These days with Liam are challenging. Very, very challenging. I don't remember Eli being this tough at this age, but that's probably because Eli was more verbal and he didn't have an older brother to bother him/constantly egg him on. Liam whines and cries 70% of the day. And he does dangerous things. Very dangerous things like...climbing the stove, opening the stove, etc. Sigh.
Just for fun, yesterday when I was trying to make breakfast, I jotted down everything Liam did in a span of ten minutes. Yes, this was all done in ten minutes.
-Brushed my nightgown with his toothbrush (which had toothpaste on it).
-Dumped out all of my measuring cups and spread them out throughout the apartment.
-Bit my computer cord...twice.
-Put the (toy) tool box up on the counter where I was trying to work.
-Went down into the cabinet where we lock up our cleaning supplies and got some out. (note to self...need new location for dangerous goods).
-Played with the trash can lid
-Opened the bottom drawer of the stove and put things in there
-Pushed over a box to get to the counter (to reach food, etc).
-Took the dish towels off the stove and fridge and flung them around
-Rode his bike over a pile of books he and Eli had removed earlier from the shelves.
All in ten minutes. Sigh.
His other favorite "menace" activities (carried out on a daily basis, multiple times) are:
-putting toys in the toilet
-flushing the toilet over and over
-"washing" his hands in the sink. (He fills it up and splashes, in addition to squirting soap all over the counter and floor)
-trying to climb the bookshelves to get to things
-trying to pull out the wii sensor underneath the TV
-getting into my closet so he can remove glue sticks from one of my drawers.
-throwing food. everywhere. stepping on the food before I clean it up.
-screaming
-crying
-opening the fridge to remove the mustard, lemon juice and lime juice.
-laying on top of his sister... to "hug" her
-throwing toys at his sister
-climbing into his sister's crib
-did I mention screaming? crying? whining?
-"helping" mommy bathe Brielle
-taking Eli's toys and throwing them behind the couch
-dumping out all of the toy bins
-climbing up on the windowsill
-taking apart his train tracks and banging them on things
-taking out the broom to "sweep."
-squirting his applesauce tubes on the couch
-taking off his pants, and, more recently, his diaper
-refusing to lay still for a diaper change
-demanding socks but refusing to let me put them on
-refusing to take a nap
Again, all of these things happen multiple times a day. It is a challenging age.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Being a mom of three kids under the age of 4
Being a mom of three little kids is tough. I must say, the transition from one kid to two kids was much harder than from two to three (probably because I already know how to divide my time and I'm a better multi-tasker, but mostly because I am better at handling lack of sleep now). I was pretty scared about how I was going to be able to manage three little ones, but I'm excited to say that so far, I think I've been doing ok. Sure, there are moments when I compleeeeeetely lose my temper and yell at the boys for things I shouldn't (and should, at times!) be yelling at them for. And there have been far too many days where the TV has been on for a good chunk of the day. And meals these days often consist of things like a bowl of cheerios and some pre packaged peaches... But on the whole, we're surviving. We haven't ventured outside alone yet, but that's coming. I'm almost brave enough to try it.
Days where both Mike and I are here (it's so nice to have weekends as a family again! I love maternity leave!) are SO easy. Easy in that it's so much EASIER to get things done with two adults around. Easier to put them down for naps, to feed them, to entertain them.
Days like today, when Mike works late and doesn't get home til nearly 10, are tough. Very tough. I don't know how single parents do it. I truly don't. I wanted to write this today so I can have a record of what days like this are like. One day, I'll look back at this and laugh.
As I sit here and type, I have a half asleep baby in my lap. For some reason, these past few days she has been VERY cranky and it's been harder than usual to get her to go to sleep. I think it's because for these last two days, I haven't been able to put her down for naps as frequently because her brothers have been screaming. I have something sticky on my arm... it could be from a variety of things, but I'm guessing it's from the peaches I gave the boys at lunchtime. There are cheerios stuck to the floor underneath the table that I'm too tired to pry off. Is it wrong that I'm thinking... it's ok...Liam will get them off tomorrow.... ?? Today is Tuesday and I haven't showered since Sunday morning. Showering these days is tough, because unless I bring the baby in the bathroom with me and close the door (and deal with Liam pounding and screaming because I closed the door), there's really no safe option for Brielle. I can leave her alone with Eli for a few minutes, but never with Liam. Liam, in a very loving way, likes to cover Brielle with her blanket (including her head), share his food with her (I caught him putting a banana in her mouth and applesauce, too), try to pick her up and share his toys with her. One day, I was able to shower when both boys were preoccupied with breakfast, but then I spent the whole time worried they were out there choking on their cheerios. Today, I had the chance because Brielle and Liam were asleep and Eli was busy watching something on TV, but by the time I finally got Liam to nap, I just needed a few minutes to crash on the couch. I could shower now that Mike is home, but I just don't have the energy for it. I'm also still in the same clothes I've been in since Sunday, which is nice because that means that today nobody peed or threw up on me. It also means less laundry on my end, which is good because the kids go through SO MANY CLOTHES a day.
Meals for me these days are tough, unless Brielle is sleeping. By the time I get food ready for the boys and start getting something together for myself, the boys are done and NEEEEEED me to watch something SUPER important (new ways to jump off the couch, etc). There aren't many safe places to put Brielle down if she's not happy in her crib, and it's hard to fix meals with one hand! Many a day is spent with me eating 4 or 5 granola bars, cereal bars, etc, because they are easy to grab. Today, I ate my weight in Cheez-Its.
Ok.. the many more things I wanted to cover will have to wait because I think this little chickie finally fell asleep (at midnight!) and I need to go to bed, too. Over and out.
Days where both Mike and I are here (it's so nice to have weekends as a family again! I love maternity leave!) are SO easy. Easy in that it's so much EASIER to get things done with two adults around. Easier to put them down for naps, to feed them, to entertain them.
Days like today, when Mike works late and doesn't get home til nearly 10, are tough. Very tough. I don't know how single parents do it. I truly don't. I wanted to write this today so I can have a record of what days like this are like. One day, I'll look back at this and laugh.
