Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Day 12 (It's a long one)

Wow...2 boys. I just wanted to write a little bit on what it's like being a parent of 2 kids/boys...partly to reflect, partly to inform. For some of you, you'll say "wow, really?!" to some of this, and others of you will sit nodding your head and say "yep, that's life with 2 kids/boys, welcome to the club Robin!".

About a month ago, I began to worry a little about what life was going to be like with 2 kids. (Parents of more than two: it's ok to laugh, I can take it.) First of all, how was I going to manage 2, one was hard enough some days. Will I have enough patience for both of them? Also, I was afraid of what Ethen was going to do to his little brother, how I was going to manage Ethen while I was "busy" with Judah, and whether Ethen would accept Judah or not, you know, things like that. (I guess that is pretty normal though.)

Well, mostly all worrying behind me, Ethen is a great big brother. He loves Judah so much. It is so precious to see him kiss him, "hold it", hug him and just lay beside him sometimes staring at Judah. God prepared him for a little brother, even though he is just 2.

There is such a difference in the two of them. I don't know why I expected them to be the same, I just figured that since Chris and I are the same parents, that another baby would automatically be the same as the first. Wrong. Ethen was quite high maintenance..not in the collicky way, he just seemed to only be contented while being held; not swaddled; somehow being given attention was his constant 'demand'. (I recognize that is in part to us being new parents and not knowing anything different.) On the other hand, Judah loves to be swaddled, seems to do well on his own for a couple hours at a time. Sometimes Chris and I comment on the fact that it seems like we still only have Ethen because Judah is so quiet and content by himself. (I've heard that may reflect into his personality later on...yipee!) Judah's cry is so quiet and cute. He just seems overally pretty easy going.

It is still an obvious adjustment with another kid. It means getting 3 people ready each morning (or outing) and the big thing now is keeping up on Judah's feeding schedule, which is usually every 2-3 hours....I had kinda forgotten about the whole feeding thing in the night. I like my sleep uninterrupted, but a great advantage that I have over some is that I can go back to sleep quickly...sorry all you poor sleeping moms, I can't imagine what that would be like.

So far, little Judah has spent most of his days in little sleepers/pj's. He has only spent a couple of days in outfits due to him being so small. I don't really have (0r want) any newborn clothes...just a couple of onesies. Oh, here's a freebie for all you moms-to-be: the newborn diapers just seem so big to me already, so I decided to take off the front tabs that go around to the sides. They seem like so much extra, the poor little guys (and girls) already have enough new and annoying 'tabs' to deal with. I'm kinda nerdy like that though. It is probably just a wierd aspect of me, but it seems to help in the diaper changing process to have it all ready (wipes, meds, diapers minus tabs, etc) if you have to change in the middle of the night. It's one of those routines that moms get in...ok, maybe it's just me...I'm open to that too!

If I hadn't already mentioned, I had both boys by ceserean. It was more difficult that first time around for the recovery, but the second time, I just knew what to expect and I recovered more quickly. I remember with Ethen, I went home with a prescription for pain and used it almost all the way up. With Judah, after my spinal block and initial pain meds wore off, I just took Ibuprofen, and when I got home, I just took it every so often to prevent swelling at the incision. I remember at the hospital, my first times up walking with Ethen were pretty scary, I teared up even. With Judah, I was ready to get out of the bed (they are never as comfy as our own beds), and I took a shower all by myself. I tried to rest, but at the same time, get going on the recovery aspect so that when I got home, it wasn't a shock to all of a sudden start moving. One embarrasing part was leaving the hospital in a wheelchair (I had no option). I am not a fan of wheelchairs.

Overall, I feel really good. I have made a couple of driving trips by myself with the boys and did well. The most painful thing so far was when Ethen hit me in the incision with 'le Toad' from 'Flushed Away'. That was yesterday and I am still sore today from that. I am pretty much pain free, although I am a little anxious to sneeze, cough or do those type of tummy strains.

Well, all for now. I am sure you've had to blink several times to regain the correct amount of eye moisture, maybe even break for a drink of water. If you are like me, sometimes when I see a longer post, I usually check on all my other blogs and things to do on the computer, then come back to it to read it when I know I have time. For those of you who read this without getting up for a break, congrats! You are a strong person (and you just might have too much free time on your hands!) :-) For those of you who came back to me after doing all your others computer tasks, thanks for coming back! Hope it was worth it!

3 comments:

Lola Bacon said...

Hey Robin! I'm glad to hear things are going well, and to get some insight into what it's like with a newborn boy. Only 10ish more weeks until my little guy is here!

Jenni said...

That was a sweet post Robin, I was one of those who saw the length and came back after I had put all the kids to bed :) Then kept your site up so I could comment later, today after I put the kids to bed again! Bless you Robin, life only gets sweeter with two boys in your life. They will bring you much joy and laughter (and possibly frustration but we don't need to talk about that now :) Bless you!

Jed & Emily said...

Robin I am so happy for you and your growing family. I am sure life with a newborn and a 2 yo is interesting. I'm looking forward to my baby boy. some time in august. I'm not sure yet what life will be like to an 8 yo, 3.5 yo and a newborn. I hope this baby is as sweet as Olivia was and is. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.
Emily