Lets train

I know I won't always do weekly updates, but might as well try for this first week at least! And I'm still not sure we will call her 'CeCe' or 'CC' but it's a whole lot easier to type 2 letters instead of 4 at this point:)

My mom and dad drove up from Missouri when I called to say I was being admitted to the hospital in labor early Monday morning. They got here that afternoon and promptly starting helping a TON with Truman, as they stayed at our house with him when Nate was in the hospital with his girls. Nate's parents were helping a ton, too, of course, but they had to go to work so my parents took over from there. My dad drove back on Friday but my mom has decided to stay until next weekend---so she will be here for the first two weeks of Cecelia's life! Talk about an AMAZING gift. I cannot imagine how much harder this would be without her getting up each morning with Truman, entertaining him, making us food, and doing laundry. I want to cry just thinking about her leaving:(

We were discharged home on Wednesday 5/30 and pretty much each evening since then we had Nate's parents over for dinner to 'celebrate'. It's been a lot of fun watching Truman with his four grandparents and I swear he is getting SO spoiled, it's almost funny. Little Miss CC is getting plenty of grandparent snuggle time, too. Not to mention that Nate was off the entire week, too, so there have been so many helping hands that it's almost unfair to the future Julia when it's just me and her and Truman. I think I can handle it though and feel very blessed to have an easy transition home from the hospital because of an amazing support system.

Cecelia likes to nurse, but she started off as a snacker who wanted to eat for only 5 minutes at a time every hour. And since my milk came in SUPER early compared to the first time, appearing just 24 hours after birth, I've been pretty uncomfortable and engorged while miss thang snacks around on these giant knockers. In fact, I called the LC at my hospital to ask if it was okay to pump a little bit without totally messing with my supply, because I was so engorged by day # 4 on Thursday. She said absolutely and when I pumped I immediately felt so much better, and I got 5 ounces in 5 minutes. A far cry from the tiny drops I'd get with Truman the first few times I pumped! So far, I've been pumping once a day just for 5 minutes and keep getting 5 ounces in that short time. I never thought I'd have an abundant supply this time around, since I always felt like my supply was right on with Truman's needs or maybe even a little less as time went on. I sure hope my body keeps it up but I know it's still regulating right now. And really, in the past few days CC has been nursing a lot longer and taking each side about every 2.5 hours or so, and the engorgement is much better now. I feel like she has a hard time when she needs to poop or burp but maybe that is just 'normal' for all newborns and I forget how Truman was at one week.

Sleeping is going pretty well, about how I expected. The first two nights were rough since she was up every hour or so and not eating very long. But after I started pumping and then she starting taking in more with each session, she has been sleeping for about 2-3 hour stretches even at night (just like her daytime routine). I find that she really enjoys being held and will sleep like a log if we hold her. So at night, she sort of hated sleeping flat on her back in the co-sleeper. I resorted to letting her sleep in the swing one night and then propped a pillow under her co-sleeper mattress to elevate the head a bit after that and she seems much more content.

As for me, I find that if I force myself to nap a bit during the day then I'm in a better mental state by the evening. If I skip the nap in the name of the almighty to-do list, I can feel really worn out and 'down' at night which scares me. I realize my hormones are totally wonky right now so I'm trying to be kind to myself and rest more. Easier said than done!

She is still in that REALLY sleepy stage during the day, only waking up for a few minutes at a time here and there. But each day she does spend more time with her eyes open. It's usually around 11 and 6pm when we really get to see her awake, which is funny because those were the times she was super active in the womb, too.

At her one week doctor's appointment, she made me very happy by surpassing her birth weight already! She was born at 7lbs 5oz, then was 7lbs 1oz at discharge (only losing 3.5%, so that was great!), and then 5 days later at her appointment she was back up to 7lbs 8oz. Still a peanut of course, but gaining weight perfectly so I can be assured she is getting enough to eat. I have no idea if she will be a little porker like her brother was, because he definitely hit that 80-90th percentile mark for a few months when he was little. But even if she is more dainty and petite than Truman, we will take it and love the fact she is healthy. Isn't it funny that the growth ultrasounds I had when pregnant predicted her to be in the 70th percentile and really she is more like the 37th percentile?

