2 weeks old
Ember is 2 weeks old though she seems so much older to me! I don’t know why, I really thought I’d be all “aahhhh, tiny newborn!” compared to my toddler, but instead I just keep staring at her and thinking how big and awake she seems for only 2 weeks old. Maybe it’s because she’s bigger than Kate was as a newborn, maybe it’s something about her personality, or maybe my memory is just not all that good. Not sure.
She’s certainly an easier baby than Kate was. I’m still stunned than I can put her down at all, it may take me a while to get used to that. No wonder people looked at me like I was crazy when talking about Kate’s personality as an infant, if they had a baby like Ember that they could put down for naps I certainly would have sounded off my nut. I do have to wait until she’s asleep before I put her down, but she’ll semi-rouse and then sigh and go back to sleep. I don’t even turn on the vibrate on the bouncer. Last night she slept 5 hours in the cosleeper after we finally got her to fall asleep (it was a long evening of fussing). Even awake I can put her down on the boppy or floor mat and she kicks her legs and grunts and looks around at everything.
Unfortunately she’s been having more tummy troubles, which I fully blame on my overactive letdown. She’s sucking in a lot of air while nursing, and by the end of a very short nursing session (they are usually max 5 minutes long) she’s kicking her feet and scrunching up her face and I have to hold her upright for a while and pat her back until she lets out some huge burps. The problem is that when she’s upset for some reason – diaper, woke up prematurely, sore belly – she wants to nurse. But if she continues to nurse she gets a sore belly, which makes her very unhappy. So I end up with a crying, rooting baby who wants to nurse to calm down, but that just makes it worse! Yesterday I got her to take a Tommy Tippee pacifier for a little while, which calmed her down, but she normally refuses any pacififers. This has us at a bit of a loss, especially when I had to go out for a couple hours without her. She had already nursed and didn’t want more milk, so she wasn’t too fond of the bottle Denis gave her, but she was cranky and cried almost the entire time until I got home with my boobs! Poor kiddo… and poor daddy.
Kate is still being pretty good but is acting out here and there. It’s still just an extension of what she’s been doing before, the throwing and hitting while laughing, looking for attention, looking for a reaction. It gets more difficult when there is a small baby in the house, however. Poor Ember is going to have to be a tough kid, she’s already gotten inadvertently shoved a few times by big sis, not to mention the times that Kate is trying to be nice giving kisses but doesn’t do it all too gently. Ember will just scrunch up her face and let out a squawk of indignation, and then just goes back to whatever she’s doing. I think watching Kate like a hawk and supervising every single interaction they have is the most tiring part of having two kids. The waking at night, getting up early, giving attention to two… those are all fine. It’s having to stay on guard the entire time I’m nursing Ember, constantly saying, “Kate, gentle!” and watching my toddler walk off with my nursing pad/water bottle/lunch for the tenth time while I can’t get up that is getting to me.
Mostly I think I’m just waiting for a routine to settle in. Ember has been getting very sleepy at around 8 or 9pm and though I do nothing different at that time than any other nap she tends to fall asleep and not want to rouse except to nurse and go back to sleep, so I think that’s going to end up being her bedtime. Which works out great for me because Kate goes to bed at 9, which means we then have the evening to ourselves! I did not expect that to happen, especially not this early! Of course yesterday did not happen like that, she was fussy and crying until midnight. The morning is just up for grabs… some mornings she’s up with the sun, but if we had a bad night then she’ll fall back asleep in my arms for hours. She is often taking a nap the same time as Kate does, which again is very nice! The downside of that however is that then both girls are awake at the same time, both wanting/needing me.
But more than that I think I just need a bit more time to get used to juggling them and figuring out how to handle it. I’m doing fine for a few hour stretches, but I still haven’t attempted to bring both girls out in public. Taking just the baby? Easy peasy! I either carry her, wear her, or put her in the stroller asleep. She’s been awesome – much easier than chasing a toddler down the aisles. (Which is precisely why I’m nervous to take them both out together, lol.)
Will Kate sit in a stroller or let you wear her? When I take my two out I put one in the stroller and one I wear or I take out the double stroller.
You know I haven’t tried wearing Kate since I was a couple months pregnant and couldn’t do front carries anymore. She will do the stroller, but her patience is somewhat limited unless there is something interesting going on. But that’s my plan – Kate in the stroller, baby worn on my front.
It’s good to have not many expectations, this way you grt nice surprises like having an evening to yourself (well, more or less). I wish you best of luck with going out with the two of them. And with the watching Kate like a hawk – this is my main concern when I think of how I will manage the two boys. George is such a boy’s boy, and he gets so enthusiastic…
Anyway, can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that you are doing so great! It gives me hope that I could pull it off as well (not that I have any other chance, but you know, morale needs boosting and all that :-)).
Have you considered a stroller wheel board for kate? When my daughter Amalia was born,we had one of these for my son (he was 2 years old) and it was a life saver when I took them both out on my own ;)
http://www.buy.com/prod/e-z-step-universal-stroller-wheel-board/218300506.html
These days you can get them for all strollers and my son LOVED this thing ;) He could see right into the stroller at Amalia and he loved the fact that he was standing up,yet not having walk! lol.
They just hop on and you can hold their hands and push the stroller simultaneously so they cant hop off.
As for the needing to nurse for comfort and then getting a tummy ache because they also get milk they dont want/need,that sounds very familiar.Noe used to do that too,and the up side is,it does pass.I had a very strong let down..infact,it was so strong that I´d leak all over just by hearing her cry! She´d get very pissed when she just wanted to comfort herself and she got a mouthful of milk,so by 2 to 3 weeks old she´d often nurse and cry at the exact same time which was sooo anoying (after all,I cant control my let down! lol).In the end,my supply evened out,my let down sorted it´s self out too,and things were great :) Those first few weeks are hard work,but you already know that everything´s wonderful after that ;) You´re doing great Nat! :D
I hear ya on the people thinking you’re just crazy, or “too anxious” or whatever. THAT made me crazy. I read that 60% of babies are “easy,” with the rest breaking down into the more challenging personalities. That must be why most people think they’re just awesome at parenting and that we should have taken their pointers. Ugh. We probably learned way more!
Great to hear all is going well….two kids can be a challenge, but it is doable. You will be a total pro in no time! Double stroller and snacks or little toys will hopefully keep Kate entertained when you take both kids out. I use a Bjorn and love it. I do get out with the twins, but not nearly as much as I did with only one kid (that was so easy). The tummy issues are tough…they also tend to resolve in a few months. Sounds like you are busy, (and tired) but in a good way. I am always on guard with the twins and my now 7 year old…he loves them but tries to pick them up, accidently knocks them down and is generally rough (without meaning to be). Protecting them is by far the most difficult part of parenting the younger kid/s. (My twins also now at almost 12 months are starting to hurt each other by hittting, banging toys on each other’s heads and stepping on each other…so that is even more frustrating). I think this too will get easier, unfortunately, I am not sure as to when that will be.