Two weeks ago this morning I was at home still not in labor, still wondering when this baby was going to come. But by later that night I was holding our daughter. She took her time on the inside but once she was ready to go she was ready to go!
So far, so good
Rebecca has followed up an easy labor by being an easy baby. I thought Daniel was an easy baby but at this rate by comparison we'll look back on him as the difficult one! So far this girl likes to sleep most of the time, eats well, and seldom cries. She loves being held and will snooze contentedly in my ring sling for hours on end, which means she can nap as I run errands.
Speaking of errands, I've felt much more comfortable leaving the house with her than I did with Daniel at this age. With him I thought what if he cries? what if he needs to eat? what if he needs to sleep? With her, I pack a nursing cover and just feed her where we are and let her nap in the sling. The other day I was even brave enough to take both kids to Target by myself. She slept in the sling, he sat in the shopping cart seat and was my shopping helper. I remember being really nervous my first few times taking Daniel out but with her it seems easy.
The only real "problem" Rebecca has is a tendency for out-of-diaper poop experiences. Apparently she likes to hold back most of the mess until the old diaper is off then unleash it all as soon as she's been cleaned. Even though I change many more diapers than Kevin (since I'm the one home with her during the day) somehow he's the one this always happens to! The first few times it surprised him but now he expects it. But, diaper change surprises notwithstanding, she's an easy baby.
We've actually been in a pretty predictable night time routine almost literally from day one. She eats around 10-11 at night then sleeps until somewhere between 3-5, eats, then sleeps again until 8-9. Yes, our 2 week old is already sleeping 5+ hours at a stretch and only waking once during the night to eat! The first few nights I thought, this is great but it won't last. It wouldn't surprise me if she changes up the script once she starts having alert periods during the day but so far it's nice to have such an easy night schedule. With Daniel, Kevin and I took shifts and I pumped bottles for Kevin to feed, but with Rebecca only waking once I've just been nursing every feeding and we've only given her one bottle. I'll start working in 1-2 pump sessions a day over the next week or so now that nursing is well established so she can get used to taking a bottle and I can leave her with Kevin to run weekend errands.
She lost her umbilical cord stump when she was 6 days old so she's had a few real baths now. She seemed to like the bath fairly well. I sat in the tub and held her, remembering that Daniel much preferred that to the baby tub we tried for him at first. He hated his first bath, as shown here (and, as you can also see, Rebecca looks quite a lot like he did as a newborn):
Big brother
Speaking of Daniel, he's handling the adjustment from only child to big brother quite well. He is definitely a little clingier to me and wants more Mommy attention. For a long time he wanted to sit on the recliner chair arm during nightly story time but now he insists on my lap every time (of course, it's also easier to sit in my lap now that there's not a big baby bump there!) and he runs up and wraps his arms around my legs when he sees me and is much more liberal with the hugs and kisses. But he hasn't shown much jealousy except in the evenings after I pick him up and before Kevin gets home, when I'm nursing Rebecca and he wants my attention too.
He's generally very sweet with her, asking to hold her, giving hugs and kisses, and getting very concerned when she cries. He also burst into tears once and kept sobbing "baby!" while watching Kevin change her diaper. She wasn't crying so I'm not sure if he was worried for her or his sense of propriety was offended by her failure to use the potty! Yesterday when I was changing her he came over, unprompted, and offered me a clean diaper for her. He likes being Mommy and Daddy's helper!
One nice perk for him has been that as our friends have come by to meet Rebecca Daniel has enjoyed having playdates with their kids. We've had a few "teaching moments" about sharing his toys but for the most part he does very well with it. And with the nice weather we've had this "winter" (is 70 degrees in February nice or an ominous sign for the summer? we'll see...) that has meant several chances to go to the playground near the house. He's gotten several thoughtful "big brother" gifts too which have helped him feel special.
Now that we have a baby in the house again I can really appreciate just how much Daniel has grown and what he can do. 2 1/2 years ago he was a newborn baby and now he's an active toddler who knows lots of books and songs, can count to 10, eat on his own, use the potty, and speak in complex sentences. Sometimes I have to remind myself he's still a little boy too because compared to her he seems so big and mature. Every time I pick him up now I think, wow, when did you get this heavy?
Being reminded of how much he's grown makes me even prouder of my little guy. It's so fun to see his personality develop and now to see him grow into the big brother role. It'll be interesting to see how much Rebecca takes after him and in what ways they are different.
Body by baby
All told, I gained about 35 pounds during my pregnancy. So far I've lost about 15lbs of that and can once again wear regular pants without an elastic waistband, albeit 2 sizes bigger than my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. It's nice to pack up all my maternity clothes and be able to easily reach my feet to put on shoes.
Here's my last belly shot during pregnancy (39 weeks):
And here I am one week postpartum:
I've missed being active and am eager to get back to running as soon as I can. Hopefully between that, nursing, and eating well I can get back or almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight by the time I return to work in May.
I've been feeling pretty good since we got home from the hospital. For the first few days sitting was a little painful but that got better quickly and I've had no discomfort since. Thanks to Rebecca's easy night schedule I feel plenty rested without having to nap during the day. My back gets a little sore if I wear her for a long time during the day but that's about all I can complain about physically. I have to remind myself that I am recovering from just having had a baby, because I feel pretty good and have plenty of energy.
So far, having 2 kids has definitely been easier than I expected. We'll see what the coming weeks and months bring but we couldn't have asked for an easier start.
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