After Baby

I've been surprised how well I've handled this post-partum period as opposed to Zoey - where I was a hot mess.  It's been completely different.  Maybe because I didn't start off so blasted tired or maybe because I anticipated the chaos.  The recovery has been 100 times easier also.  I've felt so good that I end up doing too much and my body reminds me that I'm still healing and need to take it easy.

I've been surprisingly calm and mellow.  My anxiety has stayed in check, unmedicated, at that.  It's some sort of miracle.  I've had my moments and sometimes emotions rush to the surface but overall, it's been ok!

I have had a lot of help.  Dallin had to go to Seattle for the week when Connor was 10 days old (luckily not for two weeks which was the original plan) and my mom came over during the days and would stay until the kids went to bed.  She's been over a lot actually.  But we've started flying solo and been doing pretty well.  It can get tricky trying to breast feed, bottle feed, and pump (milk didn't fully come in again), and have Zoey demanding things but one of them generally has to wait (which is usually Connor since he's not as loud).

Connor and I did develop thrush which has not been fun.  We've both been on medication and now I have to add in washing and santizing all bottles, nipples and pump accessories after every feeding (which sucks at 4 a.m.)  But we both seem to be getting a lot better.

Zoey has had her moments.  I say she looooves Connor but hates Dallin and me.  She's been ok though, she just has her moments.  I did have a breakdown after my first solo day because I had both kids screaming at me almost constantly after naptime until Dallin got home.  It can be hard and is such a juggling act.  What has been nice is she's been going down for naps and bedtime without one of us laying with her which really is a miracle and sooo nice.  

The other day she decided she didn't want to wear diapers anymore and wanted to wear undies and I didn't want to discourage her so that's what we did.  I  was getting a little overwhelmed with the baby and her wanting to use the potty but she did not have one accident!  She generally asks for a diaper when she has to poop but she did do #2 in the potty the other day and got her Minnie kite! (Which she promptly broke - boo).  She's been doing well at wearing undies and telling me when she needs to go so I think we may be close!  I'm not sure how I feel about it because I think diapers would make Disneyland in November a lot easier...

We've been so blessed and spoiled with visitors, meals and gifts.   We're so grateful to everyone who has helped us welcome Connor and made our lives a bit easier in one way or another.

Zo Zo

Zoey says some of the cutest things.  She is so excited to meet and hold her baby brother.  She asks me frequently if he is coming out soon so she can hold him.  I hope the enthusiasm continues when he takes a lot of time and attention away from her.   She'll talk to him a lot and randomly come up and kiss my belly.  I'll miss those sweet moments of being pregnant.   You're pregnant for so long, it's strange when you aren't anymore...

She told me the other day how you go in the water or river to be baptized.  Thank you to her amazing nursery leaders - she is taking it all in!  She always yells after Sacrament Meeting, "Nursy time!"  I'm so glad she's excited because it took a few months in our new ward for her to be ok going.  She knows that we get married in the temple too.  So we frequently "drive" to the temple to get married or to go camping.  She's obsessed with both.

As we've been getting the baby's stuff ready she climbs in his car seat (her old car seat) and pretends to be a baby.  She's reverted a lot and likes to whine for things instead of using words and cry and use baby talk.  She never even used baby talk as a baby so it can be frustrating at times.

She is so excited for her baby brother though.  Every morning she greets him and gives him a kiss and tickle.  He always kicks when she does that, he responds to her most.  I'll ask her if she's going to hold him and she asks, "how?"  LOL - I tell her he's going to come out soon and then she can hold him so she tells everyone her baby brother is coming out soon.  Her little boyfriend just got a new baby brother also and she's obsessed.  She loves to touch his feet and kiss him on the head.

I love when I leave her for a while and she comes running to me, "Mommy!!!" (She does this every day to Dallin when he gets home from work, "Daddy!!" and I know it melts him).  She always says, "You came back!"  A nod to the "grown-ups come back" song from Daniel Tiger.

She also always asks for, "More one time" with whatever she is doing.  One more time on the slide, reading a bedtime story, etc.  It's so cute.  We usually always oblige because she is really so good and not asking again after her one more time.

She is starting to grow up so much and change.  She says a lot more words correctly but still struggles with her s's.  We'll be so sad when she doesn't say her cute little sayings like, "Open on it."  She's starting to like to watch Mickey Mouse, Bubble Guppies and Doc McStuffins more than Daniel Tiger or Curious George.  She will still occasionally pee in the potty but has no desire to leave diapers behind permanently. :(  

I love that she is still my snuggle-bug.  She has started having night terrors.  My Easter Bunny threat has come back to haunt me as she told me one night that he came to visit her.   I felt bad after that.  I use the Chik-fil-A cow as a threat at nap time because she REALLY still needs a nap and I need some rest time.  She's had some screaming fits in the middle of the night which is a rude awakening and I really need her to sleep with a newborn coming.  I know she has vivid dreams as she talks in her sleep.   So we're going to eliminate her pre-bed show and see if that keeps happy thoughts (even though she's not watching scary shows!).  It's just a sad thing to watch her go through.  She's already a nervous/anxious child in certain situations and about certain things.   It's something I really want to help her with.

She loves to play doctor and she is Doctor Zoey and I am Doctor Mommy.  We have to "call" everyone on her doctor phone and she tells them, "The baby not feeling today."  She always omits "good" from the sentence.  haha

She knows that grandma is my mom and Wela is Dallin's mom.  Smart cookie!

