I want to hold your hand

Oh please say to me
You'll let me hold your hand

::melts into puddle::

Déjà vu

Lu at 8 weeks.
Park at 8 weeks.

WHOA.

2U2: Week Four (and then some)

We're still alive!  Are you surprised?  I am.

Blogging is near impossible as of late.  I have so much that I want to share, and absolutely no time to do so.  My life is consumed by these two tiny Sheltons between the hours of 6:30 am - 8:00 pm.  I'm tempted to blog during naptime, but then I lose my one opportunity to nap be productive around the house; and, of course, once the kids go down for the night, we like to have a little quality husband and wife time (or as we like to refer to it, an Entourage marathon).  I'm happy that I was able to keep up the 2U2 series for the first four weeks (albeit not always in a timely manner), but holy cow are these posts time consuming...I'll be doing monthly updates from here on out.

So, for the lazy or short-on-time readers, here is the condensed version of our fourth week:  my nipples are on fire (not in a good way), sleep sucks AGAIN, momma had a meltdown, there was a tarantula in our drive way, and I have mastered the art of leaving the house with two kids. 

Now for the long version:

BREASTFEEDING
Parker is still exclusively breastfed and nursing every three hours.  He's very alert during his waketime and nursing sessions.  Casey gave Parker his first bottle on Monday, and had no problems.  We are using my favorite bottle, the Playtex Nurser Drop-In.  I nursed Parker after he finished the bottle to help avoid nipple confusion.  We were anxious to introduce the bottle much earlier than we did with Lucy.  The plan is to feed Parker by bottle once each day so that he's familiar with it (you know, for those extremely rare occasions that I'm not around to nurse him).

Ok, so about my nipples (haha), for some bizarre reason they are both cracked.  Nursing is pretty uncomfortable for the first 30 seconds - no problems once Park is latched and my milk has let down.  I would have expected this during the first two weeks, but not the FOURTH.  What gives??   

NAPS
I have been reminded once again that newborn sleep habits are not all the same.  Park decided to add a little spice to our daily routine over the last week...the 2 hour nap (and 3 hour schedule) are no more.  Sometimes he'll sleep for 45 minutes, other times he'll sleep for 1.5 hours.  I very, verrrry rarely have to wake him after 2 hours.  Maybe it's another growth spurt?  I put Parker down awake, but drowsy, and swaddled with his arms free.  If I catch him at the right moment, he won't cry at all or he'll CIO for 1-2 minutes.  If I don't catch him at the right moment, he'll cry for up to 20 minutes.  His waketime varies; I try to watch for his sleep cues after 60 minutes and follow his lead. 

Lucy is officially down to one nap.  I try to put her down at noon, and she'll typically sleep for 1.5 hours.  (Today she spoiled me with a 3 hour nap.  Thanks honey!)  She'll stay in her crib for up to an hour after her nap to read and play.  

NIGHTTIME SLEEP
Parker's bedtime is dependent on his last nap, usually somewhere between 8:00-8:30, and consistently wakes at 6:30 each morning.  The first two stretches of sleep are the best at 2-3 hours, after that its every 1.5 hours.  It makes for a very long night...

Lu's bedtime is at 8:00 and she wakes between 7:00-8:00.    

DIAPERING
Lucy is in cloth during the day and a disposable at night.  Parker is half cloth and half disposable during the day, and disposables at night.  We are having a really hard time with prefolds this time around.  Parker soaks through them right away and then (understandably) wants to be changed.  I put him in a pocket diaper this evening and it fit really well on the smallest setting.  I might switch him to pockets full time, and then use the prefolds on Lucy. 

SIBLING INTERACTION
::shakes head::  Lucy, Lucy, Lucy...such a beast at times.  If she doesn't have my or Casey's full attention, she acts out.  It's the worst when I'm nursing Parker.  She'll swing from the curtains, stand on the coffee table, yank the night light or baby monitor, dump the contents of the laundry basket all over the floor, etc.  I've tried reading to her, cuddling, and even Barney DVDs, but nothing holds her attention.  Pinching was also a big problem last week.

Contrarily, she's starting to console Parker when I can't get to him right away.  She mimics what I usually do to soothe him - kissing his cheeks and rubbing his head or belly.  So sweet to watch!

MISCELLANEOUS
We ventured out of the house several times last week.  We did some shopping, visited Grampy at the hospital, and even went to Story Time at the library.  It's a lot of work, but worth it to avoid getting cabin fever...because cabin fever leads to meltdowns...like the one I had on Thursday.  The house was trashed before the day even started and I had absolutely no patience for it.  I went batshit crazy for all of 20 minutes, and then my friends and mother-in-law reasoned with me.  My expectations for myself and the house are up HERE and they need to be down here.

