Camden-isims

Yes, having an almost 3 year old comes with its challenges (we all read my last post, right?). But, my goodness, this age is also really freakin' funny.

Camden has entered an extremely descriptive phase. Like it's not sufficient just to ask a question or make a statement; he has to add in lots of details and/or adjectives.

A few of my recent favorites:

On his red-headed cousin, who apparently hurt his head:
"Why did Will [his cousin] get a boo-boo on his orange hair?"

Making the observation that his sister is awake:
"Look! Macey has her dark blue eyes open."

Telling me he needs his ears cleaned:
"My ears are dirty. My daddy is probably going to clean them when he gets home from the city with the big, tall buildings. [aka: Matt's work]"

My mom is one of the only people in our family with brown eyes. This greatly confuses Camden.
"Nan, why did your blue eyes fall off?"

This has nothing to do with his descriptive phase, but made me laugh nonetheless.
Me: "Camden, do you have to pee?"
Camden: "No." A moment of silent thoughtfulness follows and then: "Does your badina need to pee, Mommy?"

Week Two wasn't my favorite.

So. Week Two didn't go as smoothly as Week One. If I had time to chronicle every detail, I would, but we're in the midst of the 3 week growth spurt right now. Translation: I have a baby on my boob every hour on the hour. Alternate translation: I have absolutely zero free time.

But, here's a quick glimpse into the past week: I had a bout with mastitis. Actually, I should say "have". Because, after 4 days on my antibiotics, my breast pain came back this afternoon (perfect timing for the 3 week growth spurt, I know!). I have an inkling I'll be at my OB's office tomorrow. Macey had an unexpected pediatrician's appointment due to what I thought was a nasty eye infection but thankfully turned out to be a clogged tear duct. There was also an episode where we attempted a trip out of the house with both kids, got stuck walking to the car in a monsoon, and then discovered we were locked out of our house when we got home. All of these factors resulted in both of my kids crying at the same time on multiple occasions while I wrapped my arms around each of them and could only laugh even though I wanted to join their cryfest so badly.

So, that's Week Two for you! But we're still learning the ropes and adjusting and I know we'll get the hang of this in time.

And just look at this face. So.stinkin.cute.

And, yes, it's been chaotic, but still-- these two are mine. What more could I ask for?

 

Adjusting to 2 kids: week one

My old college roommate (hi, Colleen!) recently emailed me to check in and see how I am adjusting to life with two kids. She has two kids of her own and described the early days of welcoming a second baby as easier than the first time around but somehow more exhausting too. And that's exactly how I would describe how life has been in our house for the past week and a half.

Camden has adjusted very well. He is excellent with Macey-- he always wants to hold her, kiss her, help throw away her diapers, etc. I've only seen the occasional glimpse of jealousy (and even then, I'm not sure 'jealousy' is the appropriate word here). For example, he has asked me on occasion to "pick me up, too" when I am holding Macey. And I always try to accomodate these requests as best as I can to make him feel included. When Macey naps, I make sure to spend at least a little of that time playing on the floor with Camden. When I breastfeed, I invite Camden to sit with us on the couch. I still take him outside to play as often as I can (normally while wearing Macey). I want life to seem as normal as possible for him, and so far, his world doesn't seem to be rocked the way I thought it would be.

I'll admit, though, that it's been really difficult for me to surrender some control of Camden's care. That's partly because I'm an extreme Type A personality (read: control freak) but it's also partly because his care has been almost exclusively mine for the past 3 years. Of course, Matt has always been a very involved parent, but as a stay-at-home mom, much more of the responsibility for Camden's care naturally fell on me. Since bringing Macey home, Matt has really stepped up to the plate with Camden's care. Most nights, he puts him to bed (I still like to help out with that when I can, just to get some one on one time with Camden). He gets up with him in the morning and gets his OJ and breakfast ready. And they just spend more time together in general. I love watching the way their relationship has changed, but it's still hard for me to accept that I can't do it all. I'm learning to let go a bit, though. For example, right now Camden is down at my sister's house playing with my nephew. He asked all weekend if he could go play with Will, and he was excited to head down there this morning. And while part of me feels like I should have him at home so I can shower him with as much attention and affection as possible, I also know that he's having more fun down there playing with his best friend-- and I want that for him. I'm telling you-- learning to let go is a work in progress for me.