Truman is still rocking it as a big brother. For real. He will kiss her and ask to hold her when we aren't even paying attention. The other day he said the baby needed his monkey, and gave it to her---which is basically Truman's most prized possession in the entire universe. He loves my pump and asks if the baby needs milk all the time so he can just turn on the pump. He gets that she drinks from mommy, too, but of course the pump is even more fascinating than breastfeeding to a toddler:) He is still going to Lori's for the three days per week while I'm on my maternity leave, because I really think it's important for him and for me. I know he is a kid of routine and seeing his buddies there, interacting with a different authority figure besides me, is a great thing for him. Plus, I really need time with only Cecelia to care for---time just goes too quickly, and newborn cuddle sessions are the best. I'm already realizing that it was a LOT easier having one child than two but really, it's been amazing with so much help right now.

Handing two kids is quite the trip overall. It takes us about five times as long to get out the door now and man, our cars just got a lot more cramped with two car seats and giant diaper bags. It was really hard the first night when Truman was crying for mommy to come back up to his room after bedtime while Cecelia was crying to be fed. But I can definitely say that I'm loving it and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Photo dump time!


Homecoming:




An unexpected, amazing push present from Nate. Trying not to stress about how much he probably spent on it...


so many pink gifts


So many new toys for big brother




Thursday 5/31

after a stellar feeding


before daycare--proud big bro




Friday 6/1







After first bath, crazy hair! 6/2








First outing, first time in double BOB, trip to the Farmer's Market, Saturday 6/2:




First zoo trip, Sunday 6/3:








Monday 6/4

-Super early bedtime for the kids = longer, better sleep for them, including sleeping nearly 13 hours in a row (!). Not always, but at least this one time it worked well, although I feared they would be awake for the day at 4 am ready to go. Nope! On Tuesday, Cecelia only took an hour long nap, which is a lot shorter than her usual 2-3 hour stretch. Truman didn't nap, as always, and by the evening both were whiny and exhausted and I was TOTALLY spent. And so? Bedtime began at 6pm and they were asleep at 6:30. And they didn't wake until 7 am. GLORIOUS for everyone. It hasn't happened since and definitely cannot happen every night, but when those evenings occur they are awesome. I mean, from 6:30-10pm we had peace and quiet and adult time...and lots of Dexter episodes. Yessssss. I love my kids so much but I love it the most when they sleep well.

I also love when they give me unprompted hugs, like this. Truly, I was just taking a picture of Cecelia and her long legs when Truman came over to hug me. Cecelia followed suit. And I frantically flipped the phone's camera around to capture this moment. My babies!




-Carving out time at a coffee shop with my laptop for 1 hour alone = the perfect kind of 'me time' right now. The more I get into this parenting thing, the more I realize that I will burn out and bottle up resentment towards my kids if I don't regularly take time for myself. Who knew, right?

I need that time to recharge, to return emails, to focus on the blog a bit, and to feel energized and ready to tackle more hours at home/my real job. It used to be that going for a run would be my favorite stress reliever but now I enjoy coffee shop/computer time to reset my sanity levels. A nice walk outside is great, too, but there is just something about sitting in Starbucks with my computer and my coffee that feels luxurious.

The only way I'm making this work right now is because Nate will not teach any classes this summer, so he is back to working 'just' 40 hours per week. He will still have his late days on Mondays and Wednesdays, getting home at 7:30pm, but now instead of getting home around 5pm on Tues/Thurs it will be a GLORIOUS 12:30pm. Incredible, right? Fridays will continue to be a 6pm return time, so really Tuesdays and Thursdays are our cherished days as a family.



I love spending time with the four of us but if I take just an hour out to be alone, now that Nate can watch the kids for me, I find that the rest of our time together is *that* much more appreciated. So I plan to keep my dates with myself from now until baby is born and am thankful for my parenting partner on this one.

