Mama of Two

Hello lovely blog readers.

I feel like I'm emerging...slightly...from the fog of those first couple of weeks of bringing home a newborn.  Actually the sleep was rough the first two weeks but it wasn't as bad as it was with Jack.  Jack came out of the womb wanting to nurse every 1 1/2 hours.  Eloise was every 3-4 hours during the day and every 4-5 hours at night.  She was such a sleepy little thing.  She still is but her desire to nurse is definitely picking up speed.  Fortunately she seems to be on the right "schedule" as far as sleeping at night.  She had a couple of nights where she was a bit confused and wanted to be up at night but now she sleeps pretty well...with breaks to nurse of course.

Jack is adjusting pretty well I would say.  He adores Eloise.  I mean, the thought of her not coming with us on an outing...or when she cries definitely makes him sad.  He caresses her little face and wants to kiss her non stop.  We have definitely seen the "growing pains" though in other areas.  He seems a bit more whiney and his ability to self-entertain has basically disappeared.  He wants one of us by his side at all times.  I'm guessing it's the insecurity and knowing that our attentions are now divided.  I'm hoping he will come around soon.  Just happy that there hasn't been any aggression directly towards Ellie.  I think he's too young to associate his feelings with the fact that they coincide with Ellie arriving.  Which is probably a good thing.  Ha!  Another tough thing has been the regress that he's had in sleep.  Really hard considering how often you wake up with a newborn.  Throw in 1-2 wakeups from the toddler and you start feeling like a zombie.  It so directly correlates with her coming home from the hospital that I'm letting his get away with it for a while.  Trying to give him a little grace.  He has one more week to figure it out and thennnnn...sorry bud.  Back to a little sleep training for you.  :)  Of course now he has a fever...awesome sauce when you have a vulnerable 2 week old...not.  Anywho.  We are all adjusting and trying to figure out this family of 4 thing.

Last week was my first week solo without Jason and it went pretty well imo.  No major disasters or tears...from anyone.  By Friday I felt a little haggard but we survived and I think we are all a little better for it.  Right?!?  ;)

It's probably crazy but I'm already looking into ways to exercise once my 6 weeks are up.  Probably because my body healed so quickly this time compared to last time.  I mean, I wouldn't go for a run right now but in 4 weeks...I'll be ready.  Anyways, we don't have much extra $$$ for gyms and such but there are some free running clubs here and I think I would like to join one.  There's also one that trains for a marathon starting in September.  I have always wanted to do a marathon but finding people to run with has been tough.  Jason worries about my safety often and running that many miles would require me to do at least part of my training in the dark most likely...especially in AZ where they don't do daylight savings.  If I have some peeps by my side though?  I'll have the husband's blessing!  :)  It would be nice to exercise AND meet some people at the same time.  So we will see.  Do I sound like a broken record?  Always looking to meet people?  Yup.

Other things to note.  Nursing is going well but this time around I didn't need to use a nipple shield.  Jack had a short frenulum that made it hard for him to nurse without killing me.  Basically he could nurse but it was such a shallow latch that he shredded me up.  Thus the nipple shield.  Turns out nipple shields are messy but they are a heck of a lot easier to use ha!  Also Jack was so passionate about nursing that he would eat hanging upside down so long as he could reach the source of the milk.  Eloise has been a little more tricky.  She likes to be positioned JUST right.  I also have a very fast let down which has basically darn near drowned both of our children. Ha!  Poor babies.  I remember Jack sputtering and coughing.  Didn't phase him too much.  Ellie though?  She'll try to keep up but eventually after choking she'll just let the milk pour all over...or she'll fill her mouth, spit it out, and do that a couple of times.  Eventually she'll start drinking again.  Crazy baby.  So nursing has been a little...messy? to say the least.  And here I was thinking the shield was messy.  Um yeah.  Ellie definitely has topped that.  Also new to the world of having a 2nd baby.  Projectile poop.  Seriously, Jack never did this once.  Eloise?  I've been pooped on while changing a diaper at least 4 times...and yesterday Jason was christened.  ;)

I'm sure there are more things to note but that's all I got for now.  Also, hope you enjoyed the photos of Jack meeting Eloise for the first time.  I look terrible but I adore these pictures.  It was such a sweet time with my boy and I'm glad we have the photos to look back on.  There are more but it turns out the tank top I was wearing was a little...scandalous for internet photos.  :)  My milk was beginning to come in.  Ha!