Bunnies, Eggs and Overdoing It

Although I have all these stories I want to capture, I don't have the time nor the energy, so I'm collapsing what should be two posts into one.

We had a great Easter. Charlotte's daycare was closed on Friday and Monday, so on Friday, I decided to have her decorate Easter eggs. One of my playgroup moms and her son came over and helped, and it was a lot of (messy) fun.  Charlotte apparently loves hard boiled eggs and would eat multiple ones in one sitting if I'd let her.

On Saturday, we took Charlotte to the Easter egg hunt in nearby El Dorado Hills (I heard that the Folsom one had something like 5,000 kids and was crazy).  Charlotte participated in the two and under hunt.  Since she's almost three, she basically ruled the Easter egg hunt, and collected a lot of eggs.  Two of her eggs had special certificates for prizes in them - an Easter cookie "pop" and a little Easter bunny stuffed animal.  She kept the cookie pop and gave the stuffed animal to Phoebe. (such a good sharer!)

This girl needs no parental help like all of the other toddlers!

On Easter Sunday, we had two families over for Easter brunch.  Charlotte and her birthday buddy Samantha (Sam is exactly one year younger than Charlotte) had their own Easter egg hunt in our backyard. 

Samantha's basket was quickly overflowing with brightly colored eggs

Charlotte wore this adorable dress I ordered on Zulily.  When I put it on her, she twirled around and said "I'm a ballerina!"

Demonstrating her "Ballerina" moves

Chris' mom sent Phoebe an adorable Easter bunny outfit, which she wore most of the day, even if I didn't take a picture of her until the end of the night.

Check out the cute bunny slippers and bunny hat

All this to say, we had a very eventful weekend. So eventful in fact, that I noticed that my incision site was beginning to hurt quite a bit on Saturday and Sunday.  Up until this point, the pain was lessening each day and barely noticeable. I went to the doctor on Monday to make sure that the incision wasn't infected. The doctor said it looked "beautiful" but that I was clearly overdoing it given that I explained that the pain increased as the day wore on.  She said that I need to take it easy for at least the next three weeks.  Now, silly me, I thought I was taking it easy - I mean, it's not like I'm trying to run a 5K or lift weights or anything. I guess the simple act of just going about my day like normal is getting to be too much.  It's frustrating because I desperately want to feel normal again and start going on long walks during the day. I've lost 30 of the nearly 50 pounds I've gained, but it's going to be hard to continue that weight loss when I basically shouldn't be doing anything but sitting around.  In the meantime, it's back to round-the-clock Ibuprofen and making sure I don't lift our 30 pound preschooler.

Home again, home again

Quick, some update and observations.

On being home. We expected to go home on Saturday, but Phoebe had lost a lot weight during her weight check Friday night, so we stayed an extra night.  We had the option of going home, but we would have had to go back to the hospital the next day for a weight check, and it just didn't seem worth it. Plus, they wouldn't release her until she pooped and that didn't end up happening until late Saturday night. It was probably a good thing, anyway, because I was still in a lot of pain, and wasn't ready to face all the stairs in our house.

On Pain. I don't know why anyone would choose to have a c-section to save their "lady parts." The recovery is so much worse than it was with Charlotte.  There was a communication problem with the pain medications I was prescribed, in that they basically reduced my dosage by 2/3.  This despite having to be much more mobile at home than I was in the hospital.  I was in tears Sunday night as I called the advice nurse because of so much pain.  She paged one of the on-call doctors at the hospital who agreed to keep my dosage at the same level as it was at the hospital. This has helped so much. The pain near the incision site is getting better with each day, but sometimes it's just unbearable. Because I'm on narcotics, I'm not allowed to drive for a few weeks.  Chris has decided to work this week with my mom still being here, and he's going to take the next two following weeks off so I can have some help around the house.