As I sit here and type, I have a half asleep baby in my lap. For some reason, these past few days she has been VERY cranky and it's been harder than usual to get her to go to sleep. I think it's because for these last two days, I haven't been able to put her down for naps as frequently because her brothers have been screaming. I have something sticky on my arm... it could be from a variety of things, but I'm guessing it's from the peaches I gave the boys at lunchtime. There are cheerios stuck to the floor underneath the table that I'm too tired to pry off. Is it wrong that I'm thinking... it's ok...Liam will get them off tomorrow.... ?? Today is Tuesday and I haven't showered since Sunday morning. Showering these days is tough, because unless I bring the baby in the bathroom with me and close the door (and deal with Liam pounding and screaming because I closed the door), there's really no safe option for Brielle. I can leave her alone with Eli for a few minutes, but never with Liam. Liam, in a very loving way, likes to cover Brielle with her blanket (including her head), share his food with her (I caught him putting a banana in her mouth and applesauce, too), try to pick her up and share his toys with her. One day, I was able to shower when both boys were preoccupied with breakfast, but then I spent the whole time worried they were out there choking on their cheerios. Today, I had the chance because Brielle and Liam were asleep and Eli was busy watching something on TV, but by the time I finally got Liam to nap, I just needed a few minutes to crash on the couch. I could shower now that Mike is home, but I just don't have the energy for it. I'm also still in the same clothes I've been in since Sunday, which is nice because that means that today nobody peed or threw up on me. It also means less laundry on my end, which is good because the kids go through SO MANY CLOTHES a day.
Meals for me these days are tough, unless Brielle is sleeping. By the time I get food ready for the boys and start getting something together for myself, the boys are done and NEEEEEED me to watch something SUPER important (new ways to jump off the couch, etc). There aren't many safe places to put Brielle down if she's not happy in her crib, and it's hard to fix meals with one hand! Many a day is spent with me eating 4 or 5 granola bars, cereal bars, etc, because they are easy to grab. Today, I ate my weight in Cheez-Its.
Ok.. the many more things I wanted to cover will have to wait because I think this little chickie finally fell asleep (at midnight!) and I need to go to bed, too. Over and out.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Liam at 20 months
Dear Liam,
At 20 months, you are a wild and crazy guy and a BIG, BIG handful!!! It's a good thing you're cute and lovable! You're a super physical guy, always having to do everything your big brother does, including jumping off furniture, doing flips, somersaults, riding your bike at top speed, running, etc.
This month, you've gotten much better at throwing and can even catch the ball a few times! You love playing catch with me and bring me the ball saying, "atch!" You LOVE riding your bike all over and love coming over to me demanding that I fill your little car with "atch" (gas). I took you outside on your bike a few days ago and you rode four blocks super fast. You surprised me because you were VERY good about stopping at each street corner to get off and hold my hand as we crossed the road. You've gotten very good at riding Kuya Eli's scooter and I think when we take you outside with it (we need to get you your own and a helmet), you'll be a force! You ride goofy, again suggesting that you might be a lefty. (When you eat and draw, you use your left hand. You throw with your right, though).
Your speech is still not quite there, but you're definitely saying more "words" than you were before. Interestingly, you usually leave off the first part of each word. The words you currently have are: "hi"... "hello"... "atch" (gas and watch)... "at" (cat and hat)... NO (which you say ALLLLLLLLLL DAAAAAY LOOOOONG)..."boo"... "poopoo" (you tell me most of the time you poop in your diaper)..."ike" (bike)... "ock" (sock)... "aff" (bath)... "up"..."out"...."off"... "ack" (EVERYTHING...but consistently for stuck). "ock" (dog)..."uh oh"... "whoa"... "awnt" (want)...."uck" (duck)..."ack" (quack)... and more I am forgetting. Even though you don't say much, you understand everything and can follow most commands we give you.
All of a sudden, you're able to sit still and read books now! Your attention span is still not great, but you can definitely sit and read short books. Your favorites are Moo Baa, La la la... Green Hat, Blue Hat.... A duck book about opposites.... a book about going to visit Grandma....Your old favorite the Five Little Pumpkins...and Five Little Monkeys.
When Brielle came, you all of a sudden gave up your 2-3 bottle a day habit. You just stopped drinking them and didn't ever ask for them! You even willingly give Brielle her bottle and haven't once tried to drink from it. It's like you knew that bottles were for babies and you're ok with that. You hardly drink any milk now, which is a big change from the 20 oz or so a day you were getting, but I'm making sure to give you a lot of yogurt and cheese. You also surprisingly love cottage cheese.
You surprised ALL of us by being a REALLY great big brother to Brielle. Since you're a mama's boy, I really thought you'd be jealous of your sister and have a hard time when I was holding her. Not so at ALL. You've been really, really great with her. You always want to hold her. When I put her in your lap, you look at her, pat her head, and then tell me "up!" So you like holding her in five second increments. Lol. Then when I pick her up, you immediately want me to put her back. You always bring her her pacifier when you notice it's not in her mouth and love to force it in there. When she is laying down on a blanket, you like to lay next to her. You've tried giving her a banana and some applesauce already, so she always has to be kept out of your reach :) When she's sitting in her froggie chair, you like to pull the music for her and like to sit right in front of her, looking at her. So far, so good!
Getting your diaper changed (still size 4) is the WORST THING IN THE WORLD. You fight it with every ounce of fight you have in your little body.
You love dogs and whenever you hear the neighbor's dog barking, you stop whatever you are doing and point or run over to the door. You LOVE the cats and always chase them around. Riley let you pet her yesterday and you were very happy. You still love pointing to her ears and claws.
Your favorite food right now are these portable apple sauce squeeze things and you ask for them about 5 times a day.
to be continued....you want me to read you a dinosaur book right now. (You just ripped out the T-Rex. You're especially good at ripping things out of books).
Brielle is 3 weeks old!
Dear Brielle,
I can hardly believe you're already three weeks old! You're still a teeny tiny baby (which is obvious when I hold you up over my shoulder) and are still in newborn clothes (barely!) and newborn diapers, but you're changing so much every day. I noticed yesterday that your thighs are getting bigger... you've got little thigh rolls now! Over the past two days, you're really starting to look around and notice more. Yesterday, you really looked at your brothers for the first time. (They ADORE you, by the way. They are constantly asking to hold you. Eli is always giving you kisses and Liam likes to pat your head and show me where your mouth and eyes are. Both of them frantically search for your pacifier and put it in when you start crying).
You've been totally fascinated by the light from the windows in the living room and completely enthralled with the netting in your pack n play for about a week or so now. Last night, you noticed and were FASCINATED by the cabinets. When Grandma was here, she noticed you liked hearing the chiming of a little frog toy we have. Yesterday, you were able to track the frog back and forth!
