I am so excited to be doing monthly baby updates again!!!
And I can't believe it's already been a whole month with our Liam!
Apparently Liam had big goals for his first few weeks of life.
He outgrew size newborn diapers at one week old...because he kept peeing out of them!
He loves to be held on our chests and is pretty good at holding his head up already! He loves to look around!
At 2 weeks, 6 days old, Liam rolled from tummy to back multiple times! He's an overachiever!
We had his 2-week appointment when he was 3 weeks old. He weighed in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces, meaning that he gained almost 2 pounds in 2 weeks!!! The doctor was pretty impressed!
Just last night he found his thumb to suck and he's trying to socially smile!
Just last night he found his thumb to suck and he's trying to socially smile!
I'm already packing up newborn clothes! It's happening too fast!
On one hand, I don't want him to change so quickly. Butttt, even though I'm not as hormonal this time and I feel like I can relax and enjoy him more, I'm already looking forward to the upcoming days of more sleep at night. And of course I'm looking forward to all the milestones and things he will learn! I was telling Chris the other night - just think: in 5 months he will be eating food! It's going to fly by!
For the most part, Liam has been eating every 2 hours at night. Soooo I'm basically getting multiple 1-hour naps at night. And I'm really starting to feel it! I get to the end of the day and my body is just done, aching to lay down and pass out!
My recovery continues to be going pretty well! My incision looks good, my tummy continues to shrink, breastfeeding is going well (so great, actually! Very thankful!), and I can feel more muscle strength in my belly coming back. I can't full out cough yet, but I can sneeze without fear now! I have to remind myself to take it easy when I roll over in bed or go to get up because it's becoming more and more effortless to do! I drove Liam to his doctor's appointment and then later that day I drove to Target with my sister, and my belly was sore! Baby steps are important! I look forward to feeling better and better with each week that goes by. I imagine I'll be feeling pretty close to "normal" in the next couple weeks!
Big sister is doing pretty well too. She's handled all the changes and the revolving door of people at our house better than I could have imagined! She's had her moments, but overall she's loving being a big sister, I think! She asks for Liam all the time and wants to sit with him when he's on the floor. She loves to rub her cheek against his head, and literally anytime he makes a noise, Ava yells "OHHHHHHHH BAYBEEEEEE!!!!!" It's pretty funny!
We have finally cycled through all of our visitors. The help was so greatly appreciated - I really don't think we could have managed without help! So now me and the babies plan to work towards a daily routine! I am working with Liam to take crib naps during the day, although its hard to get him to sleep without Ava being loud and disrupting him while I try to get him to sleep. Liam had his first night in his room the other night, and it went the same as it's been with him in our room, so it's been a success so far!
The learning curve is getting steep for managing two under two at home alone. Liam is becoming more needy and is working his way out of the "constantly drowsy" newborn weeks. He is headed into his 4 week growth spurt AND his first developmental leap, so he's pretty fussy in the evening hours. During the day sometimes all he wants is to be held when he's awake. It makes it tricky to do anything else when my hands are full! Earlier this week I had my first taste of the challenge of managing two kids at a busy time of day. It was time for Ava's lunch and then nap and I wasn't able to get Liam to sleep beforehand. He was not happy anywhere I put him - the swing, his playmat, the rock and play...so sadly Liam had to take a turn to wait until I was done with Ava. He was so mad by the time I could get back to him. It was very hard. It's so hard to ask either of them to wait!! I taught Ava a new phrase to "help" Liam when he has to wait: "Don't cry!" She says it pretty clearly, too! It just so happened that Chris came home from work for a bit as I had just picked up a screaming Liam. Little baby passed out literally as soon as I picked him up. The surprise of Chris coming home and Liam's reaction to me picking him up was just so overwhelming and I started crying. Chris had the perfect words for me: "It's ok. You're doing a great job. Not every day is going to be like this." It was just what I needed to hear! He kept an eye on Liam and Ava napped, giving me a much needed break: I took a nap!!
All you can really do in the newborn phase is repeat the phrase: this phase won't last forever! There will be great days, and then there will be terrible days, and then there are days that are a combination of the two. So far the hardest parts of the day are first thing in the morning when we all have a long list of needs, and dinnertime (this is where freezer meals come in for now!). But for right now, we are watching lots of cartoons and hanging out on the couch when we can! My goal is to complete one task or chore each day, and then if I can do more than that I feel super accomplished! It's hard to get the right combination of resting and getting up and moving around. Too much of either one is no good! Some days I don't get to sit much at all - I just bounce back and forth between what the two kids need from me.
I've been pretty emotional this past week for a variety of reasons, and I've realized my parenting techniques have to be tweaked a bit for Ava. It's been an adjustment for me to go from having Ava as the center of my world, to having to "scoot her over" to make room for Liam. It's been hard for me to not be as involved with her as I would like. The mom guilt for the ungodly amount of screen time she is getting right now really got to me for awhile until I realized there's no other way I could manage and it's just not that big of a deal right now. I try really, really hard to include Ava in everything involving Liam and to not make her feel like she's not as important as the new baby. But it's sooo frustrating to have her go up to Liam in his swing and wake him up or to be yelling and throwing a fit when I've just gotten Liam to sleep. She is my shadow. She follows me everywhere. Which before wasn't really an issue except that sometimes I just wanted some space, but now it sometimes interferes with what Liam needs from me. So I'm learning to deal!
I'm excited to see how much more Liam can do a month from now, and what else I've learned about being a mommy of two! Keep your fingers crossed for me!!
I also had 2 under two, with C-sections, an Air Force pilot husband and was on my own a lot. BUT, I had 6 weeks of help between my mom and my MIL and needed every second of it. You are a Super Troop to be on your own already. One thing that really helped after all four kids (all C-sections!), was not getting dressed except when I HAD to go somewhere. I showered, etc, but wearing jammies or t-shirts and sweats signals to the children that things are not really normal. Also keeps your visitors from staying too long. :)
ReplyDeleteThose two "Irish Twins" of mine are now 38 & 39. Some days (and nights)are long, but the years go fast!
Thank you for your comment! It's nice to know that everyone struggles with adjusting and that I'm not alone! I try to remember that last phrase as often as I can - it helps keep me grounded when times are hard!
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