I am surviving the first few days at home by myself with my babies!
A part of me was apprehensive about this new change, but I think that's because I was imagining the worst: both kids crying at the same time and me running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. But it's not been that way at all! The first day I was a bit overwhelmed and so happy when Chris came home. I think all the activity just plain wore me out! I use a step stool to help Ava get in and out of her crib. I change her and dress her on the floor and I just suck it up and lift her into her chair at our bar-height table. Probably the most frustrating part is when Ava wants to run away from me and I have to chase her down - she is definitely faster than me right now! I am healing so well; I stopped taking all pain pills by about 1 week after surgery. Pretty impressive! It feels so good to be able to sleep on my side...although full breasts kind of get in the way, haha! About 35 pounds have just fallen off, and I think the weight loss from here on out will be a lot slower. My belly is not as puffy now, just me and my empty pooch, haha! I can finally see my incision without using a mirror! I think I might end up with the infamous "c-section belly flap", but we will see how my belly continues to shrink over these next several weeks. I got 2 stretch marks on my belly this time, but they actually make me smile when I see them. They're like nature's tattoos! I grew my baby boy, and I'm thrilled he's here, and I'll think of my time carrying him whenever I see them in the mirror!
Liam is a pretty laid back baby! He sure is noisy, though! He does lots of grunting, especially when he's eating, or when he's trying to wake up or transition in his sleep. It makes it hard for me to determine if he is actually awake and I should feed him, or let him try to keep sleeping! Especially at night when Chris and I are trying to sleep and he's grunting away - the easy thing would be to just get up and feed him instead of listening to 15 minutes of noisemaking and thinking about what to do. When he is truly hungry/awake, he will work up to a singular, open-mouth cry. I'm thinking that's his sign! We are still in the stage of getting to know him, so each day I learn more and more!
Ava has adjusted wonderfully! So far she's not displayed any jealousy. Maybe in the first day or two, but those few days were an adjustment for us all! I try to let her be apart of as many things with Liam as I can. She sits with us while I nurse him on the couch and she watches very intently. I tell her that is how I fed her when she was a tiny baby. She touches his head, his arm, his toes, and leans in so her head touches him. All while quietly observing. It's pretty sweet! She likes when he is in his play gym so she can sit or lay with him. Today she patted the mat and wanted him to lay down with her! She likes to watch when I change him and she will give Liam a diaper. She'll cover him up with a blanket if I ask her and she brings him toys when he is in the swing. Chris and I have both noticed that Ava seems to have regressed a bit with her talking - she now resorts to saying "mmm" for words she used to say. It could be because she's just gotten lazy since we understand what she wants now, or she's trying to be like noisy brother! So we have to prompt her a lot to "use your words".
We are preparing his room for some crib naps! I've already got that feeling that I'm ready for daytime activities to happen in his room - diaper changes and nursing. Right now EVERYTHING is in our bedroom. I feel like I'm constantly dragging things from his room to ours - lotion, diapers, wipes, blankets, extra clothes (he pees on everything) - and it's driving me a little nuts! We currently have 5 wipe containers across the house...FIVE!!! Clearly structure is something I can't get away from, even if I want to! Mommy and daddy like their own space, too! I'm a little cautious to have him in his room overnight because he has had 2 massive spit-ups in his short little life already, and both have been shortly after he fell asleep. So laying him flat on his back might be something we hold off on for nighttime until his little tummy matures a bit.
We have one more visitor coming early next week, so after that, we are going to start the transition to the crib! We got Ava used to her crib from the very beginning and it was effortless with her. I don't think we will have many problems - he seems to be a pretty go-with-the-flow guy!
Fingers crossed things continue to go well!!
A part of me was apprehensive about this new change, but I think that's because I was imagining the worst: both kids crying at the same time and me running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. But it's not been that way at all! The first day I was a bit overwhelmed and so happy when Chris came home. I think all the activity just plain wore me out! I use a step stool to help Ava get in and out of her crib. I change her and dress her on the floor and I just suck it up and lift her into her chair at our bar-height table. Probably the most frustrating part is when Ava wants to run away from me and I have to chase her down - she is definitely faster than me right now! I am healing so well; I stopped taking all pain pills by about 1 week after surgery. Pretty impressive! It feels so good to be able to sleep on my side...although full breasts kind of get in the way, haha! About 35 pounds have just fallen off, and I think the weight loss from here on out will be a lot slower. My belly is not as puffy now, just me and my empty pooch, haha! I can finally see my incision without using a mirror! I think I might end up with the infamous "c-section belly flap", but we will see how my belly continues to shrink over these next several weeks. I got 2 stretch marks on my belly this time, but they actually make me smile when I see them. They're like nature's tattoos! I grew my baby boy, and I'm thrilled he's here, and I'll think of my time carrying him whenever I see them in the mirror!
Liam is a pretty laid back baby! He sure is noisy, though! He does lots of grunting, especially when he's eating, or when he's trying to wake up or transition in his sleep. It makes it hard for me to determine if he is actually awake and I should feed him, or let him try to keep sleeping! Especially at night when Chris and I are trying to sleep and he's grunting away - the easy thing would be to just get up and feed him instead of listening to 15 minutes of noisemaking and thinking about what to do. When he is truly hungry/awake, he will work up to a singular, open-mouth cry. I'm thinking that's his sign! We are still in the stage of getting to know him, so each day I learn more and more!
Ava has adjusted wonderfully! So far she's not displayed any jealousy. Maybe in the first day or two, but those few days were an adjustment for us all! I try to let her be apart of as many things with Liam as I can. She sits with us while I nurse him on the couch and she watches very intently. I tell her that is how I fed her when she was a tiny baby. She touches his head, his arm, his toes, and leans in so her head touches him. All while quietly observing. It's pretty sweet! She likes when he is in his play gym so she can sit or lay with him. Today she patted the mat and wanted him to lay down with her! She likes to watch when I change him and she will give Liam a diaper. She'll cover him up with a blanket if I ask her and she brings him toys when he is in the swing. Chris and I have both noticed that Ava seems to have regressed a bit with her talking - she now resorts to saying "mmm" for words she used to say. It could be because she's just gotten lazy since we understand what she wants now, or she's trying to be like noisy brother! So we have to prompt her a lot to "use your words".
We are preparing his room for some crib naps! I've already got that feeling that I'm ready for daytime activities to happen in his room - diaper changes and nursing. Right now EVERYTHING is in our bedroom. I feel like I'm constantly dragging things from his room to ours - lotion, diapers, wipes, blankets, extra clothes (he pees on everything) - and it's driving me a little nuts! We currently have 5 wipe containers across the house...FIVE!!! Clearly structure is something I can't get away from, even if I want to! Mommy and daddy like their own space, too! I'm a little cautious to have him in his room overnight because he has had 2 massive spit-ups in his short little life already, and both have been shortly after he fell asleep. So laying him flat on his back might be something we hold off on for nighttime until his little tummy matures a bit.
We have one more visitor coming early next week, so after that, we are going to start the transition to the crib! We got Ava used to her crib from the very beginning and it was effortless with her. I don't think we will have many problems - he seems to be a pretty go-with-the-flow guy!
Fingers crossed things continue to go well!!
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