Your routine these days is pretty much as follows: You sleep for 2 to 3 hours and then wake up crying. I change your diaper (and sometimes your clothes) and then give you a bottle. You're drinking 3.5 ounces these days. You either fall asleep while drinking your bottle or stay awake anywhere from 10 min to an hour. On rare occasions, you're awake for 2 to 3 hours, but that's usually only once a day. You're a really, really good baby so far and hardly ever cry. You really only cry if you are hungry, if your tummy is bothering you, or if you have a poopy diaper. You're pretty easy at this point to put to sleep. If you're really fussy and I put you in the baby sling/carrier and walk around with you, you're out almost immediately. Every time I've gone out in public with you wearing you, you've been asleep the WHOLE time.
You much prefer sleeping on your belly and I let you do that for naps when I'm able to keep close tabs on you. You have AMAZING head control....even better than your brothers did....and are well advanced for head lifting at this point. If you lay on my chest, you're able to lift your head up very high and look around. Laying in the crib, you're constantly picking your head up and changing the direction you look.
You're a very happy baby and it looks to me like you're smiling all the time. I love watching your little face as you drift off to sleep.... full of smiles and cute little expressions.
We don't swaddle you during the day because I don't think you really like it. You're able to fall asleep just fine without being swaddled, which is very unlike your brothers. We still swaddle you up at night, though, because we want to really make SURE you aren't woken up by any crazy arm/leg movements.
At your two week checkup last week, everything looked great! You were wide awake the whole time, looking around, quiet and happy even though you had your clothes off and were probably cold. The only time you cried was when Dr. Grant looked at your hips and straightened out your legs.... you much prefer to keep them bent and HATE people messing with them. You were PAST your birth weight of 7lbs 10oz and up to 8 lbs already!!! WOOHOO! Still, you're only in the 40th percentile for weight, so Dr. Grant said you were just perfect. Your belly button wasn't quite healing right, so Dr. Grant had to cauterize it with some silver nitrate. It didn't hurt you at all and seemed to do the trick!
I'm really cherishing every minute of you, little girl! :)
Love,
Mommy
I can hardly believe you're already three weeks old! You're still a teeny tiny baby (which is obvious when I hold you up over my shoulder) and are still in newborn clothes (barely!) and newborn diapers, but you're changing so much every day. I noticed yesterday that your thighs are getting bigger... you've got little thigh rolls now! Over the past two days, you're really starting to look around and notice more. Yesterday, you really looked at your brothers for the first time. (They ADORE you, by the way. They are constantly asking to hold you. Eli is always giving you kisses and Liam likes to pat your head and show me where your mouth and eyes are. Both of them frantically search for your pacifier and put it in when you start crying).
You've been totally fascinated by the light from the windows in the living room and completely enthralled with the netting in your pack n play for about a week or so now. Last night, you noticed and were FASCINATED by the cabinets. When Grandma was here, she noticed you liked hearing the chiming of a little frog toy we have. Yesterday, you were able to track the frog back and forth!
Your routine these days is pretty much as follows: You sleep for 2 to 3 hours and then wake up crying. I change your diaper (and sometimes your clothes) and then give you a bottle. You're drinking 3.5 ounces these days. You either fall asleep while drinking your bottle or stay awake anywhere from 10 min to an hour. On rare occasions, you're awake for 2 to 3 hours, but that's usually only once a day. You're a really, really good baby so far and hardly ever cry. You really only cry if you are hungry, if your tummy is bothering you, or if you have a poopy diaper. You're pretty easy at this point to put to sleep. If you're really fussy and I put you in the baby sling/carrier and walk around with you, you're out almost immediately. Every time I've gone out in public with you wearing you, you've been asleep the WHOLE time.
You much prefer sleeping on your belly and I let you do that for naps when I'm able to keep close tabs on you. You have AMAZING head control....even better than your brothers did....and are well advanced for head lifting at this point. If you lay on my chest, you're able to lift your head up very high and look around. Laying in the crib, you're constantly picking your head up and changing the direction you look.
You're a very happy baby and it looks to me like you're smiling all the time. I love watching your little face as you drift off to sleep.... full of smiles and cute little expressions.
We don't swaddle you during the day because I don't think you really like it. You're able to fall asleep just fine without being swaddled, which is very unlike your brothers. We still swaddle you up at night, though, because we want to really make SURE you aren't woken up by any crazy arm/leg movements.
At your two week checkup last week, everything looked great! You were wide awake the whole time, looking around, quiet and happy even though you had your clothes off and were probably cold. The only time you cried was when Dr. Grant looked at your hips and straightened out your legs.... you much prefer to keep them bent and HATE people messing with them. You were PAST your birth weight of 7lbs 10oz and up to 8 lbs already!!! WOOHOO! Still, you're only in the 40th percentile for weight, so Dr. Grant said you were just perfect. Your belly button wasn't quite healing right, so Dr. Grant had to cauterize it with some silver nitrate. It didn't hurt you at all and seemed to do the trick!
I'm really cherishing every minute of you, little girl! :)
Love,
Mommy
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Brielle's Birth Story
I wanted to make sure I got this written down before the details started fading.... Brielle was due on Friday, February 15th, though I really didn't think I would make it that long. Thankfully, she didn't come that Friday the 8th or Saturday the 9th because there was a pretty big snow storm and I was worried about being able to make it to the hospital. I also really wanted to make it through my last weekend at work. I ended up not going into work on Saturday because of the snow storm... the last thing I wanted to do was fall on ice or get stranded somewhere and go into labor. It was a really nice family day and Mike and I had fun taking the boys out in the snow. Sunday, the roads were clear and everything looked good, so I decided to head into work. When I woke up that morning, I was having mild contractions.... they would last for about 20 seconds or so, but they were pretty far apart. Since it could have gone on for a week like that, I figured I'd better head into work while I could. There were two other therapists there who told me they could get me to the hospital if things progressed, and they were also there to help me lift the patients. All in all, it was a pretty smooth day and I'm really glad I was able to make it through my last day. (Thanks, Brielle, for staying put!). Around 1pm, the contractions started to get a LITTLE stronger and closer together, but nothing too painful. I had a feeling, though, that this was going to progress into the real deal. I left work on time and made it home with no problem at all.