I love how she calls sprinklers and sprinkles "sprinkakles."

She is also big into pretend right now.  We pretend cook, make pretend salads and pies, she pretends to sleep, camp, be a princess, a frog, etc. etc.  My favorite is when she sticks something on her head and says, "I'm a bakery!"  Meaning - I'm a baker!

Connor - 1 Month

Some of Connor's little quirks at 1 month -

He does NOT like his hands swaddled.   He'll fuss and twist and turn and wiggle free.  

He sleeps with his head contorted in the most uncomfortable fashion.  Like he arches his back and twists.  I'm pretty sure this is how he was laying inside of me (given the bruising on his right cheek when he was born).  It looks horrible but he really loves it.

He likes to sleep with his head back and his mouth open (and tongue on the roof of his mouth).

He gets this furrow in his brow often, not sure what he's thinking about.

His right eye took forever to open.  It was quite swollen and the white of that eye was red.  Again, probably the way he was laying or maybe smashing against my tailbone in labor.  Since it didn't open fully for a while, it was quite lazy but it gets better every day.

He was born with a slight misnomer.  Without going into too much detail, after a visit to a specialist at Primary's, it was deemed that surgery isn't necessary and the "problem" is quite minor.  Hooray!

As much as I was convinced this baby wasn't going to be a snuggler, he really does enjoy being held and snuggled.  Sometimes he just cries to be held.  Makes things interesting but we are really trying to let him sleep without being held in hopes he'll be a better sleeper than Zoey.  So far, he is.

He is mellow and laid back but can go 0-60 real quick.  He learned early that to get what he wants, he has to be especially loud to be heard.

He gets a little colicky at night, which is generally just bad gas pains.  His cry is so mild and quiet though, just a little whiny.  He only poops once a day and man, he poops!   But his farts and burps are like man farts and burps and are so stinky!

He's a decent sleeper at night.  I generally get to bed around midnight then he'll sleep until about 4 then 8.  He eats anywhere from 2-4 ounces.  Whereas Zoey woke up every 3 hours on the dot and ate exactly 2 ounces, Connor is not nearly as rigid. Lately, he's been in a growth spurt and will eat 4+ ounces. 

He gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks and we retired his newborn clothes around week 3, sniff.  He started wearing size 1 diapers around day 10 purely for volume concerns.  He's getting really long and is almost outgrowing his 0-3 month clothes.  He's a pretty robust baby!

He kinda likes his binkie.  He'll tolerate it but prefers to be eating.  It's so different because Zoey would promptly spit hers out so it's nice to have a baby that will take it sometimes.  He does make the most disgusted face when I put it in his mouth though.  Not sure I'm going to force it but would like him to learn how to self-soothe.  Sometimes he'll go for his fist or thumb though which I curtail.

He loves his sister and will follow her voice.  He does not like her squeezing him but is generally good-natured about the over-love.

Sometimes he'll chuckle in his sleep.  Can't wait for legitimate smiles to come soon!

Does not like to be naked, but I think it's more of a cold thing.  He really likes to be warm and snug.

Still has really long hair and may need a cut!  It's almost too long to spike now.  Highlights are still there.  His eyes are a little murky (depending on the light) so it's to be seen if he ends up with blue or brown eyes.  He is super pasty (thanks to me) and looks like he didn't get Zoey and Dallin's tan skin tone.  Poor kid.

He sure is cute and we love him to pieces!

34

Thirty-four was good to me. I told Dallin all I wanted was to sleep and a pedicure. So the day of my birthday I got up and fed Connor and Dallin took care of Zoey and Connor and I went back to bed until around 10.  It was heavenly.

I got up and got ready for the day and went and used one of my gift cards for a pedicure. That was the first alone time I'd had in a really long time and it was very relaxing.  Dallin and the kids got me some nail polish and a photo canvas. Dallin had taken Zoey that morning to pick me out a balloon.  She'd been telling me for weeks that she was going to get me a balloon and picked me out a big Minnie one.  It was so sweet and cute.  She was so excited to give it to me and I am so thankful for such a thoughtful girl.

On Sunday we celebrated with a bbq with my family and rainbow chip cake and frosting which is now back on shelves. My parents got me a car seat bag for the airplane (what I asked for) for our trip to Disneyland in November. A funny thing to remember was that my dad did the candles on my cake.  He asked how many to put, like three and then seven.  I told him three and four would work better as I was only thirty-four and to not make me older than I am!  So when I went to blow out my candles, my dad absentmindedly put three and seven!  So I guess when I do actually turn thirty-seven, he better put three and four candles on my cake since I've already turned thirty-seven according to him!

On Monday, we went to the Timbermine with the Plaiziers to celebrate my and my sisters-in-laws birthdays as we all celebrate within a week.  My steak was quite rare and a little disappointing this time around.  Afterward we went back to my in-laws and had various cupcakes.  I got money from my in-laws which was really nice.  We'd left Connor with my parents as he was too little to take out so we went and picked him up.

On Tuesday, a few of my girl friends and I left our kids and hubbies and went out to Olive Garden to celebrate my birthday/week and have a little alone time.  We shared stories, laughed and made plans to do something like this more often for three hours.  It was so fun and I think we all really needed it.  Love those girls!

So it was a good birthday.  Low-key and relaxing and just what I wanted.