Well, baby Gabe is two and half weeks old. And by the way, he is perfect. :) The recovery has been longer and harder than the other two. But at the same time, I feel like I've been able to manage things better this time, than when I went from one kid to two. Before I had baby #3, I went back on my blog to May 2009 to re-read what I had written about my first day with Brynn and new baby Bryce (after my help had left and Marty went back to work). I sounded totally overwhelmed. That had me a little worried. I guess since then I have altered my expectations for myself and learned how to manage a little more chaos. I also realized that not everything was going to be able to be "ideal," and that's ok.
My hospital stay was actually amazing and I was surprised by the fact that when it was time to go, I really didn't want to yet. I caught up on rest by sending Gabe to the nursery to sleep (who can sleep with a newborn grunting next to them?). My nurses and family were the best, I hardly changed any diapers the whole time I was there. Basically, I nursed the baby, loved on the baby (like CRAZY), handed the baby over and then slept or ordered room service. Not a bad way to spend a couple of days. :)
The first couple of days home were wonderful, too. Marty and my mom were there to take care of things, and once again I found myself in my own little world with my new buddy. I kept finding myself saying things like, "This is SO fun!" or "Let's have LOTS!" (Don't worry, I'm actually going to be pretty gun-shy after this pregnancy).
Then Mom left and Marty went back to work. So I found myself on Monday truly out-numbered with three kids and only two hands. I woke up feeling pretty good (Gabe was actually a pretty quiet sleeper those first few days), but also a little nervous! Confident too, though, and I'm not sure where that came from. I got my kids breakfast and ready for the day then sent Brynn off to preschool and Bryce off to a playdate. More loving on the baby, a little rest, a little housework. The kids got home and things got very busy, but still manageable. By the time Marty got home, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself! Dinner came to the door, thanks to a good friend, and I went to bed that night (or whatever "going to bed" is when you have a newborn with days and nights mixed up) feeling sore, tired, but pretty good about the day. But I can't have that, now can I? :) So Tuesday I got sick. I don't know how someone manages to get sick a week after giving birth considering the fact I hadn't BEEN anywhere, but of course I managed it. Plus Marty was super busy that week and I didn't see him a whole lot. Thus, the rest of that week was pretty rough. It was still manageable, but between no sleep at night and not having a lot of spare time during the day to just rest, it was pretty hard to take it easy enough to get better. Thank heavens for good friends offering meals and play dates for the kids. It was also nice to have a four year old around this time. When things got crazy at lunchtime, I could say, "Brynn, go make a meat and cheese sandwich for you and Bryce," and she could just go do it.
The second week has been better. I moved the baby out of my room already. I'm a light sleeper and Gabe has become the gruntiest baby ever and he was eating every two hours at night. My doctor said I was probably waking him up as much as he was waking me up. So I moved him out and now he eats about every 3 and a half to 4 hours at night. I'm feeling better and have more energy. I still get overwhelmed sometimes, but I keep going back to the word manageable. Nothing is perfect, and not much is ideal, but so far things are manageable.
The kids are completely in love. It's funny, when we brought Bryce home from the hospital, we didn't think we'd have to worry about Brynn around him, but we were WRONG. She totally didn't get it, she thought he was her toy and liked to do things like, oh, scratch his eyeballs just to get a reaction. Bryce is a rough and tumble boy, but has always had a very gentle side to him. I've never had to worry about him hitting or destroying things in the house. And he has stayed true to himself with this baby. He is as gentle as can be and never touches without asking. He'll be screaming and playing one minute, and then next minute he'll lay down next to the baby and start whispering soothing things in Gabe's ear. It's so precious, I melt every time. And neither of them have been acting out in jealousy. In fact, Bryce is a happy camper now that mommy can hold him again (it's been a couple of months). The only thing I've noticed is that the kids have been fighting a little more as they've gotten stir-crazy cooped up in the house (I'm paranoid taking the baby anywhere and it's actually been raining here in sunny AZ, can you believe it?).
Anyway, our newest little family member has just fit right in and it's just like he belongs here.
No comments:
Post a Comment