The first few days...

Andrew is an incredible baby-- so easygoing, so peaceful. These past few days have been a whirlwind,adjusting to our new family of 4. I am so thankful to have had my mom and dad here for several days to help out with cooking,cleaning & taking care of Leah. I have managed to catch 4or 5 hours of sleep a night, although not consecutive of course. The sleep deprivation is starting to set in and I know it will get worse, but right now he seems tobe such an easy baby. He cries only when he's getting his diaper changed or when he has an upset tummy. He does seem to have his nights and days mixed up, though, and seems fussier at night. He sleeps peacefully for hours during the day, in his bouncer, with his big sister running around like a crazy woman.

Breastfeeding this time around has been so much easier and I'm actually starting to enjoy it! He has had some issues with latching on, but most of the time he gets it after a minute or two. I have had some soreness because of the first few rocky days trying to get him to figure everything out. Right now, his feeding schedule is very sporadic. He only eats about 5-15 minutes each feeding before falling asleep or just acting as if he's finished. Sometimes, then, I'll burp him & change his diaper and he'll eat a little more. Sometimes, he'll fall asleep and be content for 3 hours. Sometimes he'll want to eat again in an hour. I'm working on getting him to get a full feeding each time so we can get on a schedule, but right now I don't really know what a "full feeding" looks like for him. He may just be really fast!

He does have a hard time with burping, which is the cause of his fussiness at night. I have had to set my alarm for every 3 hours at night in order to wake up. Usually he is just starting to stir right when I'm getting up, but he doesn't really cry when he's getting hungry. Although pumping was great with Leah, I'm thankful that I don't really have to do that much this time around-- it would be so difficult with Leah to have to give attention to nursing & the pumping both.

Leah's adjustment is going as I would have expected. She had her fair share of tantrums and melt-downs the past week. It was really difficult in the hospital, probably because she really did not understand what was going on, why Mommy was in bed and who this new baby was that was getting all the attention. She has honestly gotten better the past couple days since Grandma & Grandpa left, maybe because now there's not as much going on, or she's starting to realize that Andrew is here to stay. She really wants to love on the baby, and her idea of that is sticking her face right up next to his and basically laying on top of him. He doesn't seem to mind, though. She did get jealous when people would hold the baby, but that seems to be subsiding and now the most difficult thing is when I'm trying to feed him-- she wants to sit on my lap and tries to climb all over me (making the latching on of the nursing baby even more difficult!).

She has been saying "no" and testing our patience a lot more frequently-- we're trying to give a little more grace and a little more discipline-- I can't imagine what her perception of this whole situation is. I try to put her to bed at night with her normal routine, and when the baby's sleeping, pay extra attention to her. So far it hasn't been too difficult, but then, Brett hasn't gone back to work yet! As long as he continues to be a good sleeper, I'm optimistic about handling them on my own. I try to encourage Leah to help with the baby all she can-- she loves to watch us change his diaper, and will get the necessary supplies. She helps cover him with his blanket. Each time she sees him, she says "baby!" but we can't really get her to say his name much, although she does know it.

I have my moments of being overwhelmed or discouraged or exhausted, but so far it seems easier this time around. I remember thinking how HARD it was to have a newborn, but give me a newborn any day over an energetic 2 year old! Newborns at least sleep... Right now Sarah has taken Leah for the day to have some fun and get out of the house and it's been relaxing to just have one. I am thankful to have more support close by this time, as Sarah has already offered to take Leah some afternoons-- it's so helpful to both of us!