After dinnertime, the contractions started getting a little stronger and closer together. I texted my friend Susan to let her know that she was on standby, and she told me she had a bag packed and could be here whenever needed. (I needed someone to watch the boys while we went to the hospital). I also called my mom to tell her to FOR SURE plan on coming up Monday morning and that I'd probably be going into the hospital Monday sometime. I tried to lay down when the boys went to bed around 8 or so, but it was a little hard to sleep... the contractions were getting stronger and I was realizing this was the real deal. I came out and hung out with Mike until about 12 or so when he went to bed. Before he went to sleep, he showed me there was a handy little stopwatch feature on my iPad that I could use for timing contractions. That ended up being a big help. Around 12:30 is when the contractions started really picking up in intensity. I started jotting things down and between 1 and 3, they really started getting more intense and closer together. I wrote this all down (to put in her scrapbook!) but I think it was between 2 and 3am that they started coming every 3 minutes or so, lasting 45 seconds. I was worried I was going to have to call Susan at 3am... of course she would have come, and happily, but I wanted to at least try to make it to the "decent" hour of 5am before I called. I laid down on the couch and tried to relax, and it worked... contractions, though very strong, spread out to 10 minutes apart and I was actually able to get some fitful sleep. I remember opening my eyes at 4am, happy that I made it, and being SUPER ecstatic to see that I made it to five. At five, I called my mom and told her to get a move on, that we were definitely heading to the hospital soon, and that I would need her to relieve Susan as soon as possible.
I laid back down and somehow made it til 7 before I called Susan and invited her over to breakfast. Ha. She said she'd be right over. Traffic was awful cause it was raining and the roads were a little icy, but it worked out well because by the time she made it at 8am, I had gotten the chance to get a shower and re-pack my bag (with a bunch of things that I didn't need!) and labor more at home. I didn't want to get to the hospital too early, because once you get there, they hook you up to so many monitors and don't let you move too much. I tried to stretch it a bit more, but by 9am, things were getting really intense and I was afraid that if I waited too long, I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. At 9am, we said goodbye to the boys and started the trek to St. Lukes/Roosevelt Hospital. I decided against taking a car service there, because it was prime rush hour time PLUS raining and I was convinced we'd get stuck in major traffic. The last thing I wanted to do was be stuck in traffic and in labor. So we started the slow journey to the subway. It was raining and poor Mike was carrying all of my bags, but he did a great job of holding my hand and letting me walk REALLY slow, stopping when I had a big contraction. I made it to the train without problem and the walking probably made things progress along nicely. The train came into the station as soon as we arrived... good Karma...and we got seats despite rush hour. (Not that I wouldn't have demanded a seat anyway! lol). I only had about 4 or 5 big contractions on the train and was able to keep it together by breathing and squeezing Mike's arm really hard. The walk from Columbus Circle to the hospital was a little bit harder and the contractions felt like they were coming every 1-2 minutes, but squeezing Mike's hand while I stopped and breathed it out worked and we made it. My original plan was to hang out in the lobby for as long as I could to again avoid being strapped to monitors, and I actually considered it briefly. I asked Mike if he thought we should stay down there for a while and he was like...are you kidding? Ha. I was feeling really nauseous at that point and didn't want to throw up in the lobby (even though I was prepared with plastic bags!), so we headed upstairs.
When we got to the triage waiting room, we were the only ones there. A couple walked in briefly after us, a scheduled c-section, and she was probably counting her lucky stars when she saw the shape that I was in. Things went from bad to worse in that room and it was hard to not scream out in pain during my very frequent contractions. Sitting down in the waiting room chair was AWFUL and I couldn't get comfortable at all. I wanted to be standing, but it hurt too much to stand. Finally, after at least 30 minutes, they called me back to the triage area. The contractions were so strong at that point that it took me a good 2 minutes to even get into the room 10 feet away. When I got there, they wanted me to leave a urine sample.... that took all the strength in the world to do by myself. When I walked back over to the triage area, she wanted me to change into a gown and lay down in the bed. I told her I couldn't get my boots off by myself and she was like.... no problem, take everything else off and lay down with your boots on. Um, I can't get my pants over my boots, lady. Lol. She came over and tried to help me but couldn't quite understand how to undo the double knot, so Mike got to come back early (usually they don't let the husband in til after the first exam) and help. I was very grateful to have him there, because they took FOREVER to get to me. Dr. Moore (a resident?) came in to examine me and told me I was between 4 and 5 cm. Whaaat? I felt like I was at LEAST 8. But I wasn't TOO crushed because I felt like 5 (I completely ignored the 4 part) was a really good starting point.
I had really wanted to go without an epidural for this labor since with both boys I had pretty bad epidural experiences. Not only was the process of getting them awful, but with both boys, the epidural slowed my contractions down sooooo much and really, really stalled things. I had been trying for the past several months to gear myself up mentally for going natural, talking to as many people who went sans epidural for motivation, but in the back of my head I knew that if I couldn't do it with both boys, that I probably wouldn't be able to make it this time, either. After I was first checked and told I was at 5cm, I did pretty good for about an hour or so. (Yes, I was in triage FOREVER). I was breathing well and was able to focus on relaxing as much as I could. I kept telling myself the pain was a GOOD thing and that it meant I was dilating. This worked for a while. I soon, however, got to a point where the pain was just awful. I was losing my ability to relax, breathe, concentrate... the duration of the peak of the contractions seemed to be increasing and I was quickly realizing I wasn't going to be able to do this for hours more. I yelled out to Mike that I wanted an epidural and thankfully, even though he knew I didn't want one, he didn't try to convince me otherwise. It took FOREEEEVER for anyone to come in and check on me and I finally made Mike pop his head out and go find someone. A male nurse came in (Filipino!), and quickly started my IV when I told him I wanted an epidural. (You have to get two bags of saline before the epidural). That experience was AWFUL. I have good veins and it's usually very easy for people to take blood, etc... but this guy could NOT get my IV in. He kept pricking my arm and missing....the pain was AWFUL. It took my mind off the contractions for a few minutes, but man was it awful. Mike said later that he was getting SO mad at the guy because he saw him keep stabbing me and missing. FINALLY he got the IV in and told me I'd be moving over soon to a room. Pffffft. Again, it took forever... easily another 45 minutes or so. In that 45 minutes, the pain became really unbearable. I was in a triage room with probably 5 other patients or so (separated only by curtains) and I had to become that patient who was screaming out in pain. I didn't want to be that lady, but I had no choice. Plus, I was getting annoyed and wanted to be in a room. I found that when I started screaming out in pain, they were a tad more responsive to moving me (and getting rid of me!). Finally, the nurse came back and told me there was a room and also told me that I had to walk there. At this point, I could barely stand, and no joke..it took about 5 minutes just for me to get to a standing position, even with both him and Mike helping me. It was SO. PAINFUL. I was about to request that they wheel me over in the stretcher (which would have been super annoying to everyone, I realized, because the space wasn't made for requests like that and I just would have been super complicating things)... but I had a small break between contractions and mustered up all my mental willpower to walk out to the triage desk and tell the nurse (who had gone over to print out my transfer papers) that I was ready to go... NOW....NOW NOW. Luckily, it wasn't that far of a walk and I made it without incident.
