'm glad that T and the kids were able to visit with her. It was nice for me to see her, too, although there were some difficult moments for me. She has become a stream-of-consciousness talker, and seems to say anything that pops into her head without thinking about it or editing her thoughts. I think she just thinks that at her age, she's earned the right to say anything she wants. I try to let it go, but it's not always easy for me, especially when she says something that sounds critical. I mostly just tried to stay calm and not complain to T while she was here. I really wanted him to have a good visit, and I am mindful that she is not a young woman. I want to make happy memories for my husband and my girls. It was funny after she left, though, to compare notes with T about the things she had said individually to each of us, and to hear his responses. I tried to be polite and calm and NOT say what I was thinking in those moments when she said something unfortunate. He took a totally different tact, and left her have it (in a humorous way), and really gave her a hard time about some of the stuff. Anyway, I'm glad she came, and I'm glad to be free of company again.
We are in the waning days now of my maternity leave, which is why I'm glad to be free of company. I'm really sad that my maternity leave is ending. I have NO desire to go back to work. My office is really chaotic right now, and I've really been enjoying having this time with T and the girls. Every day we try to do something fun and new.
Today we told Miss M that we were going to go off an an "adventure." She kept talking about our "adventure" all day, and it was adorable to hear her pronounce the word. We had intended to go hiking, but when we got to the train station to catch the train to get to the trailhead, the train had been cancelled due to an accident impacting the tracks. We wandered through a neighborhood near the train station, instead, had Mexican food for lunch, then got cupcakes and had coffee. Miss M refuses to eat the frosting on cupcakes, and makes me take it off and eat it. My mother is convinced that I've brainwashed the child so that I get to eat her frosting. She just won't eat it (and yes, I DO eat it--it works out for everyone). There was a group of violinists busking outside the coffeehouse, and Miss M insisted on standing there for the longest time listening to them, dancing and clapping. She loved every minute of it. A bit later, we visited a nearby farm, where Miss M got to see "chickens with big beaks" (her request for the day), giant pigs, and sheep and goats. She didn't like the sheep and goats, which were being noisy, and she started lecturing them. When we left there, we went to the bookstore, which she also loves. It was a wonderful day.
I am enjoying spending time with her so much. Her little personality is just unfolding at such a rapid speed, and she's such a great kid. I love hanging out with her.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Things Big and Small
The big news in our house this week is that Miss M has slept in the big girl bed in her very own room for the last two nights, and is there again tonight. She has barely uttered a sound in the middle of the night since we moved her out of her crib/out of our room. I think all of her night terrors/night wakings/talking in her sleep was made worse by her rolling around and into the sides of her crib. I wish that had occurred to me sooner, but on the other hand, I didn't want to move her to her own room in close proximity to the time the baby was born. Yes, I know we made this move VERY late. She's almost 28 months. But with the layout of our place and her night terrors, it worked for us to have her in the crib in our room for a long time. Well, it was easy for us, anyway.
Miss M and I also started a Spanish class this week. It's pretty fun--partially in English and partially in Spanish and everything is done low key and as a game. The instructor moves quickly between activities, and keeps things interesting. I've taken her to one other class and daddy has done more with her, and between the two of us, we've noticed a pattern. We have the kid who won't sit still. I've noticed that there are kids her age who do actually sit still and pay attention. She only pays attention to the things she wants to. So, singing/music where she got to ring a bell? She sat and paid attention. Coloring? She was utterly consumed, and colored more than any other kid there. Story time? She went to the door after the teacher had read the first two pages of the book and vehemently announced "I am DONE with story time!" Luckily, it was loud in the room, and I don't think anyone else heard it.
Honestly, I am not exactly uncomfortable with her behavior, but I do wonder if I should be worried that she won't sit still. On the one hand, I think to myself "she's two." On the other hand, there are all of these other kids her same age who actually sit and pay attention. I vacillate between thinking I should do more to corral her, and thinking that it's normal toddler behavior that I should ignore. I talked with the teacher afterward, an affable guy named Paco, and he told me that his son is just like my daughter, and that I shouldn't worry, because I can always count on the pair of blond brothers in the class to be high-spirited. Miss M wasn't disruptive (the blond boys are adorable terrors and totally disruptive), but rather roamed around the room checking things out around the fringes. Nevertheless, I didn't find Paco's reassurances very reassuring.
