Thursday, May 5, 2011

Family Time

It's been a while since I posted, so I figured I would put up some pictures from the last week or so. 

Carter is a fantastic big brother - he never hesitates to lay down and play with Kendall.  Even though she doesn't really play back, yet.

 My grandmother wasn't able to come to the hospital to see us right after Kendall was born, but my mom brought her over so she could see her newest great-grandchild.  I had to keep an eye on Grandma because she wanted to put Kendall underneath her sweater and kidnap her! She's quite fond of newborns.  ;)
 Sleeping beauty
 The kids playing last night.  Kendall is starting to become a little more interactive - which makes Carter happy.  I told him to be patient with her and soon she'll be able to play a lot more.
Kendall also had her first well-baby appointment this week.  She's up to 7 lbs 5 oz - more than a pound gained since her birth.....the little porker! 

We also moved her into her own room last night.....which was bittersweet.  We started out with her sleeping with me in our bed - a decision that shocked even me as I'm not an advocate of co-sleeping.  However, I'm a very light sleeper, so I never had any concerns, and I loved having her right next to me.  She slept with me in the hospital as well, so I think this is why I continued with it at home.  And then we moved her into the playpen, which has a bassinet attachment.  And then when my hormones and mood started to get a little concerning (see below), Eric took everything from the playpen and moved it all into her crib.  I wasn't at all on-board with the decision, but I did sleep better last night, I will admit that.

I also had an appointment with my doctor.  Recovery time for a c-section is 6 weeks, minimum.  My incision looks good and I'm down to just internal pain at this point, which is all relative to my activity level.  So, as long as I take it easy, I should heal just fine.  And I'm also down to pre-Kendall weight, though I don't feel or look it yet.

I'm also having some problems with my hormones and "mood".  Not something that pleases me, and something that definitely has people in my life concerned.  I know wacked-out hormones are perfectly normal after pregnancy, and I plan to just keep an eye on them and make sure they are getting better, rather than worse.  I think a lot of my problems stem from the fact that I feel extremely guilty for Carter and changing his life.  I know, in the long run, Carter is going to have so much fun with a sister and we are giving him someone to play with, and share life with......but the "long run" seems like so far away.  And the guilt also comes from telling him to settle down or be quiet or wait until Kendall is done eating, etc.  I feel bad because this was his house first, and he was the center of our every move before Kendall came along.  So when I see the look of disappointment on his face when he's told to "hang on" just breaks this mama's heart.

And having three people in the house who need me and my time is also overwhelming.  It's very easy to lose all sense of yourself, especially with a new baby in the house.  Everyone is trying to adjust and the mom is always the one to help and make things better.  But it seems like everyone forgets about the mom and her feelings, let alone if she's healing from a major surgery.  But I'm trying to find a balance, and I know everything will soon fall into place.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Project 2011: Through His Eyes, Part 17

I had to weed through a lot of pictures of the TV, carpet, and front door this week, lol!  For some reason, these are his favorite things to take pictures of - I'll spare you.  Here are Carter's pictures from this week.

Eric's sister, Ashley, made us a delicious dinner earlier this week, which included a great salad.

 His picture of Joey, the cat.  Clearly, or not so clearly, I need to clean the back door window!  ;)
 The flash really ruined this picture.  But we were in the process of changing a diaper and Carter felt it noteworthy.  As you can see, she's still much to small for most of the newborn size onesies.
 His self-portrait.  I'm surprised he hasn't tried this before now.
 I left you one front door picture - just in case you forgot what it looked like.  ;)
 Horribly blurry, but it's me and Kendall.
 And let's not forget the ceiling fan!
 I'm sure he was wishing the weather was warmer so he could go outside and play.
 His Spiderman balloon, which sailed up into the skylight, out of reach.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Mobile Pics

I went through my phone today to free up some memory and came upon these pictures from the day Kendall was born.  I forgot to include these in the birth story posts, so I'm sharing them now.

We got Carter a special shirt for the day - he's quite fond of his new status.

 In triage.
 My last hours being pregnant.
 An hour after she was born.
 In recovery, making sure we were all a-okay.
 In the wee hours of the morning.  4:33 a.m. to be exact. Up for a feeding.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

It's a love/hate sort of relationship

My mom came over the other day to help me give Kendall her first bath.  It was obviously a very limited bath since we can't do a whole lot until that piece from her belly button falls off.  But she could still have somewhat of a wash cloth bath.  And babies hate those first couple baths......something she will learn later in life to be her friend.  With a glass of wine.  And candles.  And soft music.  And a book, if you are that talented! 

But for the time being, these baths are the devil because we took this precious sleeping child:

 and when we put her in the water, this happened:
 (excuse the quality)
And afterwards, she looked at me like "don't even THINK about doing that again any time in the near future!"  Poor child.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

3 and 5

You knew these were coming.  And there's plenty more!

3 days

 5 days

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The Birth of Kendall - Part 2

Day 2 in the hospital with Kendall was much different than day 2 with Carter.  With Carter, I was still very much bed-ridden.  With Kendall, those nurses came in first thing and announced their plan for me for the day, and made me list of some goals for the day as well.  Um, rest?  Resting sounded like the best plan.  And sure, that was on their agenda too.  But so was getting my IV out (thank god), taking the catheter out, removing the calf massagers (to prevent blood clots), having me get up to pee and shower, and then walking laps around the nurses' station.  Sounded like a tall order to me!  But we made it work.  The IV coming out was the best part - that sucker is 100% uncomfortable.

 We had lots of visitors, too.






 And in between the visitors, I got to take a shower......it was great.  All the tubes were gone and the hot water felt wonderful.  I also ditched the hospital gowns.  I hate those things.  I made a point of grabbing some loose, comfy jammies the week before.
By the time Saturday rolled around, Eric was going pretty stir crazy.  We discussed with my doctor the possibility of going home Saturday versus Sunday.  I actually wanted to stay the extra day simply because I needed all the help I could get at the hospital. 



But Carter was being juggled around and that made me feel guilty, so we finally packed it all up Saturday afternoon and headed home.