Once I got to my room, one of the nurses from triage came over and told me that my nurse would be Ms. Li and she was next door and would be over in a little bit. I believe my first words to everyone I met were "I need an epidural. NOW." She was very nice and I liked her a lot...sooo wish she could have stayed to be my nurse for the delivery! She was joking around with me and Mike and was very friendly and helpful. I just realized that I didn't even think to ask for a physioball....something I definitely used with the other two and really wanted for this labor. Ha. It didn't even occur to me until right now. Anyway... she said that the anesthesiologist was next door (with my nurse) and that as soon as they were finished, they would come to me. The pain was really awful at this point and I was yelling pretty loudly during the contractions. I was starting to get frustrated and angry and reached that point where I didn't think I was going to be able to do it. I felt better when Mike rubbed my leg during a contraction because it helped me to focus on something other than the pain. After FOREVER, my nurse finally came in, introducing herself and telling me she wasn't sure if she was my nurse. I was like - yes, you are my nurse.. PLEASE have someone check me. I was really curious to see how dilated I was at that point. At another point, when someone else came in, she told me to tell them right away if I was feeling rectal pressure. I remembered from friends and from reading things about labor that rectal pressure is a sign that the baby is coming NOW and that it should be considered an emergency of sorts. So even though I didn't feel it, I told the nurse - yes, yes, I feel rectal pressure - someone check me!!!! FINALLY, this did the trick. I felt a flurry of activity, with one or two nurses entering....and then finally a doctor appeared! He introduced himself as Dr. Jew (a name I recognized from my doctor's practice... I knew I wouldn't have MY doctor, because he's in his office on Mondays and I myself had a 7pm appointment with him that night!), and he was dressed in a suit. He grabbed a pair of gloves and was like... ok, let me check you. I was bracing myself for him to say I was only 7cm dilated and was wondering how on earth I would survive sitting still for an epidural. I was PRAYING that I was at least 8cm. The next thing I know, he was like... WHOA, you're 10 cm! You're ready to have this baby! You're going to have this baby in a few minutes. Let me just go change. I was SHOCKED and relieved and surprised and happy and scared and MAD that he had to go change... haha.
After a few minutes, Dr. Jew came back with Dr. Moore (the resident who had interviewed me/checked me in the triage room) and my nurse and all of a sudden, I was ready to push. They changed my bed position and explained the logistics of what Mike and the nurse would be doing. Mike was to hold my right leg and the nurse my left leg. Dr. Moore was the one actually delivering the baby and Dr. Jew was hanging out in the back...the boss, the overseer. Here came the part where I began to really hate the nurse, Mrs. Li. She was on my left, frequently preoccupied by something (something to do with me? Someone else? i have no idea) on the computer and would disappear between contractions. She'd then appear and tell me confusing things.... She was counting differently than Dr. Moore and kept telling me to hold my breath...something that was really distracting to me. After about 5 pushes or so, I made eye contact with the doctors to let them know she was annoying me and told Dr. Moore that I much preferred HER to count. After another push or so, I finally made a motion for the nurse to STOP TALKING and Dr. Jew jumped in with "No more speech from you, Mrs. Li. No more speech." HA. I loved that. Having her silent was SO much better and I could focus better. I was still a very big wimp with the pushing, though. I thought I'd be SO much better, but the pain was SO bad during each contraction that it was really hard to focus on pushing for 10 seconds. I would end up pushing for about 3 seconds and I could tell I wasn't pushing hard enough or the right way. After about 15 min of this, I could tell Dr. Jew was getting really frustrated with me, and I was getting frustrated with myself. During one contraction, I only pushed for about 2 seconds and then told everyone I needed a break. I think I just needed to regroup and find that inner strength. I finally realized what I needed to do to push more effectively. I needed Mike and the doctors to be yelling "GO GO GO" or "PUSH PUSH PUSH" instead of counting. Then I could focus on counting myself at my own pace. That worked MUCH better. After about 3 pushes of her ALMOST being there, I finally was able to dig deep and just pusssssh push push push.
She came out and I remember looking down and seeing the doctor almost drop her... lol..she was slippery!! They cleaned her off and let Mike cut the cord. What a different experience than the other two. As soon as she was out, I felt SO much better and was even able to take pictures as her cord was being cut. They handed her to me right away and I got to hold her for a while before the nurse took her to be cleaned up.
This delivery was SO much less chaotic than the other two. After she was born and I was taken care of, the doctors left and it was just us and the nurse. She cleaned her up a little bit and did her footprints and weight and then Mike and I got to take turns holding her. We stayed in the delivery room for two hours and it was very low key. It was so nice to be able to spend that time with her! She was looking all around and was very alert for a newborn. She finally fell asleep for a little when Mike was holding her.
In hindsight, I'm SO glad I didn't get the epidural. But maaaan was that tough! :) Welcome to the world, Brielle Calai!
After dinnertime, the contractions started getting a little stronger and closer together. I texted my friend Susan to let her know that she was on standby, and she told me she had a bag packed and could be here whenever needed. (I needed someone to watch the boys while we went to the hospital). I also called my mom to tell her to FOR SURE plan on coming up Monday morning and that I'd probably be going into the hospital Monday sometime. I tried to lay down when the boys went to bed around 8 or so, but it was a little hard to sleep... the contractions were getting stronger and I was realizing this was the real deal. I came out and hung out with Mike until about 12 or so when he went to bed. Before he went to sleep, he showed me there was a handy little stopwatch feature on my iPad that I could use for timing contractions. That ended up being a big help. Around 12:30 is when the contractions started really picking up in intensity. I started jotting things down and between 1 and 3, they really started getting more intense and closer together. I wrote this all down (to put in her scrapbook!) but I think it was between 2 and 3am that they started coming every 3 minutes or so, lasting 45 seconds. I was worried I was going to have to call Susan at 3am... of course she would have come, and happily, but I wanted to at least try to make it to the "decent" hour of 5am before I called. I laid down on the couch and tried to relax, and it worked... contractions, though very strong, spread out to 10 minutes apart and I was actually able to get some fitful sleep. I remember opening my eyes at 4am, happy that I made it, and being SUPER ecstatic to see that I made it to five. At five, I called my mom and told her to get a move on, that we were definitely heading to the hospital soon, and that I would need her to relieve Susan as soon as possible.
