I am here tonight because I had some caffeine today (I don't do that very often) and my boy has finally started to sleep better at night. Now sleeping during the day is another story.
If I rewind and sum up how it's been since home from hospital....exhausting in the best way possible. Baby boy is almost 10 weeks now and the first 8 were TOUGH w/ a capital T. I think it's safe to say that he had mild colic. His tummy gave him sooo much trouble that even after the switching of formulas and all the other stuff I did to try and help, nothing really did. At his 2 month check up the Dr. basically said we've done as much as we could and it eases up at around 10-12 weeks. He didn't have the scream for hours for no reason, but he just wasn't comfortable, cried and fussed a lot during he day, and wouldn't go back to sleep at night after eating for a long time. It's just been over the past few weeks that he's started to sleep better at night i.e. he sometimes sleeps through a 3 hour feed time at 9pm (so sleeps from around 7 or 8 until 12midnight) and falls back asleep after bottles (for the most part). That's mostly because he doesn't nap much during the day, he is wide awake and still somewhat fussy, but at least the nights are better.
A few nights I've put baby girl to bed, then put baby boy in his rocker in my room around same time and Lo and behold I have some time where all is quiet. Interestingly enough baby boy has learned to put himself to sleep--which I found out by accident. One night after feeding/changing/rocking, etc. he just wouldn't go to sleep so I said to heck w/ it and put him in my room. He just laid in there, not crying and soon enough it was quiet. I've been able to do this a few times and it works! (assuming his sister isn't yelling MAH MAY over and over until I go to her room).
He's already gone from this..........
To this!!
They really look different the two of them......his sister looks just like her donor father and he is resembling me for sure. I thought my daughter was looking like my side too, but then changed, so I am holding out on saying he looks like me for sure. But, I compared his picture at this age and hers....their eyes and noses look different. Funny how genetics work! I was hoping they'd look similar (and maybe they will) for my daughter's sake because I don't want her to feel oddly out.....people already look at me, then her, and ask where her curls come from. Or they say she must look like her father. I just nod and say yes. Eventually she will understand the questions but for now, we'll just keep it going.
She is doing well and I have a separate post I'm going to do about all the things she is saying and doing these days, but I wanted to include these as they show her personality plus. Handful this one is. She is coming up w/ some seriously funny stuff and we've had some moments of laughing together--which I love.
Holidays are here and we had a nice Thanksgiving. We didn't fly anywhere....there was no way I was going to take a 2 year old and a newborn on a flight by myself. It's the first time I haven't been around a large group of people for the holiday in my whole life. That part was different, but we made the best of it. One of my babysitters is recently split from her husband and he took the kids to his family (new for her) and my other friend didn't fly home to California for the first time ever because she had just been there for a wedding. A lot of firsts for us all so we just decided to get together at my house and eat some good food. It all came together really well.....only mishap was I ordered a turkey meal from the grocery and assumed the turkey would be cooked. Well, it was, but it still needed to be in oven for over 2 hours. So, we ate all the sides first then had round two with the turkey and stuffing.
We also did these.....I had never done these before if you can believe. Sort of a right of passage when you have kids. They must be done.
Still off of work and will be for remainder of the year. I am taking time to enjoy my children and focus on getting as much rest where I can. I am also focusing on my health because it's so important being their sole parent. I recently participated in our company's executive physical program where you go to the hospital for a whole day to get 'checked out' and it's all free! I had all blood work done, chest x-ray, nutritional counseling, ekg, and some other things. It was all very well coordinated and they summarize results w/ you at the end of the day w/ the Dr. Things overall look pretty good but I need to work on my weight and cholesterol (go hand in hand). So, I started to work out again and it feels good. I am also thinking about doing a specific diet that a friend of mine is doing and has had great success. I am calling it a diet and not a lifestyle because it really is a diet. Not meant to be 'forever' but helps you to lose weight w/ their food and it's very a.tkin.s like. I want to try something different because I have done w.e.ight w.atchers over the years and I know the program but the last times I've done it (before children) I haven't stuck to it so why not try something different? It is of utmost importance that I keep my health at the top of my list and addressing weight is part of that. I'm nervous about falling off the wagon when I get stressed--my trigger to eat poorly--and failing. But, I have a different motivation now.
The other thing I decided to do was to have some cancer genetic screening done. My maternal fetal doctor was great in that she worried about my whole being, not just the baby. We talked at my post-partum visit and discussed getting another mammogram (found out can't do until 6 months out after baby) and given the cancer history in my family had I ever done the screening? She had a good point and I decided to check into it, see if insurance covered, and do it. The history is my maternal great grandma died early from breast cancer (in 40's), my maternal grandmother died from breast cancer (in her 40's also and I never knew her--sad because from what my mom always said she was an amazing lady) and my mother died from a carcinoid in her abdomen that metastasized to her liver. Family history is not the best. I am almost positive insurance will cover...I called them ahead of time and they said they do, however the lab was supposed to call me after they verified. I haven't heard back yet. By the way, for the testing I learned a ton I didn't know....as an example, for the BR.C.A gene 1 and 2, you can test positive, negative, or inconclusive. If you test positive you have an 85% chance that you will get breast cancer in your lifetime. Wow.
Even though I have been off of work I have remained super busy. We are gearing up for Christmas and I am getting excited this year. I think because my daughter's excitement is infectious and she is starting to 'get it'. The live tree is bought and up (okay not decorated but at least in the house). Story behind that is--my idea was we'd have a nice family outing to get a tree fa-la-la-la.....well, it turned out that because I had both kids by myself I was sweating a lot, yes in December. My daughter kept wanting to dart in and out of the trees so I spent most of the time saying don't go too far, come back here, hang on a minute. My son got bitten by a mosquito. However, it was great because they hold each one for you, you pick it, they wrap it, put a stand on it, and put it on your car (you pay for that service, of course, but well worth it when you have two little ones in tow). Well, when I drove home and tried to drive under the carport I didn't realize the stand was sticking up as far as it was and the darn tree flew right off the back of my car. Broke the back windshield wiper on its way. I thought i would have to get a new tree stand but the neighbor fixed it. The tree itself sways more than it should and it makes me so mad, but hey, it is a beautiful tree. I am so proud of myself because i even went to a craft fair and bought yard ornaments!! ME!! One is an ornament that says merry xmas and the others are two christmas presents. I also bought a wreath for the door w/ a little snowman on it. I think my mom would be so proud too!
One last picture....I love it because even though it is blurry, it was one of the first interactive play times my children have had. It was so cute. Well, until she started pulling at him and he started crying, but there will be years more of that to come. I have no idea why my daughter only has a diaper on....
Beautiful photos of the family you have created--congratulations!
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