2 Weeks!?

Please forgive all typos and grammatical errors, I know there must be lots. But typing out such a long post while holding a newborn is tricky. And I may or may not get back to regular posting this month but I'm pretty sure I'll manage to at least post pictures. 

I can't believe it has been 2 weeks already. Time flies! Things are going pretty well. Two kids is harder than one but overall, life is more smooth than I was expecting. But tomorrow night is Craig's first night back at work so perhaps I'm just speaking too soon.

Jonah's doing great. I was a bit worried about his growth at the beginning because his "output" wasn't quite what I wanted but I got my hands on a baby scale and now that I can see he is growing like a weed, I can relax. Apparently, he only likes to go once every 24-36 hours, who cares what the books say about newborns needing to poop 3+ times a day. Craig says it's just that he "poops like a man."

 He just had a growth spurt so and was attached me for probably at 18 or more hours a day for 2 days straight and now he is sleeping off the milk coma leaving me to deal with the consequences of his only eating every 3-4 hours. Ah, the life of a newborn. But I love it and wouldn't change a thing about this super short season as I know it will be gone before you know it.

Sunning away some jaundice

Overall, he's pretty mellow. He likes to be held but will tolerate a nap on his sheepskin in his baby seat. Everyday he is more and more alert which I love.

I'm doing great too. My physical recovery this time seems to be much easier. I didn't have a hard recovery last time by any means but I felt like my old non-pregnancy self at about day 3 this time with two notable exceptions. The first is afterpains. Yikes! I had been warned be several moms that whatever afterpains you thought you had the first time are nothing compared to what comes after baby #2 and beyond. I'm so glad I was warned. Not only was I able to pick up some motherwort and liquid calcium and magnesium (which I do think helped because the day I forgot to take them, I paid for it) but if I hadn't been made aware of this horrible fact, I'm pretty sure I would have called the midwife thinking I was dying and that a part of my body was surely infected or about to fall out of me. I'm not kidding.

I also woke up with a cold the morning before Jonah arrived. My only symptoms were a cough and a sore throat which wouldn't have been so bad except I had a baby. Stop a minute and think about the horror of a bad cough during the first post-partum week, shudder, and proceed. So between those two things, I was pretty much living on ibuprofen that first week. Perhaps that is why I felt so good.

He lost his cord on day 5 but I didn't get around to giving him a bath until a few days later. Second child :-) But he didn't seem to enjoy it so I don't think he'll complain if he doesn't get as many as she did.

But after those things subsided, I was feeling pretty peppy. Even so I'm a big believer in a post-partum recovery period and the last thing I wanted to do is overtax myself then crash right before Craig went back to work so I've still been taking it easy. Craig's awesome when it comes to household stuff and working with Lucy so I've just been hanging out in bed or on the couch with one or two of the kids. We have gotten out of the house a couple times though - we took a very short walk on a nearby trail a few days ago and yesterday went out for a fundraising dinner and Noodles and Co. Nothing crazy but it was a nice to get some fresh air. And slowly over the next few weeks I'll start trying to get back into the swing of things - like showering before noon and putting on real clothes everyday, assuming I can find some real clothes that fit me.

  He's a fan of the moby. She's a fan of acorns. 

 Jojo's first "hike"

 Emotionally, I seem to have a rough time between day 5-10. Both times it has been compounded by nursing worries and this time might have been worse than last time. Yes, I'm a lactation counselor but that also means I know all the things that can, but probably won't, go wrong. And when you are hormonal it is way to easy to ignore the "probably won't" part and stress out. But I also work with an awesome group of women that were quick to offer support and reassurance and an awesome husband who believes in me so we made it through and now things are going great.

Lucy's having a rough time with the transition but we are getting there. At first, she just completely ignored him if he was quiet and starting crying and wanting me to pick her up if he was crying. When he was two days old, Jojo* and Craig were sleeping and Lucy and I were having a quiet breakfast together when this conversation occurred:

Lucy: Mommy, I don't like Jonah.
Me: You don't?
L: No, he is loud and he cries and it's noisy and I, I just don't like him
M: I don't like it when he cries either. When he gets older, he won't cry so much, do you think you'll like that better
L: We'll see

But a few days later she said she likes him if he is quiet and now she says even say she likes him! She's also learned to go into the another room when he cries. Of course, she starts grabbing at Craig's arm and yelling "other room, other room!" which isn't quite what we had it mind but it's progress. She still refuses to hold him but she'll pat his head or "bop" his nose (don't worry, that only means touch it gently with one finger) and today she even kissed his forehead. She also likes to pre-emptively try to stop his diaper change crying by saying "Shh, shh baby, don't worry, we only need to wipe your bum." which I think is adorable.

About to "bop" him :-)

And just as I suspected, baby play has risen dramatically. "Baby" is now a boy and her baby bed is now pushed up against hers like a co-sleeper.  Baby didn't seem to cry much before Jonah's arrival but according to Lucy he cries all the time now so he is often being carried around and rocked.

But as I said, she'll slowly coming around and while it breaks my heart when she cries for "all of mommy" at a time when I can't give her all of me, I love seeing her relationship with Craig get stronger as she learns to depend on him for more things. BJ (that would be Before Jonah) she would always say "'I'm only Mommy's girl" if Craig tried to do some things with her but now she is daddy's and mommy's girl on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Pretty soon he might have the whole week!

*Yes, Jojo is an approved nickname, but only if Lucy is not around. While I think it is cute, she strongly prefers Jonah and is not afraid to tell you that.