Mostly, I feel like I've adjusted to the logistics of having two kids fairly well. That's probably not entirely accurate, though, since I've had a lot of help over the past week and a half. I have yet to cook dinner, grocery shop with two kids, or even shower without another pair of hands around thanks to my helpful mom, sister, and mother-in-law. But I did get back into the swing of things with my cleaning routine (hello, Type A!) quickly. I also ventured outside with both Camden and Macey within a few days of coming home from the hospital (I think it took me months to do this with Camden when he was a newborn). I also feel like I've done fairly well at learning to care for both of them-- getting them dressed, bathing them, taking Camden to the potty, breastfeeding, getting Macey down for naps, and on and on and on. If I thought I had limited free time with one child, I have essentially no free time now. And while it's exhausting, it's a good kind of exhausting (most of the time, anyway). You know what also helps a lot? Knowing that everything is a passing phase. As a first time mom, my world was rocked whenever Camden had a restless night or spit up projectile style for the first time. It's a lot easier to get through the "survival mode" newborn phase when you know it's just that-- a phase.

I'm happy to say that breastfeeding is going a lot more smoothly this time around too. Even though I breastfed him for a full year, the initial couple of months of nursing Camden were pretty brutal-- lots of latching issues, sore nipples, painfully engorged breasts. Most of this I attribute to being an anxious first time mom. I had no anxiety about breastfeeding this time around and Macey latched on easily from the very first time I nursed her right after she was born. My milk came in about 2 days earlier this time around too which was a big help. Camden is fascinated by breastfeeding, but thankfully, not in a curious I want to try it, too kind of way. He just thinks it's interesting and actually told my neighbor in passing yesterday that "Macey likes to drink boobie". And, once again, I attribute much of my weight loss in the week since she was born (17 lbs down, 12 more to go) to breastfeeding. Well, to breastfeeding and the fact that I never sit down anymore.

So, yes-- it's been busy and tiring and sometimes difficult during this past week. But it's also been wonderful and rewarding and just good.

A tad traumatized after her first bath.

 

Okay, I get it now: little girl clothes are really cute.

 

"Touchdown Redskins!"

 

 

 

 

Macey's Birth Story

I spent the entire day last Wednesday timing my contractions. They had started around 2am the previous night and continued into the next morning and beyond. For most of the day, they were still extremely irregular-- some were spaced 20 minutes apart, others only 8 or 9 minutes apart. Some were very intense; some just felt like mild period cramps. I was determined not to head to the hospital only to be sent home, so I decided to ride it out for as long as I could at home.

My parents came over and we all had a nice dinner. It was around that time that my contractions picked up both in frequency and intensity. After dinner, my mom, Camden, and I headed outside for some fresh air. We brought a small piece of paper with us and wrote down the time every time I had a contraction. When they all became less than 10 minutes apart, I knew we were probably dealing with the real thing. Still, I waited. I remembered that when I was in labor with Camden, I just knew when to call my OB. Sure enough, a particularly intense contraction hit me a few minutes later and I instinctively knew it was time to call. Matt and I gathered out bags, kissed Camden goodbye, and hit the road.

At around 9pm, we arrived at the hospital. I was taken right up to an L&D room while Matt checked me in. Thankfully, one of the doctors from my OB's office was on call (and one I really like too-- he delivered 2 of my nephews). He came by to check me shortly after I arrived. I was 3-4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Not bad, considering I wasn't dilated at all less than a week earlier. "You've obviously been doing some work at home," he laughed, "No doubt this is the real deal!" And so it became official: Macey was on her way.

Matt and I spent the next several hours watching terrible TV, playing Family Feud on the computer, and trying to get through my contractions. When it was determined that I was 5 cm dilated at my next cervix check, I requested my epidural. Now, you may recall that when I was in labor with Camden, I had a pretty bad epidural experience. Basically, it didn't work. Well, it numbed one side of my body so completely that I couldn't even wiggle a toe and it didn't numb the other side at all. So, I still felt every single contraction-- albeit, only on one side. One sided contractions are still pretty awful, for the record.