I laid back down and somehow made it til 7 before I called Susan and invited her over to breakfast. Ha. She said she'd be right over. Traffic was awful cause it was raining and the roads were a little icy, but it worked out well because by the time she made it at 8am, I had gotten the chance to get a shower and re-pack my bag (with a bunch of things that I didn't need!) and labor more at home. I didn't want to get to the hospital too early, because once you get there, they hook you up to so many monitors and don't let you move too much. I tried to stretch it a bit more, but by 9am, things were getting really intense and I was afraid that if I waited too long, I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. At 9am, we said goodbye to the boys and started the trek to St. Lukes/Roosevelt Hospital. I decided against taking a car service there, because it was prime rush hour time PLUS raining and I was convinced we'd get stuck in major traffic. The last thing I wanted to do was be stuck in traffic and in labor. So we started the slow journey to the subway. It was raining and poor Mike was carrying all of my bags, but he did a great job of holding my hand and letting me walk REALLY slow, stopping when I had a big contraction. I made it to the train without problem and the walking probably made things progress along nicely. The train came into the station as soon as we arrived... good Karma...and we got seats despite rush hour. (Not that I wouldn't have demanded a seat anyway! lol). I only had about 4 or 5 big contractions on the train and was able to keep it together by breathing and squeezing Mike's arm really hard. The walk from Columbus Circle to the hospital was a little bit harder and the contractions felt like they were coming every 1-2 minutes, but squeezing Mike's hand while I stopped and breathed it out worked and we made it. My original plan was to hang out in the lobby for as long as I could to again avoid being strapped to monitors, and I actually considered it briefly. I asked Mike if he thought we should stay down there for a while and he was like...are you kidding? Ha. I was feeling really nauseous at that point and didn't want to throw up in the lobby (even though I was prepared with plastic bags!), so we headed upstairs.
When we got to the triage waiting room, we were the only ones there. A couple walked in briefly after us, a scheduled c-section, and she was probably counting her lucky stars when she saw the shape that I was in. Things went from bad to worse in that room and it was hard to not scream out in pain during my very frequent contractions. Sitting down in the waiting room chair was AWFUL and I couldn't get comfortable at all. I wanted to be standing, but it hurt too much to stand. Finally, after at least 30 minutes, they called me back to the triage area. The contractions were so strong at that point that it took me a good 2 minutes to even get into the room 10 feet away. When I got there, they wanted me to leave a urine sample.... that took all the strength in the world to do by myself. When I walked back over to the triage area, she wanted me to change into a gown and lay down in the bed. I told her I couldn't get my boots off by myself and she was like.... no problem, take everything else off and lay down with your boots on. Um, I can't get my pants over my boots, lady. Lol. She came over and tried to help me but couldn't quite understand how to undo the double knot, so Mike got to come back early (usually they don't let the husband in til after the first exam) and help. I was very grateful to have him there, because they took FOREVER to get to me. Dr. Moore (a resident?) came in to examine me and told me I was between 4 and 5 cm. Whaaat? I felt like I was at LEAST 8. But I wasn't TOO crushed because I felt like 5 (I completely ignored the 4 part) was a really good starting point.
I had really wanted to go without an epidural for this labor since with both boys I had pretty bad epidural experiences. Not only was the process of getting them awful, but with both boys, the epidural slowed my contractions down sooooo much and really, really stalled things. I had been trying for the past several months to gear myself up mentally for going natural, talking to as many people who went sans epidural for motivation, but in the back of my head I knew that if I couldn't do it with both boys, that I probably wouldn't be able to make it this time, either. After I was first checked and told I was at 5cm, I did pretty good for about an hour or so. (Yes, I was in triage FOREVER). I was breathing well and was able to focus on relaxing as much as I could. I kept telling myself the pain was a GOOD thing and that it meant I was dilating. This worked for a while. I soon, however, got to a point where the pain was just awful. I was losing my ability to relax, breathe, concentrate... the duration of the peak of the contractions seemed to be increasing and I was quickly realizing I wasn't going to be able to do this for hours more. I yelled out to Mike that I wanted an epidural and thankfully, even though he knew I didn't want one, he didn't try to convince me otherwise. It took FOREEEEVER for anyone to come in and check on me and I finally made Mike pop his head out and go find someone. A male nurse came in (Filipino!), and quickly started my IV when I told him I wanted an epidural. (You have to get two bags of saline before the epidural). That experience was AWFUL. I have good veins and it's usually very easy for people to take blood, etc... but this guy could NOT get my IV in. He kept pricking my arm and missing....the pain was AWFUL. It took my mind off the contractions for a few minutes, but man was it awful. Mike said later that he was getting SO mad at the guy because he saw him keep stabbing me and missing. FINALLY he got the IV in and told me I'd be moving over soon to a room. Pffffft. Again, it took forever... easily another 45 minutes or so. In that 45 minutes, the pain became really unbearable. I was in a triage room with probably 5 other patients or so (separated only by curtains) and I had to become that patient who was screaming out in pain. I didn't want to be that lady, but I had no choice. Plus, I was getting annoyed and wanted to be in a room. I found that when I started screaming out in pain, they were a tad more responsive to moving me (and getting rid of me!). Finally, the nurse came back and told me there was a room and also told me that I had to walk there. At this point, I could barely stand, and no joke..it took about 5 minutes just for me to get to a standing position, even with both him and Mike helping me. It was SO. PAINFUL. I was about to request that they wheel me over in the stretcher (which would have been super annoying to everyone, I realized, because the space wasn't made for requests like that and I just would have been super complicating things)... but I had a small break between contractions and mustered up all my mental willpower to walk out to the triage desk and tell the nurse (who had gone over to print out my transfer papers) that I was ready to go... NOW....NOW NOW. Luckily, it wasn't that far of a walk and I made it without incident.
