two kids
So far, it's not as bad as I anticipated. Then again, optimystik is still at home. I'm trying not to be resentful that his company doesn't top up parental leave. He's using his paid vacation to stay at home. I've had to remind him that he's using vacation but this is not a vacation. I hope that it helps him feel less shitty about not getting a vacation.
I need to instill a routine in my days or suffer malnutrition and insanity once my help is at the office.
If you have volunteered to bring food to me or to help out during the weekday, your help/food/company will be most appreciated starting June 28th.
New thing I didn't experience the first time: evening fussiness. It's not gas/lower GI discomfort. It's likely tiredness and suddenly forgetting how to get back to sleep. I think I birthed a cat -- this baby's asleep for about 20-22 hours a day, it seems. I expect that's somewhat normal; it's just been nearly three years since being around a newborn. But every night between 7-8, he wakes up from a long nap and suddenly freaks the fuck out. Swaddling, bum pats, nursing, swaying, shushing eventually all work to get him to fall asleep again (and STAY asleep!), but it still takes a couple of hours. Every night. grar.
The elder boy is slowly adjusting. Mostly pretty good with the baby, slowly getting better with us... less acting out and more cooperation.
Mom and sis are coming on the weekend and staying for about a week. It'll be my sis's first time visiting me and also her first venture out of hell the US. A dear friend is taking her to the Hot Box Cafe on Sunday. Mom will be with me and the boys. N will be at the cafe with friend and sis.
We're ECing already and catch most poos and some pees. Sooo much better than cleaning him up with wipes. Pooing straight into the tub (breastfed babies have liquidy-runny poo until they start solids, so it washes down the drain super easily) results in far less mess than pooing in his diaper. And I'm able to clean him up in the sink rather than using any sort of wipe on him at all.
His signals are fairly clear to me (screams and cries with pee and grunts for awhile with poo), and it's easier the second time around because I don't ignore my gut that says "he's gotta pee/poo" nearly as much as I did with the fire child. It's also great that he starts fussing in the bathroom when he's completely finished with his bowel and bladder functions because then I'm sure he's done and can clean him up without wondering if he's going to start pooing again while I've got him over the sink. Super clear signals (for now). yay!
He's now nursing like his brother: 15-45 minutes at a go, so hopefully he's gaining nicely. It took him awhile to start nursing much at all so he didn't start out gaining much. I'll find out next Thursday how much progress he's made. His output is certainly up to par. *g*
I ventured out with the two boys by myself last Thursday for a LLL meeting and some errands afterwards. That went better than expected, though maybe I had fairly low expectations... And I've survived about 5 hours caring for the boys on my own less than a week after the birth (of course, those 5 hours were broken up and misslynx had the fire child for several hours in between. That was a shitty day. Literally. The little wolfling had a veritable explosion of bodily fluids while lying on the bed and while cleaning up, I discovered that the waterproof mattress cover was no longer waterproof. O_O So I stripped the bed, called N to request a new waterproof mattress cover and spent the day wishing I could lie down somewhere but not being able to. I know it could have been worse, but it was definitely on the more craptastic side of things.
I'm hoping to make room for a moses basket and rocking stand that a friend has offered. Just need tehjos to come by and pick up some stuff we've set aside for her. Hoping for Thursday eve.
It still seems rather surreal to me that I have two kids. The wolfling will be three weeks old in about 13 hours. Goddamn, that was an awesome birth. :D
I need to instill a routine in my days or suffer malnutrition and insanity once my help is at the office.
If you have volunteered to bring food to me or to help out during the weekday, your help/food/company will be most appreciated starting June 28th.
New thing I didn't experience the first time: evening fussiness. It's not gas/lower GI discomfort. It's likely tiredness and suddenly forgetting how to get back to sleep. I think I birthed a cat -- this baby's asleep for about 20-22 hours a day, it seems. I expect that's somewhat normal; it's just been nearly three years since being around a newborn. But every night between 7-8, he wakes up from a long nap and suddenly freaks the fuck out. Swaddling, bum pats, nursing, swaying, shushing eventually all work to get him to fall asleep again (and STAY asleep!), but it still takes a couple of hours. Every night. grar.
The elder boy is slowly adjusting. Mostly pretty good with the baby, slowly getting better with us... less acting out and more cooperation.
Mom and sis are coming on the weekend and staying for about a week. It'll be my sis's first time visiting me and also her first venture out of hell the US. A dear friend is taking her to the Hot Box Cafe on Sunday. Mom will be with me and the boys. N will be at the cafe with friend and sis.
We're ECing already and catch most poos and some pees. Sooo much better than cleaning him up with wipes. Pooing straight into the tub (breastfed babies have liquidy-runny poo until they start solids, so it washes down the drain super easily) results in far less mess than pooing in his diaper. And I'm able to clean him up in the sink rather than using any sort of wipe on him at all.
His signals are fairly clear to me (screams and cries with pee and grunts for awhile with poo), and it's easier the second time around because I don't ignore my gut that says "he's gotta pee/poo" nearly as much as I did with the fire child. It's also great that he starts fussing in the bathroom when he's completely finished with his bowel and bladder functions because then I'm sure he's done and can clean him up without wondering if he's going to start pooing again while I've got him over the sink. Super clear signals (for now). yay!
He's now nursing like his brother: 15-45 minutes at a go, so hopefully he's gaining nicely. It took him awhile to start nursing much at all so he didn't start out gaining much. I'll find out next Thursday how much progress he's made. His output is certainly up to par. *g*
I ventured out with the two boys by myself last Thursday for a LLL meeting and some errands afterwards. That went better than expected, though maybe I had fairly low expectations... And I've survived about 5 hours caring for the boys on my own less than a week after the birth (of course, those 5 hours were broken up and misslynx had the fire child for several hours in between. That was a shitty day. Literally. The little wolfling had a veritable explosion of bodily fluids while lying on the bed and while cleaning up, I discovered that the waterproof mattress cover was no longer waterproof. O_O So I stripped the bed, called N to request a new waterproof mattress cover and spent the day wishing I could lie down somewhere but not being able to. I know it could have been worse, but it was definitely on the more craptastic side of things.
I'm hoping to make room for a moses basket and rocking stand that a friend has offered. Just need tehjos to come by and pick up some stuff we've set aside for her. Hoping for Thursday eve.
It still seems rather surreal to me that I have two kids. The wolfling will be three weeks old in about 13 hours. Goddamn, that was an awesome birth. :D