Miss M has also started making like a wet noodle and going limp whenever we go to pick her up in order to do something she doesn't want to do. She is often laughing when she does it, so it's not tantrum stuff. It cracks me up a little. It reminds me of our giant beloved dog that we had until we moved (who now lives with a friend). She would lie down any time she didn't want to do something, because she knew she was too big for us to move (of course, this same dog also utterly misappreciated her size when it came time to wanting love, and would attempt to sit on your lap, with hilarious consequences for the recipient of her attention). Anyway, the wet noodle child thing was all well and good until she did it at a museum with ceramic tile floors the other day (our house is carpeted, and therefore she doesn't get hurt). She slipped right out of my grasp and her head crashed against the floor. It was awful, and both of us were traumatized. She seems none the worse for the wear, but I need to get her to stop doing this, if only so that I don't lose my mind that she is going to hurt herself by doing it.
Finally, my MIL was supposed to visit, then cancelled her trip due to health problems, then changed her mind back the day of the flight (we hadn't been able to cancel it), so she is here visiting. It's nice to see her interact with Miss M, who is enjoying her company very much. It's been a nice visit so far, although we haven't done much of anything, other than visit two museums briefly. I'm glad for T's sake that she's had a chance to meet SB. Her health issues are very worrying to me, and I know it was important to T that his mother have a chance to meet our second born. I could totally be projecting (my grandmother recently died, which is the subject of an upcoming blog post, and suffice it to say that I'm currently having issues with saying goodbye to people when they leave us because I worry it will be the last time I see them), but I'm sensing a frailness that hasn't been there before, and I feel like she's holding something back about her health. I hope I'm wrong.
Oh, and Miss M totally rocked the dinosaur exhibit that we went to yesterday. There is one giant dinosaur that is kind of scary, but I prepared her for seeing it by picking her up, saying that I'd protect her and there was nothing to be afraid of. As we walked by it, she kept repeating "I'm not afraid. . .I'm not afraid. . .I'm not afraid" over and over again (like a kid who was TOTALLY afraid but didn't want to admit it). It was pretty adorable. We were with friends who have a son the same age as Miss M, and we were at the exhibit primarily because he had never seen it. They were a bit behind us in walking through the exhibit, which loops around and has a one -way traffic pattern. Anywho, just before the big scary dinosaur, in a spot where the path doubled back, we connected and agreed that we would meet up just after the scary dinosaur. Miss M and I waited for quite a long time, and they didn't arrive. Miss M began asking to see the big dinosaur again, and since it was quite deserted, I snuck back down the path the "wrong" way to see it again. Much to my surprise, there was no one viewing it (often this part of the exhibit is packed). I finally figured out at that point that our friends' son must've been scared, and they must've had to backtrack out of the exhibit. Miss M took in the big scary dinosaur for a bit, then announced to me that she was done and ready to go, so we left and walked out of the exhibit. On the way out, our friends finally caught up. Indeed, their dinosaur-loving toddler was terrified of the big dinosaur and they had never made it past him. As we walked out of the museum, Miss M asked me to take her back for a third time, eventually begging "PLEASE mommy, can I go see the dinosaur again?! PLEASE!!!" Toddlers crack me up.
Miss M and I also started a Spanish class this week. It's pretty fun--partially in English and partially in Spanish and everything is done low key and as a game. The instructor moves quickly between activities, and keeps things interesting. I've taken her to one other class and daddy has done more with her, and between the two of us, we've noticed a pattern. We have the kid who won't sit still. I've noticed that there are kids her age who do actually sit still and pay attention. She only pays attention to the things she wants to. So, singing/music where she got to ring a bell? She sat and paid attention. Coloring? She was utterly consumed, and colored more than any other kid there. Story time? She went to the door after the teacher had read the first two pages of the book and vehemently announced "I am DONE with story time!" Luckily, it was loud in the room, and I don't think anyone else heard it.
Honestly, I am not exactly uncomfortable with her behavior, but I do wonder if I should be worried that she won't sit still. On the one hand, I think to myself "she's two." On the other hand, there are all of these other kids her same age who actually sit and pay attention. I vacillate between thinking I should do more to corral her, and thinking that it's normal toddler behavior that I should ignore. I talked with the teacher afterward, an affable guy named Paco, and he told me that his son is just like my daughter, and that I shouldn't worry, because I can always count on the pair of blond brothers in the class to be high-spirited. Miss M wasn't disruptive (the blond boys are adorable terrors and totally disruptive), but rather roamed around the room checking things out around the fringes. Nevertheless, I didn't find Paco's reassurances very reassuring.