So, I was understandably a little apprehensive this time around. I mean, if I'm going to have a needle stuck in my spine, I'd at least like it to be effective. When the anesthesiologist arrived, he asked about my last epidural experience and I was brutally honest. He told me that while he couldn't guarantee it wouldn't happen again, he'd do his best to make sure it didn't. And about 20 minutes later, he became my best friend when I was the perfect amount of numb: I could wiggle my toes a bit, but couldn't feel anything below my waist. Glorious.

Assured that I was resting comfortably, Matt dozed off in the chair next to me. I'd like to say I took a good nap to store up some energy for pushing, but combining my always terrible sleep habits with extra adrenaline pulsing through my body? Well, let's just say it's not conducive to sleep. Instead, I watched some Friends re-runs until my mom arrived around 2:45am.

Around 6am, another cervix check indicated that I was 8 cm dilated. Excitement set in again; surely, Macey would be arriving in the next hour or two! You can imagine my frustration when I was still 8 cm dilated over an hour later. My contractions were 4-5 minutes apart, and my nurse told me that in order to get to 10 cm dilated any time soon, my contractions would need to be more like 2-3 minutes apart. She suggested Pitocin to help speed things along and I think I suggested Pitocin and breaking my water. (I became Kerri, M.D. for a few minutes there. It's always a good idea to take medical suggestions from a woman in active labor.)

Turns out, my water didn't need to be broken. After some Pitocin was added to my IV, the nurse came back to do a quick cervix check and we heard: "Oh! Well, that was your water!" I was 9 cm dilated at this point and she told me to let her know when I started to feel intense pressure.

While I didn't feel pressure, I did start to feel weird. I got extremely anxious and jittery and then felt like I was going to throw up any second. I had no idea what was wrong; it felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack. I had Matt on one side of me holding my hand and my mom on the other side. I remember begging them to talk to me about anything to distract me. And then it hit me: this was transition. When the nurse came back in, I asked her to check me again, and sure enough-- it was go time.

When I was in labor with Camden, I pushed for an hour and a half. It was pretty brutal,  so I had braced myself for lots of pushing again this time. Imagine my surprise (and excitement!) when, after only 4 or 5 pushes, my OB told me that Macey was on her way out. Just like her brother, Macey decided to slide on out in between pushes so that her tired mama didn't have to do any more work. Only Macey came out in less than 10 minutes total.

Seeing her for the first time can only be described as surreal. She looked so much like Camden-- it was kind of like reliving that day, but it was just as amazing and exciting as if it were the first time I had experienced childbirth. There's really nothing else in life that compares to the feeling of laying eyes on your child for the very first time.

Thankfully, we got to skip the whole NICU ordeal this time around, and Macey roomed with us over the next 2 days. Even though I got 4 doses of antibiotics for GBS throughout the course of my labor, they still took the precaution of making us stay in the hospital an extra day to make sure all was well with our little girl. We had plenty of visitors over the next couple of days, though none could quite compare to Macey's big brother. For all of the times I wondered and worried about how he was going to react to her, any doubts I had went out the window the first time he saw her. It was like he instinctively loved her. And seeing my two children together? There's just nothing more perfect than that.

 

 

Yep-- she's here!!

This time my absence from blogging was for good reason. So those contractions mentioned in my last post? They were the real deal. Our sweet little Macey Jean arrived on Thursday morning, 8/30/12, at 10:12am. She weighed in at a whopping (ha) 6 lbs, 9oz (thank goodness I turned down induction a few times-- she would've been an even tinier peanut if I hadn't!) and was 19.5 inches long at birth. We were discharged from the hospital this morning (we were required to stay an extra day due to my GBS status, just to be on the safe side). And now we're home as our new little family of four! Camden adores his sister. He talks about her constantly, always wants to know what she's doing, and will go over just to peek at her when she's sleeping. It's pretty much the sweetest thing ever.

I'll post my full birth story when I have more time, but for now, here are a couple of pictures: