Spring is Here!

Gardening

I had forgotten how easy it was to entertain our toddler outdoors. I remembered this week, as a warm front descended upon us, and we had record breaking weather. We had 5 days of temperature above 20C; typically the average March temperature is 2C!

We ventured to the park on several occasions. The baby slept soundly in her stroller, while our toddler ran around. The nice weather was so unexpected that the park's swings had not yet been set up. Our toddler was very content to be outdoors, and we found it difficult to convince her to return home.

Although the above average weather won't last, it was a nice distraction. Rather than mope around the house feeling exhausted, my goal was to get outside. And that I did, at least twice a day. Most often I was alone with one child while the other was being entertained by her father or grandmother. I am not yet confident that I can walk outside with both. What if our toddler decides to run into the street? The one time I ventured outdoors with both of them, our toddler insisted I carry her. "No," she said emphatically when I suggested she ride on the platform attached to the back of the stroller. Thankfully the park was only 50 meters from our house.

Napping

Routine

Sisters

I did not imagine that it would occur this quickly...Life at home with my two young charges has now become routine! Just last week I was struggling at home alone with the two young kids. Yet this week was a breeze. Our toddler was entertained by her little sister, and the hours flew by! Having a housekeeper on Tuesdays who also helped our toddler with mealtime was certainly useful. My mom came by on Thursday, and then on Friday we headed to Grandma's house.

Although it flew by, I still find myself exhausted...I suppose it would be unrealistic to expect a 5 week old to sleep through the night!

Home Alone

I asked her to smile for the photo!

Home alone with the two kids, that is. My husband headed back to work this Monday. I was exhausted over the three weeks that my husband was home to help. But the real test, in my mind at least, would be this week. Here's how it went:

Monday.
Horrible night on Sunday. The baby decided to wake up every hour for more milk. Growth spurt perhaps?! As well, I was up earlier than usual, as my husband had to leave for work by 7h30. Over the last three weeks, he had been feeding our toddler breakfast, a task that once again became mine. The morning actually flew by despite my exhaustion. My sister, a school teacher, was off for spring break and offered to help out with the Brat. She arrived at 11, and stayed for 3 hours. I don't think I could have done it without her. She fed our toddler lunch, and entertained her better than I could have under normal circumstances. I tried to nap while she was here, but to no avail as the baby wanted to drink very often. My sister left at 14h, our toddler's usual nap time (if she was so inclined). Much to my dismay, she decided she did not need to nap. However she did play surprisingly calmly the rest of the afternoon. My husband arrived shortly after 17h and took over. And because our toddler had not napped, she fell asleep very easily a little before 20h.

Tuesday.
My first real day alone. Another tough night. Baby awoke every 1-1.5h for more milk. I felt like I was running an all-night cafe! Usually we have a housekeeper at our house on Tuesdays. She has quite a bit of experience as a nanny, so I thought I could ask her to help feed our toddler. But she had requested to work this Thursday rather than Tuesday, so I truly was alone. At some point in the morning, I found myself sipping some caffeinated tea (another rarity as I usually drink tisane), and thinking that it was not so bad, I could handle this new job of stay at home mom to two young children. Then I looked at the time. It was only 10h! Only 7.5 hours to go!!! I am not sure how I made it, but somehow 17h came around, and before I knew it, my husband was home. A little later on, with the Brat in bed, and my husband holding the baby, I was tidying up the kitchen. In my trance-like state, I knocked over a cup of tea onto my laptop. Although my husband would say it had nothing to do with exhaustion, just my usual clumsiness...As I type these words (on my desktop), my laptop remains nonfunctional...

Wednesday.
Finally, a better night! She awoke every 2.5-3 hours, and her mama finally got some sleep! The day flew by. It was 12 degrees Celsius outside, and normally I would have ventured out, but the idea of running after my toddler as I held onto the baby's stroller somehow did nor seem appealing! Surprisingly, our toddler decided to nap at 16h. She must have been exhausted. I only let her sleep for an hour so that she would not go to bed at midnight. As the baby was also sound asleep (and would be for another half hour) this allowed me 30 minutes to myself, a rarity these days!

Thursday.
I was very much looking forward to Thursday. My mom's day off work! She arrived shortly before 9h. I left the baby with my mother (along with some pumped milk) and headed off to the YMCA with my toddler. We participate in a parent-child activity every Thursday at 10h called Kindergym. We sing songs, then play for an hour. While my husband was off work, they had attended together, and I had actually missed the class. Not only was it nice to get out of the house, I enjoyed chatting with the other moms, and simply jumping around with the kids. Attending the class was invigorating, and made up for the rest of the day. Our toddler was certainly acting up after the class; she refused diaper changes, wanted to stay in her pajamas, and had difficulty staying at the kitchen table during mealtimes. I am not entirely sure how my mom's presence contributed to this, but I am certain it did. Was she allowed to get away with everything while at Grandma's?

Friday.
As has become a weekly tradition, our toddler spent Friday at her grandma's. I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up on some sleep. I would nap each time the baby did. She slept soundly while being held, but she woke up the instant she was put down. I need to learn to sleep standing up!

Then something quite unexpected happened on Friday. Our newborn smiled! On a few occasions. And it was seemingly unrelated to sleep and gas. And just like that, it made the rough week worthwhile!

Papa Heads Back to Work

Before

Our baby turns 3 weeks old this Thursday. This also marks my husband's return to work. We have opted for the "special parental package" that the Quebec government offers to new parents. We will be taking a combined 25 weeks off work over the first year of our baby's life. We decided that it would make most sense if my husband took a few weeks off initially, as to help our toddler transition from only child to big sister.