On Size.  We had our two day appointment yesterday.  As mentioned, the doctors were concerned because by not even two days old, Phoebe had lost 13 ounces. She was down to 7 lbs 12 oz.  Yesterday, three days after her last weight check Saturday night, when she had held steady at 7 lbs 12 oz, she was already up to 8 lbs 1 oz.  The nurse practitioner who examined her was really impressed by how much she had gained in just three days. Woohoo.  We now have permission to only feed her every four hours during the night if she's still sleeping.  If she has steadily gained weight by her next appointment on April 2nd, we can extend feedings at night to as long as Phoebe wants.  But anyway, everyone keeps remarking on what a big baby she is.  To me? She feels tiny, considering she was born a full pound smaller than Charlotte.  Plus, when we got home from the hospital on Sunday, I could not believe how huge Charlotte seemed. It's as if she transformed into this giant toddler.

On cuteness. We had professional pictures taken yesterday by the same woman who took our pictures last fall. She got some really cute ones of Phoebe and of Phoebe and Charlotte.  Kristin was so patient with Phoebe, especially as I had to keep topping her off in order for her to sleep during the photos.  Take a look at the few she chose to put up on her blog.  Couldn't you just die from the cuteness?

On being a second-time parent. It's so much easier this time! Breastfeeding is going amazingly, and it's just so much easier knowing what I'm doing. It also helps that Phoebe is a dream baby.  She barely cries, sleeps for long stretches, and is easily calmed by nursing.  Charlotte loves being a big sister, although she's going through this rebellious period of refusing to do pretty much anything.  Luckily, my mom has been here to keep her entertained.  For some reason, she's waking up much earlier and no longer staying in her bed (those days were bound to end some time).  My mom has been keeping her occupied and from bothering us during our morning sleeplessness-fueled stupor.  I don't know how we're going to handle it once my mom goes home.

All in all, things are going swimmingly. I am really savoring this new baby. I didn't really get to savor Charlotte as a newborn because I was really like a deer caught in headlights, not knowing quite what to do.  This time? I'm just enjoying this sweet baby and loving on her.  It really is true that your heart just grows to accommodate a new little person into your life.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

I'm devoting this post to me to provide an update on life post-baby.

We'll start with the good:

• How natural it is to be a mother.  When Charlotte needs something I don't think, I jump up and do it.  Sure there are times when I wish I didn't have to (see the bad), but for the most part, it's not a chore at all.  There's something very gratifying about taking care of someone so helpless.  I think parenting has come very naturally to Chris as well.  He's a great partner and does whatever he can to help out.
• Mornings.  Morning is the best time of day.  Charlotte almost always wakes up happy and just grins and laughs constantly.
• Weight loss.  I think I mentioned that I gained 55 pounds when I was pregnant.  Crazy, I know!  A lot was attributed to water weight gain, but a lot was just packed on for some reason.  I'm not really sure how it happened considering that I didn't overeat -- I would wake up in the middle of the night and be hungry, but I never let myself eat.  I walked a lot in the beginning, but my back problems made that hard in the middle of the pregnancy, so maybe that was a contributing factor. Anyway, I've lost 45 of those 55 pounds and I'm still on the losing side.  Unfortunately, I'm still in that in-between world where most of my clothes don't fit, but I'm getting there, and I'm pretty proud of myself.  My pre-pregnancy jeans fit, although pretty tightly.  The holidays are upon us, and all that good food makes it hard to continue to lose weight, so if I maintain my current weight during this period, I'll be pretty happy.  The ultimate goal is to have all the weight lost by nine months postpartum, so that would be around March.  
• Speaking of weight loss, my wedding rings finally fit on my finger again! I was so sure I would have to have them resized, but just today, I tried them on, and they fit!  Hurray!  I haven't worn my rings since January.  I resorted to wearing a ring from my right hand on my left because my right-hand fingers are a half-size bigger than my left.  Strange, but I'm left-handed, so I guess I use my left fingers more, so they're more toned?
• Going back to work has been much easier and more enjoyable than I expected.  My company is very accommodating and family-friendly, so that helps as well.  I enjoy being around my co-workers, while at the same time always thinking about my little girl.