Miss M has also started making like a wet noodle and going limp whenever we go to pick her up in order to do something she doesn't want to do. She is often laughing when she does it, so it's not tantrum stuff. It cracks me up a little. It reminds me of our giant beloved dog that we had until we moved (who now lives with a friend). She would lie down any time she didn't want to do something, because she knew she was too big for us to move (of course, this same dog also utterly misappreciated her size when it came time to wanting love, and would attempt to sit on your lap, with hilarious consequences for the recipient of her attention). Anyway, the wet noodle child thing was all well and good until she did it at a museum with ceramic tile floors the other day (our house is carpeted, and therefore she doesn't get hurt). She slipped right out of my grasp and her head crashed against the floor. It was awful, and both of us were traumatized. She seems none the worse for the wear, but I need to get her to stop doing this, if only so that I don't lose my mind that she is going to hurt herself by doing it.
Finally, my MIL was supposed to visit, then cancelled her trip due to health problems, then changed her mind back the day of the flight (we hadn't been able to cancel it), so she is here visiting. It's nice to see her interact with Miss M, who is enjoying her company very much. It's been a nice visit so far, although we haven't done much of anything, other than visit two museums briefly. I'm glad for T's sake that she's had a chance to meet SB. Her health issues are very worrying to me, and I know it was important to T that his mother have a chance to meet our second born. I could totally be projecting (my grandmother recently died, which is the subject of an upcoming blog post, and suffice it to say that I'm currently having issues with saying goodbye to people when they leave us because I worry it will be the last time I see them), but I'm sensing a frailness that hasn't been there before, and I feel like she's holding something back about her health. I hope I'm wrong.
Oh, and Miss M totally rocked the dinosaur exhibit that we went to yesterday. There is one giant dinosaur that is kind of scary, but I prepared her for seeing it by picking her up, saying that I'd protect her and there was nothing to be afraid of. As we walked by it, she kept repeating "I'm not afraid. . .I'm not afraid. . .I'm not afraid" over and over again (like a kid who was TOTALLY afraid but didn't want to admit it). It was pretty adorable. We were with friends who have a son the same age as Miss M, and we were at the exhibit primarily because he had never seen it. They were a bit behind us in walking through the exhibit, which loops around and has a one -way traffic pattern. Anywho, just before the big scary dinosaur, in a spot where the path doubled back, we connected and agreed that we would meet up just after the scary dinosaur. Miss M and I waited for quite a long time, and they didn't arrive. Miss M began asking to see the big dinosaur again, and since it was quite deserted, I snuck back down the path the "wrong" way to see it again. Much to my surprise, there was no one viewing it (often this part of the exhibit is packed). I finally figured out at that point that our friends' son must've been scared, and they must've had to backtrack out of the exhibit. Miss M took in the big scary dinosaur for a bit, then announced to me that she was done and ready to go, so we left and walked out of the exhibit. On the way out, our friends finally caught up. Indeed, their dinosaur-loving toddler was terrified of the big dinosaur and they had never made it past him. As we walked out of the museum, Miss M asked me to take her back for a third time, eventually begging "PLEASE mommy, can I go see the dinosaur again?! PLEASE!!!" Toddlers crack me up.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
7 Weeks
First of all, I don't like the new Blog.ger interface that popped up when I logged in today. I don't know where anything is, and I hate that.
Second, I haven't posted in weeks not because I don't have anything to say, but because in my head SB's birth story needed to be the next post, and while I have it drafted, it's not done. It's looong, and it's not done. I've thought about editing it into two separate posts, but that means it still needs work, and I haven't felt like it. Finally I realized tonight that I should just give myself permission to work on it soon, and go ahead and post something else first.
SB will be seven weeks old tomorrow. Seven weeks! The time has flown by. SB is a pretty amazing baby. She has been intentionally smiling for a few weeks now, and yesterday I made her laugh three times. She has a deeper laugh than Miss M, and it made me so happy to hear it. I was moving her arms back and forth to make her dance, and she thought it was hilarious. She is also incredibly strong, and holds her head up for long periods of time. Yesterday when I put her on her stomach for tummy time, she also pushed herself up on her arms. She gets pretty close to rolling over, too, which is amazing. The arm on the floor side gets in the way, but it won't be too much longer before she actually rolls over. I can't find my infant book, and I can't remember if it's early for her to be doing that. (Where would I have put my infant book? It was on my bookshelf forever, and now when I actually need it again, is has disappeared.)