-These first two bullet points make it seem like I don't love being around my kids and prefer them to be asleep or prefer to be at Starbucks alone. NOT TRUE. But I am realizing how important it is to balance my attention on them and also attention to myself/hobbies/husband/etc. I feel very strongly that this will only amplify when baby #3 arrives but I'm positive that the balance is going to be very skewed away from 'me time' for many, many months. Which is another reason to take advantage of it while I can, I suppose. Maybe I can 'bank' both sleep and me time to last me awhile? Ha.

-Cold and rainy days at home are such downer when it's SUPPOSED to be Spring and nearly summer. We are just totally over any and all indoor activities at this point in the year because (broken record alert) it's been a really long winter. On Thursday, the kids and I just didn't feel like going anywhere at all. Truman even turned down a Target trip! It barely hit 50 degrees that day and was just gross outside, so we came up with a fun way to stay warm inside: daytime baths! I let the kids take a looooong bath that morning, with colored water tablets, and every single bath toy we own. They seriously had a ball----they've always loved their dual baths, and I've been known to take many-a-bath pictures over the years. But that's alright. We just like baths here, I guess.





-Antibiotics are awesome. Truman is back to his old self and we are one week out from the scare of last week. Thank you, God. Cecelia seems fair, although she does have a little cough. I'm watching her like a hawk but so far no fever, no hives, no signs of being sick.

-Hair cuts on little boys = aged 3 more years. SO stinking handsome. Love how shocked he looks here, not sure what I said to get this look from him.





Sorry, Truman, but you are just so beautiful sometimes.



Also, he really HAS grown a ton in the last year. Ignore the maddening typo in this picture. One year of growth. Woah.



-Hair cuts and a brow wax on mom = luxurious, and much needed. I'm honest with myself and my hair dresser when I say I probably won't see her again until after baby. Mind blowing!! Growing out the top and sides a bit to make my cut more of a bob, so hopefully I won't want to yank out the nasty 'mullet' part on my neck when it gets too long again. ;) Still loving shorter hair for the ease of styling, so I'm not growing it out for REAL. I just needed a different shape and really like it again. Note the lack of a rat tail now.



-Html code is still beyond me, but not impossible. I emailed Erin asking her if she had any idea how to update my Moms Make it Work page, because having one giant picture per post is not going to work moving forward. I have now returned over FORTY emails to readers who want in on this series, you guys! So freaking exciting. We are nailing the 'must find' groups of moms like bosses and I cannot wait to share these stories with you. I think I will have to post twice per week through the summer, since otherwise I'll have to schedule them out through the fall or beyond....not sure yet. What a great 'problem' to have!

ANYWAY, Erin helped me figure out a way to make each smaller icon click right to the post, and it looks fabulous. Check it out. I wanted a 'hover title' for each icon and figured out how to make that happen for a better description of each poster without 'labeling' too much. You can only see the roll over title on a real computer, not the mobile site, but I like that you can roll past each icon and search for other SAHM or WM or whatever you feel like reading at the moment. I guess the page is ready for 70+ posters total now. Eeeeek!

Screen shot of said changes if you really don't want to click to see;)



-I am not 'big' compared to other 32 week bellies, but I am 'big' compared to my own previous 32 week bellies. Especially at the end of the day, the bump just feels so STRETCHED and tight. I snapped this picture on Thursday and compared it to my 38 week picture with Cecelia's pregnancy. Not too far off, right? I am not complaining because I freaking love being pregnant still, and feel really good. I just cannot get over the crazy changes pregnancy brings. It never gets old to marvel at the differences between pregnancies of my own, and although most people still say I'm 'so small' I know that FOR ME, I'm very very pregnant. Not sure how this belly is going to stretch even bigger for the next 8ish weeks. Cray Cray.



-I just counted it up and have 7 more weeks of work remaining before maternity leave. OMGOMGOMGOMG. Yes.

-Nate got new surround sound speakers for the TV (such a guy thing, do not care at ALL but he is very adamant about this). When moving the old subwoofer to the basement we heard little rattling sounds inside. And? The kids were hiding the following:



-Cecelia is being trained to be my own personal masseuse. Observe. 



-In summary: It's FRIDAY!!! I crave balance between 'me time' and 'every other responsibility time'. I like random bullet point posts. And we've had a great week so far, iPhone pictures above to prove this statement.