Once I got to my room, one of the nurses from triage came over and told me that my nurse would be Ms. Li and she was next door and would be over in a little bit. I believe my first words to everyone I met were "I need an epidural. NOW." She was very nice and I liked her a lot...sooo wish she could have stayed to be my nurse for the delivery! She was joking around with me and Mike and was very friendly and helpful. I just realized that I didn't even think to ask for a physioball....something I definitely used with the other two and really wanted for this labor. Ha. It didn't even occur to me until right now. Anyway... she said that the anesthesiologist was next door (with my nurse) and that as soon as they were finished, they would come to me. The pain was really awful at this point and I was yelling pretty loudly during the contractions. I was starting to get frustrated and angry and reached that point where I didn't think I was going to be able to do it. I felt better when Mike rubbed my leg during a contraction because it helped me to focus on something other than the pain. After FOREVER, my nurse finally came in, introducing herself and telling me she wasn't sure if she was my nurse. I was like - yes, you are my nurse.. PLEASE have someone check me. I was really curious to see how dilated I was at that point. At another point, when someone else came in, she told me to tell them right away if I was feeling rectal pressure. I remembered from friends and from reading things about labor that rectal pressure is a sign that the baby is coming NOW and that it should be considered an emergency of sorts. So even though I didn't feel it, I told the nurse - yes, yes, I feel rectal pressure - someone check me!!!! FINALLY, this did the trick. I felt a flurry of activity, with one or two nurses entering....and then finally a doctor appeared! He introduced himself as Dr. Jew (a name I recognized from my doctor's practice... I knew I wouldn't have MY doctor, because he's in his office on Mondays and I myself had a 7pm appointment with him that night!), and he was dressed in a suit. He grabbed a pair of gloves and was like... ok, let me check you. I was bracing myself for him to say I was only 7cm dilated and was wondering how on earth I would survive sitting still for an epidural. I was PRAYING that I was at least 8cm. The next thing I know, he was like... WHOA, you're 10 cm! You're ready to have this baby! You're going to have this baby in a few minutes. Let me just go change. I was SHOCKED and relieved and surprised and happy and scared and MAD that he had to go change... haha.
After a few minutes, Dr. Jew came back with Dr. Moore (the resident who had interviewed me/checked me in the triage room) and my nurse and all of a sudden, I was ready to push. They changed my bed position and explained the logistics of what Mike and the nurse would be doing. Mike was to hold my right leg and the nurse my left leg. Dr. Moore was the one actually delivering the baby and Dr. Jew was hanging out in the back...the boss, the overseer. Here came the part where I began to really hate the nurse, Mrs. Li. She was on my left, frequently preoccupied by something (something to do with me? Someone else? i have no idea) on the computer and would disappear between contractions. She'd then appear and tell me confusing things.... She was counting differently than Dr. Moore and kept telling me to hold my breath...something that was really distracting to me. After about 5 pushes or so, I made eye contact with the doctors to let them know she was annoying me and told Dr. Moore that I much preferred HER to count. After another push or so, I finally made a motion for the nurse to STOP TALKING and Dr. Jew jumped in with "No more speech from you, Mrs. Li. No more speech." HA. I loved that. Having her silent was SO much better and I could focus better. I was still a very big wimp with the pushing, though. I thought I'd be SO much better, but the pain was SO bad during each contraction that it was really hard to focus on pushing for 10 seconds. I would end up pushing for about 3 seconds and I could tell I wasn't pushing hard enough or the right way. After about 15 min of this, I could tell Dr. Jew was getting really frustrated with me, and I was getting frustrated with myself. During one contraction, I only pushed for about 2 seconds and then told everyone I needed a break. I think I just needed to regroup and find that inner strength. I finally realized what I needed to do to push more effectively. I needed Mike and the doctors to be yelling "GO GO GO" or "PUSH PUSH PUSH" instead of counting. Then I could focus on counting myself at my own pace. That worked MUCH better. After about 3 pushes of her ALMOST being there, I finally was able to dig deep and just pusssssh push push push.
She came out and I remember looking down and seeing the doctor almost drop her... lol..she was slippery!! They cleaned her off and let Mike cut the cord. What a different experience than the other two. As soon as she was out, I felt SO much better and was even able to take pictures as her cord was being cut. They handed her to me right away and I got to hold her for a while before the nurse took her to be cleaned up.
This delivery was SO much less chaotic than the other two. After she was born and I was taken care of, the doctors left and it was just us and the nurse. She cleaned her up a little bit and did her footprints and weight and then Mike and I got to take turns holding her. We stayed in the delivery room for two hours and it was very low key. It was so nice to be able to spend that time with her! She was looking all around and was very alert for a newborn. She finally fell asleep for a little when Mike was holding her.
In hindsight, I'm SO glad I didn't get the epidural. But maaaan was that tough! :) Welcome to the world, Brielle Calai!
The house is quiet!
Two sleeping children (Liam and Brielle) and the third at the Natural History museum with Daddy... I think I'll take advantage and sit down at my computer with a nice piece of Junior's Cheesecake and try to catch up on a few things. (oops..the cheesecake is gone!) I'm so excited Mike took Eli out to the museum. This month, he's been fascinated with several BBC documentaries about Dinosaurs, Beasts and Monsters and that's all he talks about. Now he's going to get to see the dinosaurs up close and personal. He's been twice before when he was little, but he didn't appreciate it as much as he's going to today. Mike has already sent me half a dozen pictures of him posing by his favorites and told me Eli insisted that they sit down and watch one of those documentary movies about vertebrates. Ha. It's good that they are getting some quality father and son time, though, and hopefully Mike will get to take Liam out somewhere this week as well.
Brielle is still super sleepy and is really only awake to eat. Sometimes, she'll stay awake for 20 min to an hour, just staring and taking in all of the sounds, but most of the time, her little eyes start closing even before she's finished with her bottle. I stopped breastfeeding on Saturday, just shy of a week. My goal was to make it to two weeks and re-assess then, but I was just in TOO much pain. I was dreading every time I had to feed her instead of looking forward to it. Making the decision to switch to formula was hard, but the best decision ever. That night I got 10 hours of sleep and WOW...what a difference a fully rested mama is! That day, I was able to spend much more quality time with all of the kids cause I wasn't so tired.... I even made a huge breakfast and was able to get a lot of things around the house cleaned. Switching to the bottle also means Mike will get a chance to feed her and bond with her...something I think is really important. And for me, I now REALLY look forward to feeding her, sometimes even willing her to wake up so I can cuddle with her. I always envied the mamas who talked about how much they cherished the time breastfeeding their children.... now I get to cherish cuddly time, too! I'm SO glad I made the decision. And now I know exactly how much she is eating.... the hungry little girlie drinks 2 oz every two hours. Last night, she wanted to eat almost every hour! Guess she's catching up. Hope she's back to her birth weight at her 2 week checkup next Tuesday.