SB continues to be a good eater, as well. It is such a relief to have a child who is a good eater. It is so nice to not worry about whether she is feeding for long enough or gaining enough weight. She is somewhere over 11 pounds now, I'm sure, but we don't go back to the doctor for two more weeks. She gained 18 ounces in the two weeks before her one month appointment! We are well out of the newborn clothes and into the 0-3 months. She is close to being at the end of those too, in terms of length, so it won't be long before I have to wash another larger-sized batch of clothes. Miss M swam in the 0-3 months clothes for quite a bit after she was 3 months; SB already weighs more than Miss M did at 3 months. It's just amazing to me to see the difference in our girls. I love how unique they each are.
Miss M continues to be a great big sister. She adores SB, and kisses her on the head regularly. She'll say funny things like "SB is SO cute!" It cracks me up. She's been well behaved (even my MIL, who arrived today for a visit, said so!). In terms of a night sleeping/feeding schedule, we've settled into a nice routine. SB tends to eat around 11pm, 2am, and 6am. She's a good little sleeper. The best, though, is that she wakes slowly, making little noises instead of going to full blown crying when she's hungry. It's a relatively peaceful way to be woken up in the middle of the night!
And with that, I'm off to bed. It feels good to have broken the blogging ice!
Second, I haven't posted in weeks not because I don't have anything to say, but because in my head SB's birth story needed to be the next post, and while I have it drafted, it's not done. It's looong, and it's not done. I've thought about editing it into two separate posts, but that means it still needs work, and I haven't felt like it. Finally I realized tonight that I should just give myself permission to work on it soon, and go ahead and post something else first.
SB will be seven weeks old tomorrow. Seven weeks! The time has flown by. SB is a pretty amazing baby. She has been intentionally smiling for a few weeks now, and yesterday I made her laugh three times. She has a deeper laugh than Miss M, and it made me so happy to hear it. I was moving her arms back and forth to make her dance, and she thought it was hilarious. She is also incredibly strong, and holds her head up for long periods of time. Yesterday when I put her on her stomach for tummy time, she also pushed herself up on her arms. She gets pretty close to rolling over, too, which is amazing. The arm on the floor side gets in the way, but it won't be too much longer before she actually rolls over. I can't find my infant book, and I can't remember if it's early for her to be doing that. (Where would I have put my infant book? It was on my bookshelf forever, and now when I actually need it again, is has disappeared.)
SB continues to be a good eater, as well. It is such a relief to have a child who is a good eater. It is so nice to not worry about whether she is feeding for long enough or gaining enough weight. She is somewhere over 11 pounds now, I'm sure, but we don't go back to the doctor for two more weeks. She gained 18 ounces in the two weeks before her one month appointment! We are well out of the newborn clothes and into the 0-3 months. She is close to being at the end of those too, in terms of length, so it won't be long before I have to wash another larger-sized batch of clothes. Miss M swam in the 0-3 months clothes for quite a bit after she was 3 months; SB already weighs more than Miss M did at 3 months. It's just amazing to me to see the difference in our girls. I love how unique they each are.
Miss M continues to be a great big sister. She adores SB, and kisses her on the head regularly. She'll say funny things like "SB is SO cute!" It cracks me up. She's been well behaved (even my MIL, who arrived today for a visit, said so!). In terms of a night sleeping/feeding schedule, we've settled into a nice routine. SB tends to eat around 11pm, 2am, and 6am. She's a good little sleeper. The best, though, is that she wakes slowly, making little noises instead of going to full blown crying when she's hungry. It's a relatively peaceful way to be woken up in the middle of the night!
And with that, I'm off to bed. It feels good to have broken the blogging ice!
Monday, April 2, 2012
How Things Have Been
I can't believe it's been almost a month since our new little star, our second daughter, was born. The Little Star is a completely different baby than Miss M was. Miss M never slept. NEVER. I used to want to slap the people who said "you need to sleep when the baby sleeps." I was up a million times a night, and never got to nap during the day, because the child simply DID NOT SLEEP. It was rough.
The Little Star, on the other hand, is a good little sleeper. I chalk it up to the fact she was almost two pounds bigger than Miss M at birth. She is already sleeping in 3-4 hour chunks at night! It's heaven. She's a great eater, too, and up over nine pounds already. She is a mellow, lovely baby. It's almost shocking how different things are.
