The First Week

I survived the first week of having a newborn and a toddler at home. Although I knew that it was going to be a challenge, I am impressed with how quickly I have adapted.

I will admit - I had a mini-breakdown the day that I came home from the hospital. I was just overwhelmed - with Luci and a scheduled C-Section, everything was done. I didn't have to come home to loads of laundry, I had everything ready and set up for the baby. This time around, however, I never expected Alena to come a week early - actually I thought that I was going to have to wait till my scheduled C-Section at 41 weeks. As a result, I was not 100% ready to bring home an infant. I was afraid that post-partum depression was setting in, but I got over it pretty quickly.

John was home all last week, which posed a challenge for me with Luci because she wanted to be with him at all times. And he wanted to get things done around the house - mow the lawn, wash the cars, fix things, etc. Now that he is back at school, Luci, Alena, and I are getting into a little routine which is working out very nicely.

I am very spoiled to have my Mom 10 minutes away. She comes by everyday and helps out. She mainly distracts Luci so that I can rest or focus on Alena when I need to. My parents have been providing tons of food and support - and I don't know if they will ever know how much I appreciate them!

Nights with Alena have been variable - Sunday night I didn't get to sleep until 3:30am, but she slept till 7:30am. Monday night, she was only up at 1:30am and 4:30am to nurse, then woke at 8:00am for the day. Last night, she was only up once at 2:30am, but it lasted for about 2 hours - all she wanted to do was nurse, then she was up at 7:00am.

She is starting to do what Luci did when she was an infant - those cluster feedings in the evening. This is what I used to refer to as the "feeding frenzy." I don't mind that she does this as long as I can have spurts of sleep through the night.

Now for the results of C-Section vs vaginal birth. Both have their own ouch-factor for sure. I was so uncomfortable when I first got home that I briefly thought that maybe I had made a mistake about being so insistent on a VBAC. But now that a week has gone by, I feel much better and I know that I made the right decision.

Strangely enough the weight has melted away already this time around. I gained the same amount with both pregnancies, but I have already lost a significant amount of weight. I weigh 3 pounds less today than I did when I decided to go on Weight Watchers 8 months post-partum with Luci - crazy, huh?

Once I get more organized, I will start posting more pictures - we took a ton in one short week, so it will take some time to get through them.