A few interesting things occurred over the course of these last three weeks:

1. Our toddler has grown very attached to her papa. He left briefly one day to pick up some documents from work, and she cried when he left! (Ususally she doesn't even bother saying goodbye!)

2. Our toddler is sleeping better at night. Probably because my husband kept returning her to her own bed when she would venture into our room. This is out of necessity, as there simply isn't enough room for the four of us in the same bed, and for the moment the newborn sleeps between my husband and I.

3. Our toddler has grown very attached to her baby sister. Multiple times a day, she requests to hold the baby in her arms. And she is surprisingly gentle with her, patting her hair, and giving her little kisses.

I am a little worried about my husband's return to work. How will I feed both babies simultaneously? Will the toddler agree to nap with us, or will I be foregoing the naps I have been taking with the newborn? How will I survive on even less sleep (my husband has been waking up early with our toddler, allowing the baby and I a few extra hours of sleep in the morning)? I realize that I am not the first mother with more than one young child at home, but I remain a little apprehensive...

After

Baby's first 2 weeks

Checking on her baby sister

On February 12th, we could not wait to get home. There was a sign posted in our hospital room that read: on your day of departure, please be ready to vacate room by 10AM. We were more than ready, and when our nurse popped by a little before 10, we mentioned to her that we wanted to leave, and asked about any documents we needed. She advised us that the pediatrician on call did not want the newborns departing before 36 hours of life, so we would have to sign a discharge waiver, or wait 3 more hours. No problem, where do we sign? There was something about being disturbed every 2 hours for 30 straight hours that we found disconcerting. Whether it was for a vital sign check or an overhead announcement, we were exhausted, and could not stay a moment longer!

First 2 weeks in numbers:
Average dirty diapers changed per day:10
Average amount of time spent nursing per day: 8 hours
Average amount of sleep Baby #2 had per day: 16 hours
Average amount of sleep Baby #2 had in a row: 1.8 hours
Average amount of nights Baby # 1 slept through the night since her sister's arrival: 0

No wonder we are exhausted!

First 2 weeks in pictures:

First photo taken of Baby #2

Wish I had her life!

Nursing her doll

Regressing...

Baby # 2's Arrival

Baby # 1 holds Baby # 2 for the first time

Baby #1's last day as an only child was February 10th 2012. The day did not go quite as I had imagined it would. Earlier in the week, both my husband and Baby #1 had developed gastroenteritis. By Thursday February 9th, they were both feeling better. Right before going to sleep that night, I turned to my husband, and mentioned that I was relieved (mostly for Baby #2's sake) that I had not gotten sick.

Sometimes it is best not to say certain things. For at 3AM on February 10th, only a few hours after I spoke those words to my husband, I woke up, ran to the bathroom, and as my father would say "tossed my cookies". Several times. Then again a little later on in the day. I remember at this point hoping that Baby #2 would stay in my uterus a little while longer. Luckily, my mother was over on Friday to play with Baby #1. She left shortly after 14h, once the Baby had fallen asleep (napping was a rare event recently, but she was still recovering from her gastroenteritis). Even though I was feeling a little nauseous at this point, I thought I would also nap…and that my husband would be back from work soon enough. As it happened, Baby #1 decided that she had napped long enough, and woke up at 15h. I had just tossed my cookies again, and found it difficult to entertain my toddler. And to make matters worse, my Braxton Hicks contractions were occurring more frequently.

At this point, I decided to call my husband. And for the first time in a long time, I could not reach him. He was not picking up his cellular phone, nor responding to my text messages. I would later find out that he was in a meeting, and had turned off his phone. At long last, a little before 16h, I was able to reach him. He said he would leave right away.

By the time he got home, a little before 17h, I suspected that my contractions were not Braxton Hicks, but in fact early labour. I waited an additional 30 minutes, and as the contractions occurred more frequently, and were more and more painful, I decided to go to the hospital. My husband drove, and I sat behind with my toddler. We decided that I would go in alone, as we were nearing in on Baby # 1's bedtime. If in fact they would be keeping me at the hospital, I would call my mother to take care of Baby #1, and my husband would join me later on at the hospital.

I was placed on a monitor as soon as I arrived, but I waited a good hour before being examined. Initially I was going to wait for the exam before calling my mother, but as the contractions got more and more painful, I made the call shortly after arriving at the hospital. Normally, my sister would have driven over with my mother, but she too had caught the gastroenteritis that my toddler had no doubt given to her. They were going to call a cab, but finally some relatives offered to drive my mother to our house. 

Back at the hospital, my husband arrived shortly before 20h. By which time I had been admitted to the hospital, was in my own room, and had just gotten the epidural. I thought that I would forego the epidural the second time around, thinking surely everything would happen very quickly. But on exam, I was only 4cm dilated, and 100% effaced. So I knew that it would be at east several more hours of painful contractions. While the epidural was partially effective, I continued to feel the contractions right up until the end.

My obstetrician happened to be on call that day. She examined me initially, and several times thereafter. She ruptured my membranes just a few minutes before my husband arrived at the hospital, whereupon he said "I always miss the good stuff." At a little after midnight, my doctor re-entered the exam room, examined me, and declared that it was time to have a baby!

While the labour didn't progress as quickly as I thought it might for a second pregnancy, the pushing was very easy compared to the first. For baby # 1, I had pushed a good hour and a half before her arrival. This time around, I pushed approximately 10 times over 4 contractions. And out she came! My obstetrician suggested that I should pull her out myself, and that I did! My husband cut the cord, and before I knew it, Baby # 2 was on my chest.

And then I fell in love all over again...

Baby Love

A picture is worth a thousand words

Baby # 2
Born Feb 11, 2012 at 0:27
Weight 3.671 kg (8 pounds, 1oz)
Length 54 cm

More to follow on next week's post