The bad:

• Being sick and having a baby.  I somehow contracted strep throat.  I have no idea how or from whom, but I've got it.  After spending perhaps the most painful weekend of my life, where even swallowing my saliva was torture, I begged Kaiser to get me an appointment with my doctor.  Yes, I understand that an accompanying cold means it might be a virus, but this was the worst sore throat ever!  My doctor took one look and said, yep, I think it's strep.  She did a throat culture just to be sure, but went ahead and prescribed antibiotics, along with some cough syrup mixed with codeine, and said I could take vicodin for the pain. 
• But let's back up for a second.  In those B.C. days (Before Charlotte), when I would get sick, I'd sit in bed, sleep, and basically do nothing while I convalesced.  That is no longer an option.  She relies on me for food, entertainment, etc.  Combine that with Charlotte also having a cold, and you've got a fussy baby, and a sleepless mommy.  Charlotte also gets very fussy if we're not busy, busy, busy on the weekends.  There's only so often that we can move her from the ExerSaucer to the swing to the bouncer to the blanket before she's had enough.  However, if you take her out and about for errands and she's in her car seat?  She's happy and calm for hours.  But I was sick, so taking her out and about was not an option.  Chris took her on an errand or two, so I could get a little nap in, but for the most part, we dealt with a very bored and fussy baby this weekend.
• Luckily, I was able to take a sick day from work today, and we sent Charlotte to daycare thank goodness.  And seeing as how I'm still contagious and that there are pregnant women at work, I'll be staying home again tomorrow, and Charlotte will be going to daycare again!  This truly makes me appreciate stay-at-home moms who most likely don't have the option to drop the kids off somewhere when they're feeling lousy.
• Let's see, what else is bad?  Not much.  I don't get a lot of free time.  We still haven't cashed in on offers from friends and neighbors to babysit Charlotte so we can have a date night, although that's probably due more to our laziness than anything else.  She goes to bed at 7, so it's easy!
• Pumping is still a pain in the rear.  Once I made peace with the fact that I could only produce about half of what Charlotte eats, it became easier.  I just do what I can and know that's she getting enough calories from formula.  Still, it's annoying because I can't really take any other breaks or I feel guilty, and pumping takes an entire hour out of my workday.  But I know it's worth it for Charlotte.
• Here's a bad-turned-good.  I used to hate working out.  It was last on my list of what I wanted to do.  But now, it's a chance for me to go running or to the gym and just be by myself.  I feel relaxed and invigorated afterwards.

The Ugly?

• I'm not really sure about this one.  Stretch marks, maybe?  Eh, but I don't even really care.  They're becoming less noticeable and I guess they're a badge of motherhood.
• Poop?  Yes, I've dealt with my fair share of explosions, but I got over the yuck factor pretty quickly.
• Charlotte's mullet?  She has quite the party in the back, and it just keeps growing longer. And there's a lovely bald spot right above the mullet.  Okay, so I really don't think it's ugly, but pretty hilarious.  I'm not really sure what to do.  Cut it?  It's going to take a long time for the rest of her hair to catch up. Hmmm...
• I'd say the only real issue to add to this column is when, every so often, I stop what I'm doing at work and add up the number of hours I'm physically spending with Charlotte during the week.  It doesn't add up to much.  But I try not to do that because I know that it will just bring me down, and I know that life is pretty good the way it is.

My Brest Friend Might Just Be My Best Friend

**** I started this post last Tuesday. Clearly didn't get around to finishing it until now, so it's a bit disjointed.****


So I thought I'd write a brief update to let you all know how we're doing. First, Charlotte is a great baby. She sleeps a lot so far and has only had one episode of crazy screaming. Of course that happened at 3 AM last night, so that wasn't great. But normally (at least so far), it's been kind of hard to wake her up to feed. Anyway, she had her two day follow up visit with the pediatrician (what Chris called the Idiot Check to make sure you're on the right track and not starving your baby), and the doctor says she's great! She's only lost 6% of her birth weight (10% is when you have to start supplementing with formula) and she has no jaundice, so this is all really good. Her next doctor's appointment will be in two weeks, and I imagine that appointment will be a little longer.