Oh, and we had a tarantula in our driveway.  First one in this house.  /dies

CONCLUSION 
Another week down with two kids.  TWO KIDS.  I still find myself needing to be reminded.  We have not one, but TWO little lives that we are responsible for nurturing and molding.  Sometimes I get so caught up in the number of diapers I've changed and how few hours I've slept that I forget that...

Mwah!

"Hey Parker, eat this Cheez-It"

Bahahaha! "Mom, mom!  He doesn't like the Cheez-It!"

 

All the cousins!

Pointing out a bird or a plane...(or Superman)

Reppin' the Albert.

2U2: Week Three

Week Three had it's ups and downs...  We made some progress, and we're slowly figuring things out.  It hasn't been as easy as I expected or as hard as I remembered.  Somethings, like breastfeeding, are second nature now.  Other things, like sleeping, aren't as textbook as I had hoped...

Here's a recap of our third week:

BREASTFEEDING
Is going well.  Park is a great breastfeeder, still exclusively breastfed.  He's even starting to get chubby!  He nurses for 20-30 minutes every three hours.  He has been more alert, so I don't always have to change his diaper to wake him.

NAPS
In an effort to help Parker get his days and nights straight, I decided to follow Kate's suggestion, and started waking him from naps after 2 hours (instead of 3 hours).  His typical waketime is 60 minutes, which puts us on a three hour schedule.  Parker goes down awake and swaddled.  Prior to this week, he laid there quietly until he fell asleep; but, this week, he's started crying-it-out.  The first time he cried, I checked on him immediately.  After checking his diaper and attempting to nurse, we decided to try letting him CIO; he cried for 8 minutes.  It was a little tough, but nothing compared to the first time Lucy cried-it-out.  He seldom cries for more than 5 minutes.

I also want to mention that we're swaddling a little differently than we did Lucy.  Our nurses in Postpartum told us to leave Parker's arms outside of the swaddle to reduce the risk of SIDS.  I leave his arms free or won't swaddle at all for naps, and then at bedtime I'll wrap his arms to make sure he stays warm.  (Hoping that makes breaking the swaddle habit a little easier in a few months!)

Lu is in the process of dropping her morning nap.  Sadness.  Most days she'll go down between 12-1, depending on lunch, and sleep for 1.5 hours; but sometimes she'll surprise us and take two naps.

NIGHTTIME SLEEP
We had some improvement from Week Two!  Park goes down between 7:30 and 8:30, and sleeps for 4 hours; I nurse him, change his diaper, and return him to the pack and play.  The rest of the night is kind of choppy...  After the first 4 hour stretch, he sleeps for 3 hours, then 2.5 hours, then 1 hour, and our daytime routine usually starts between 7:30 and 8:00.  So, still not perfect, but progress nonetheless.

Lucy has been going down at 8:00 and waking between 8:00 and 8:30.  (Which I appreciate mucho!)

DIAPERING
Both kids are in cloth during the day and disposables at night.  Parker is a very heavy wetter compared to Lucy.  I don't remember Lucy ever soaking through a prefold when she was his age; Parker, on the other hand, soaks through in an hour.  It's disrupting his sleep.  He's still too small for pocket diapers, so, for now, it's disposables to the rescue.  During the day he wears prefolds and Thirsties covers.  Lu wears BumGenius 4.0 pockets or Thirsties covers with Flip inserts.  Ah, and I'm still laundering each day.      

SIBLING INTERACTION
Literally as soon as I hit 'Publish' on last week's update, Lucy turned into this crazy jealous thing.  She shrieks whenever Casey holds Parker, and she acts out when I hold him.  She climbs up on tables, on the baby swing, the stairs, she pulls everything out of non-baby-proofed cabinets and drawers, yanks out every.single.wipe, yells, hits, yadda yadda yadda.  She still loves her brother, but she does not love to share her parents with him.  She smothers Park with kisses and hugs and occasionally love taps.  (We're working on the hitting...)

CONCLUSION
Is it horrible that I'm ready to wave the white flag?  One kid is hard enough, but 2U2 is REALLY HARD.  This last week I questioned whether I was cut out to stay home.  What does that say about me if I think a daycare is more capable of handling my kids than I am??  Maybe it's Postpartum Depression, or maybe it's just sleep deprivation, but I feel overwhelmed sometimes.  I feel guilty for snapping at Lucy.  I don't know how other SAHMs spend their days with their kids - doing projects or something educational.  I feel unproductive - like, if I'm home, I should be cooking and cleaning, and teaching Lucy something.  Instead the house is trashed and we're living off those freezer meals that I made when I was pregnant, and I'm embarrassed when Casey walks in the door each night.