It's different this time, too, in terms of social interaction. When we had Miss M, we were living in the cold, frosty north, and the weather was bad, so it was tough to leave the house. Basically the only place I could go was the mall. T was finishing a big project and commuting an hour each way, so I hated to wake him to help me. My friends were all working and had older kids, so I had no one to hang out with during the day. I was pretty much alone. This time, I have T home with me, as well as my stepsister. The weather is great, so we can get out and about a lot. We have lots of friends with little kids, so we hang out with them during the day. There are tons of parks where we can let Miss M run around and socialize with other parents of little kids (while breastfeeding). It's been a completely different and wonderful experience.
Of course, it's not all perfect. I was MUCH more beat up this time around. I had a great birth (birth story to come), and an easier one than with Miss M, in many respects. However, the fact that Little Star is a bigger baby definitely came into play in terms of my physical recovery. Things are waaaay more stretched out. I basically gained the same amount of weight with both of them. However, the weight this time was mostly gained in my belly, and it hasn't bounced back as quickly. For about three weeks, I basically felt like I had no core muscles. I couldn't use my stomach muscles, because they basically didn't exist. I still am carrying some weight in my belly, and I have some pretty ugly stretch marks. I confess that it's been a bit discouraging. I snapped back so quickly after Miss M's birth that I just thought that it would happen again. It didn't occur to me that I might be facing more of an uphill battle. Especially the stretch marks! I had none with Miss M. Sigh. On balance, it's totally worth the physical pain to have a bigger, healthy baby who is a good eater and a good sleeper. But it would be nice if I could have had the big baby without paying the price!
Miss M has been an amazing big sister. She loves the baby, kisses her (and tried to feed her Goldfish crackers once. . .oops! But at least she was sharing), and tells people about her. So, all is pretty good here.
The Little Star, on the other hand, is a good little sleeper. I chalk it up to the fact she was almost two pounds bigger than Miss M at birth. She is already sleeping in 3-4 hour chunks at night! It's heaven. She's a great eater, too, and up over nine pounds already. She is a mellow, lovely baby. It's almost shocking how different things are.
It's different this time, too, in terms of social interaction. When we had Miss M, we were living in the cold, frosty north, and the weather was bad, so it was tough to leave the house. Basically the only place I could go was the mall. T was finishing a big project and commuting an hour each way, so I hated to wake him to help me. My friends were all working and had older kids, so I had no one to hang out with during the day. I was pretty much alone. This time, I have T home with me, as well as my stepsister. The weather is great, so we can get out and about a lot. We have lots of friends with little kids, so we hang out with them during the day. There are tons of parks where we can let Miss M run around and socialize with other parents of little kids (while breastfeeding). It's been a completely different and wonderful experience.
Of course, it's not all perfect. I was MUCH more beat up this time around. I had a great birth (birth story to come), and an easier one than with Miss M, in many respects. However, the fact that Little Star is a bigger baby definitely came into play in terms of my physical recovery. Things are waaaay more stretched out. I basically gained the same amount of weight with both of them. However, the weight this time was mostly gained in my belly, and it hasn't bounced back as quickly. For about three weeks, I basically felt like I had no core muscles. I couldn't use my stomach muscles, because they basically didn't exist. I still am carrying some weight in my belly, and I have some pretty ugly stretch marks. I confess that it's been a bit discouraging. I snapped back so quickly after Miss M's birth that I just thought that it would happen again. It didn't occur to me that I might be facing more of an uphill battle. Especially the stretch marks! I had none with Miss M. Sigh. On balance, it's totally worth the physical pain to have a bigger, healthy baby who is a good eater and a good sleeper. But it would be nice if I could have had the big baby without paying the price!
Miss M has been an amazing big sister. She loves the baby, kisses her (and tried to feed her Goldfish crackers once. . .oops! But at least she was sharing), and tells people about her. So, all is pretty good here.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
She's Here!
My contractions started at 9:15 pm, and she was born at 4:15 am. I got my all-natural birth, although her head wasn't perfectly positioned and I ended up with an episiotomy. She just wasn't coming out, though, and I was starting to tear, so I can live with it. She weighs over 8.5 pounds--much bigger than her sister! She looks just like T!
I am utterly wrecked, as I only got an hour of sleep this morning. Hoping to get a little more once I eat dinner. Will post a more complete birth story soon.
I am utterly wrecked, as I only got an hour of sleep this morning. Hoping to get a little more once I eat dinner. Will post a more complete birth story soon.
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