After the doctor's appointment, we went to the drop in breastfeeding clinic that Kaiser has at their South Sacramento office. It is precisely the reason we have her going to appointments at that medical office because the clinic is only for babies and moms getting treated there. The door to the clinic is locked and only opened by the lactation consultant, so you don't have to worry about random patients coming in unexpectedly while you're topless. Yesterday was really busy and there was another new mom there who had given birth on Friday as well (in fact her baby was born 7 minutes before Charlotte). The other mom had more serious issues with breastfeeding than I have had, so I didn't get the attention I might otherwise have gotten.


However, I did learn how to better get Charlotte to latch on and I purchased My Brest Friend, which is a breastfeeding pillow that attaches around your back with lumbar support.



It is way better than the Boppy Pillow because it doesn't fall down and has a truly adjustable strap. It's been a lifesaver! I'm sure the Boppy will find other uses like helping her to sit up, and it's smaller, so we may bring it on plane rides.

Okay, so being a mom. I now know why other moms call it the hardest job you'll ever have. For one thing, you're still recovering from giving birth, which means that you're hurting all over, you're exhausted, and all you want to do is sleep to feel better. But then you have a baby who depends on your body for food -- no one but you can do this for her. It really is cruel and unfair to have this going on all at the same time. I'm not saying all this to complain, but mostly to show that the AHA moment happened and we truly understood why other new moms were telling us to enjoy our last moments of freedom.

***** Fast forward to today*****
Charlotte is now almost 2 weeks old. After three horrible nights last week where she was screaming like crazy from 1 until 4 in the morning, and I was sobbing because the only thing that would calm her down was the boob, Chris and I agreed that something had to change. We broke down and gave her a pacifier to help soothe her. The lactation consultants don't recommend this because it can cause "nipple confusion," but believe me, she knows the difference between the two (because you know, one gives her milk?!). Now she sleeps for 3 to 4 hours at a time, I wake her up to eat, and then we put her back to sleep and give her the paci. This has helped tremendously. Eight or nine hours of sleep, albeit not all at once, is way better than being up for hours in the middle of the night frustrated that I can't do anything to calm her down. Breastfeeding has also gotten a lot easier now that she and I both learned how to get her latched on -- my milk has also come in, so that's made things easier as she is finally somewhat satisfied after feedings.

And as for me, I'm finally starting to feel better. Last week, in the middle of all the frustrating middle-of-the-night crying, the area around my stitches was stinging so badly that I could barely walk. I put a call in to the doctor the next morning who prescribed some much more powerful pain meds. Those definitely helped and allowed me to actually get around without wincing in pain everytime I moved. I've also lost 30 pounds in 10 days (I gained 55, so I still have a long ways to go to be at that pre-pregnancy weight) and my feet and ankles are back to their lovely selves -- near the end of my pregnancy I would look at everyone else's feet with downright envy.

Also, where does all the time go? Seriously? With diaper changes and feedings, the hours just fly by. We wake up around 8 or 8:30 and then the next thing I know it's time for lunch! But now that breastfeeding is much easier, it's just a chore rather than something I'm dreading. And I'm reading a lot and watching Wimbledon on TV. Charlotte is learning how to play tennis by osmosis. :)

Finally, it's been great to have my mom here to help hold Charlotte and clean and cook for us. A huge help! My parents, Charlotte, and I all went out for lunch yesterday and she slept the whole time. It was so nice to just be somewhere other than my house, even for just an hour or so.
And of course Chris and I really appreciated all the yummy food that our wonderful friends dropped by after we came home from the hospital.