And on that note, here's some pictures of the kids to distract you from my depressing ass...

BOOM!  Big wheel!

We color coordinate our stand mixers and bath towels.  No big.

The neck strength on this one...sheesh

2U2: Week Two

I'm kind of a pessimist.  If you know me at all, this isn't news to you.  I like to expect the worst and then be pleasantly surprised when life doesn't suck.  So when Casey went back to work last Monday, I did just that.  Fortunately, Parker still sleeps a ton (well, during the day at least...), so most of the time it's just me and Lu hanging out while he naps; it's those short intervals when they're both awake that things get interesting.

Here's a recap of our second week:

BREASTFEEDING
All signs of engorgement are gone.  Praise God!  Parker is still exclusively breastfed and latching well.  I think his 2 week growth spurt started on Friday, so he's been eating even more frequently.  He tends to be more alert and interested during his nighttime nursing sessions; I have to change his diaper before switching breasts during the daytime nursing sessions to make sure he's awake.

NAPS
Naps are Parker's strong suit, more so than nighttime sleep.  He extended his waketime over the last week and is now between 45-60 minutes.  Although there were several occasions that he surpassed his typical waketime and refused to sleep altogether...like on Friday...when he was up for 6 consecutive hours...and again on Saturday, when he was up for 3 consecutive hours (you know, during our newborn session).  He naps for 3 hours, and I wake him almost every time.  I put him down awake but drowsy, and swaddled.  He still doesn't seem to mind all the noise from Sissy. 

Lucy is still taking two naps a day, usually at 10:30 and 3:30, and sleeps for 1.5-2 hours each time.  She goes down with her Boppy, blankie, sippy, monkey, and a book.  I love naptime.

NIGHTTIME SLEEP
To put it simply, I dread going to bed each night.  (Maybe I jinxed our good luck with last week's update?)  Parker has his days and nights mixed up.  He sleeps like a rock all day and is drowsy during his waketime; but, come nighttime, he's wide awake, usually for 60 minutes, and sleeping in 1.5 hour intervals.  IT'S BRUTAL.  Everything I've read says to wait it out, and that it will resolve on it's own, but that can take up to one month.  We usually end up bed-sharing by the end of the night because I'm just so desperate for sleep...  I'm frustrated.  I don't want to fall into the same bad habits that I did with Lucy (nursing to soothe, bed-sharing out of desperation, yadda yadda yadda).

I wanted to start CIO, but Parker had (still has) the worst congestion AND two clogged tear ducts (which seem to be better now)...and he's in the middle of his 2 week growth spurt...so it didn't seem right.       

Lu has been going down at 8 pm, and sleeping in later and later!  Between 7:30-8:30!!!  Thank you, sweet girl!

DIAPERING
Both kiddos are in cloth.  (Except for Lu at bedtime.)  Parker is in prefolds and Thirsties covers - seriously, it's the only cover worth purchasing.  I use The Newspaper fold (a.k.a. Angel Wing fold), and Casey uses The Twist.  We haven't had any leaks and that makes me one happy, happy girl.  We were able to stop circumcision care after 10 days, which has saved us some time and mess during each change.

I've been laundering each day, and we've never run out of clean diapers.  ::knocks on wood::  Lu is usually in BumGenius 4.0 pockets or a Thirsties cover with a Flip insert.  (Trying to keep the prefolds set aside for Parker.)

SIBLING INTERACTION
Lu is still very much in love with her baby brother.  She loves to give him kisses and hugs.  Sometimes she's a little too rough; she wants to play with him like she plays with us...which involves hitting, kicking, licking, etc.  This morning she got really pissed when I used one of her blankets to cushion him; she tried to yank it out from under him.

She hasn't shown any signs of jealousy.  When I'm nursing Parker, she's usually walking around the bedroom or couch (wherever we're situated) making a mess playing with her toys.  Sometimes she'll stand behind me and gently tap my back as I'm burping Parker.

CONCLUSION

It was a good week overall.  Parker's nasty umbilical cord fell off and we're all still alive (just tired).  We may even attempt to venture out of the house during Week Three.  Stay tuned!  

2U2: Week One

This series is a spin-off of the Babywise Mom Newborn Summaries, but with my own twist.  I hate how little I blogged immediately after Lucy was born; I wish I were able to look back on that time to compare.  My hope is to keep up with this series for at least 4 weeks, but I make no promises.  For those unfamiliar (Mom), "2U2" stands for two kids under two years old. 