Liam continues to surprise me by how sweet he's being with his baby sister. He's totally accepted her. He doesn't seem jealous at all when I'm holding her, though he sometimes wants me to put her down so I can have two hands to help him with whatever he's trying to do. He keeps trying to hold her (so we have to always be close!) and loves bringing her her pacifier and socks (which always fall off her little tiny feet). He likes to take her blanket out of the crib so he can re-cover her up (uh oh! lol).. and last night, he took her blanket over to the couch, covered himself up with it and motioned that he wanted her to lay next to him. Super cute. He's tried a few times to share his toys with her, opening her hand and getting quite upset when she won't hold whatever he's trying to give her. He also hasn't minded at all that I'm feeding her bottles.... which completely surprises me since HE is still drinking bottles. So far, so good!!
Eli is being a great big brother, and though not interested in her all the time, he loves giving her kisses and always wants to hold her. When he does hold her, he's very gentle with her and loves to kiss her cheeks. He will sing songs to her to try to get her to calm down when she's crying and he's been good about getting me her diapers, etc, when I need them. He's definitely a good big brother and I love seeing them together.
I can't believe she's already a week old! So far, so good!
Brielle is still super sleepy and is really only awake to eat. Sometimes, she'll stay awake for 20 min to an hour, just staring and taking in all of the sounds, but most of the time, her little eyes start closing even before she's finished with her bottle. I stopped breastfeeding on Saturday, just shy of a week. My goal was to make it to two weeks and re-assess then, but I was just in TOO much pain. I was dreading every time I had to feed her instead of looking forward to it. Making the decision to switch to formula was hard, but the best decision ever. That night I got 10 hours of sleep and WOW...what a difference a fully rested mama is! That day, I was able to spend much more quality time with all of the kids cause I wasn't so tired.... I even made a huge breakfast and was able to get a lot of things around the house cleaned. Switching to the bottle also means Mike will get a chance to feed her and bond with her...something I think is really important. And for me, I now REALLY look forward to feeding her, sometimes even willing her to wake up so I can cuddle with her. I always envied the mamas who talked about how much they cherished the time breastfeeding their children.... now I get to cherish cuddly time, too! I'm SO glad I made the decision. And now I know exactly how much she is eating.... the hungry little girlie drinks 2 oz every two hours. Last night, she wanted to eat almost every hour! Guess she's catching up. Hope she's back to her birth weight at her 2 week checkup next Tuesday.
Liam continues to surprise me by how sweet he's being with his baby sister. He's totally accepted her. He doesn't seem jealous at all when I'm holding her, though he sometimes wants me to put her down so I can have two hands to help him with whatever he's trying to do. He keeps trying to hold her (so we have to always be close!) and loves bringing her her pacifier and socks (which always fall off her little tiny feet). He likes to take her blanket out of the crib so he can re-cover her up (uh oh! lol).. and last night, he took her blanket over to the couch, covered himself up with it and motioned that he wanted her to lay next to him. Super cute. He's tried a few times to share his toys with her, opening her hand and getting quite upset when she won't hold whatever he's trying to give her. He also hasn't minded at all that I'm feeding her bottles.... which completely surprises me since HE is still drinking bottles. So far, so good!!
Eli is being a great big brother, and though not interested in her all the time, he loves giving her kisses and always wants to hold her. When he does hold her, he's very gentle with her and loves to kiss her cheeks. He will sing songs to her to try to get her to calm down when she's crying and he's been good about getting me her diapers, etc, when I need them. He's definitely a good big brother and I love seeing them together.
I can't believe she's already a week old! So far, so good!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Baby sister Brielle is here!!!
It's a girl!!!!! Baby sister Brielle Calai Flores arrived on Monday, February 11th at 1:25pm weighing 7 lbs 10.6 oz and 19 3/4" long. Her big brothers are excited to have her here and are adjusting very well to the new member of the house. She's a week old today and is still in that super sleepy phase where she pretty much just wakes up to eat and then goes back to dreamland. There are a few times during the day where she will be awake for about an hour, and during those times she loves staring at the windows. Her eyes get wider whenever she hears her brothers crying or yelling. They both enjoy trying to feed her (Eli has been drinking more milk "so that I can feed it to my baby sister.") and Liam loves giving her the pacifier. They both like holding her and ask all the time to do so. They are fascinated with her umbilical cord and like to point it out every time I change her diaper. Liam likes looking at her socks and pointing out "ock! ock!" whenever he sees them.
She's little and tiny and adorable. Her lower leg (from her knee to her ankle) is the size of my finger. Her fingers and toes are TINY. We can't really get any socks or newborn mittens to even stay on. She HATES getting sponge bathed (no doubt because it's freezing!) but really enjoys having her hair shampooed and brushed. She's a hungry little girl and wants to eat every 2 hours on the dot. I've had to wake her up in the middle of the night to feed her, though.... which we can stop doing when she's 2 weeks old and gets back to her birth weight.
Mike has been off from work for a week and has one more week off and we're really taking advantage of the time together to just really have relaxing days. It's been very nice lounging around...not really cooking or going out much. Brielle's first outing was on the subway to her doctor's appointment last Thursday and that went really well. She's also been to the playground (so her brothers could run around) and to church last night. All three times, I brought her in the carrier and she was knocked out the whole time! I can't wait until it's warmer and I don't have to worry about her being cold.
I thought I'd be putting her in a lot more cute little outfits, but truthfully she HATES getting her clothes changed, so we keep her in the same outfit all day. When it's warmer, I hope that changes cause she has so many cute little summer things to wear!
Let the adventures continue!!
She's little and tiny and adorable. Her lower leg (from her knee to her ankle) is the size of my finger. Her fingers and toes are TINY. We can't really get any socks or newborn mittens to even stay on. She HATES getting sponge bathed (no doubt because it's freezing!) but really enjoys having her hair shampooed and brushed. She's a hungry little girl and wants to eat every 2 hours on the dot. I've had to wake her up in the middle of the night to feed her, though.... which we can stop doing when she's 2 weeks old and gets back to her birth weight.
Mike has been off from work for a week and has one more week off and we're really taking advantage of the time together to just really have relaxing days. It's been very nice lounging around...not really cooking or going out much. Brielle's first outing was on the subway to her doctor's appointment last Thursday and that went really well. She's also been to the playground (so her brothers could run around) and to church last night. All three times, I brought her in the carrier and she was knocked out the whole time! I can't wait until it's warmer and I don't have to worry about her being cold.
I thought I'd be putting her in a lot more cute little outfits, but truthfully she HATES getting her clothes changed, so we keep her in the same outfit all day. When it's warmer, I hope that changes cause she has so many cute little summer things to wear!
Let the adventures continue!!
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