Our first week was surprisingly easy...  Casey took the week off of work, so the parent to kid ratio was even.  (I expect next week's update to be slightly more interesting, as today marks my first day alone with the two kids.)  We were home from the hospital on Tuesday night, and Parker had his first visit to the pediatrician's office Wednesday morning.  He weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces, which is an 8.5% loss from his birth weight - much better than Lucy's loss of 13%.  The pediatrician suggested supplementing with formula until my milk came in, but we didn't feel it necessary.  The stress level has been significantly lower with the second baby. We had a very lazy week, full of mid-day naps and snuggles.

Here's a recap of our first week as a family of four:

BREASTFEEDING
Parker has been exclusively breastfed to date.  I seem to have had way more colostrum than I did with Lucy, so we skipped that whole cluster feeding nightmare, and my milk came in much earlier - by day three!  Park has a great latch and is fairly alert during each nursing session.  I usually nurse Parker on one side, change his diaper to wake him up, and then nurse on the other side.  He's averaging 15-20 minutes per feed.  I've had minimal discomfort, absolutely no cracking or bleeding.  Our one problem, which is totally and completely my fault, is oversupply.  The engorgement has been much worse than I remember with Lucy...so I started pumping after nursing...and that created more of an oversupply.  Way to go, me!  I've stopped pumping and am hopeful that my supply will regulate in a few days.  Also, must plug the breastfeeding app on my phone!  It has made tracking so much easier.            

NAPS
We unintentionally fell into a loose schedule on Friday, and, fortunately, it seems to have stuck.  Parker's waketime is currently 30-45 minutes, with one longer waketime of 45-60 minutes in the evening before bedtime.  He naps for 3 hours at a time, and I wake him every time; there have been a few occasions that he's woken on his own after 3 hours.  Several naps were cut short due to diaper mishaps (more on that below).  I swaddle Parker and put him down while he's still awake, but drowsy, and he goes to sleep on his own within a few minutes.  He's had no problem sleeping with all the noise, and I'm hoping that that continues as he gets older, because Big Sister is sooo not quiet.

NIGHTTIME SLEEP
Parker goes down for the night between 8-9 pm (like I said, we're following a loose schedule, but hope to become more consistent in the near future).  I was waking him every three hours up until Friday.  My plan was to wake him every 5 hours, but he tends to wake on his own after 4 hours.  We had one really lousy night, where he was awake every 1.5 hours because of diaper leaks, but that issue has resolved itself.  My readers will be surprised to hear that we are not bed-sharing; we are co-sleeping.  For as much as I love cuddling my sweet babies, I love my space even more.  We have the pack and play set up in our bedroom, and we are all getting the best sleep possible.         

DIAPERING
Without a doubt, the most frustrating task this week!  There was one 24-hour period that every.single.diaper.leaked.  And all those leaks led to early waking from naps and throughout the night.  (Apparently boy parts need to face a certain direction...not something that I'm accustomed to thinking about.)  We switched to cloth diapers on Sunday, and we haven't had a leak since.  We also have to be mindful of his circumcision; every diaper change involves gobs of Vaseline and gauze.  Oh!  And he peed on me on Wednesday...must remember to cover boy parts immediately after opening the diaper! 

SIBLING INTERACTION
Lucy is absolutely smitten with Parker.  (Such a relief! I was afraid she'd hate him.)  Every time she hears him over the baby monitor, she stops whatever she's doing and yells, "Baby!" and then runs to our bedroom to check on him.  She gives him tons of kisses and hugs - sometimes a few too many - and she loves to lay random objects on his belly (her snacks, breast pads, burpies).  Of course we still have to remind her to be gentle...  Parker isn't interacting, obviously, but he does enjoy watching his Big Sister run circles around him.   

MISCELLANEOUS
Parker has a clogged tear duct.  ::sad face::  At first it was his left eye, but that cleared up, and now his right eye is clogged.  Lots of eye boogers...it is heartbreaking. And Lucy had a language EXPLOSION in the last week.  Suddenly she's repeating everything we say.  I'll do a separate post for the postpartum stuff, but I'll say that recovery has been a dream so far!  It's been a great first week, I just wish we had a little more time to interact with Parker - most of his waketime is spent nursing and changing his dipe.  It's still totally surreal to think we have kid(s), like, plural.   

And, to conclude, pictures!

Heading home from the hospital!

 

 

Sink baths!

Laundry basket races!