I am happy to say I survived the first 7 weeks of life with a newborn. I forgot how HARD it is in the beginning, nature is kind that way. I am so sleep deprived I am on the fast train to looneyville! Even putting sentences together is a task these days. It is like one big foggy day runs into the next. Some days are better than others.
Man oh man, did we have a rough start! I really thought…oh second time around will be so my EASIER…I know what I am doing this time, I won’t stress as much, I am so much more relaxed, blah, blah, blah. No such luck!
First off, most importantly, we have a healthy, beautiful baby girl. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because believe me, I am incredibly grateful. I was secretly a little worried before she arrived. I wondered if I would be able to love her as much as I love my first? It was hard to imagine. Then she arrived and it was love at first sight. And sometimes overwhelming, the intensity of the love.
I had a doozy of a time health-wise after her delivery. The recovery from my c-section was as I expected. No complications or anything, but basically the first two weeks were pretty painful for me. Then, come week two, I start getting these intense abdominal pains that put me to the floor. Turns out I have (had) six kidney stones. I couldn’t believe I was having to deal with kidney stones with a two week old and a c-section recovery! I was sitting in the Urgent Care for 3 hours thinking “Seriously. Is this a joke??”
Baby-wise we have had a bit of a rough time as well. Morgan has severe reflux, which Emma didn’t have, so it has been a whole new ball game I was not at all prepared for. Very early on, we had three SUPER scary incidents where she choked on her spit up during the night. For a few seconds (that felt like eternity) her face turned red and she made no noise like she couldn’t breathe. Thankfully she was able to cough it up and was OK, but it scared the daylights out of me. I essentially did not sleep at all the first month as I was so scared of her choking again in her sleep. I still *sleep* with both ears and one eye open.
Because of the choking and her other symptoms, we got referred to a GI pediatric specialist at CHOC and have her on two medications, Zantac and Reglan. It has been really frustrating as I don’t feel like the medications are really helping that much. To anyone who has gone through this, if you have any insight for me, please comment below or email me if you prefer (jennifer@tinyoranges.com.)
She is better in the sense that she hasn’t choked again since the second week, although we have not had her sleeping flat on her back since then, so I don’t know whether to attribute it to that or the medication. She still spits up all the time, and when she is awake, the poor thing seems pretty miserable a lot. She grimaces and turns red and is gassy and fussy and just seems really uncomfortable.
I don’t want to jinx it, but she’s been a tad less fussy the last few days. I am hoping, hoping we are turning the corner. It has been so fun to finally get to see her little personality when she is awake but not crying!
Having a newborn and another child is a whole other post. My goodness, it is not easy! Takes the word “multi-tasking” to a whole new level! I worship all of you who have paved the way before me. There are some great times/moments when I think “I’ve got this down, we are doing pretty good!” Then there are other times/moments when both kids are crying/whining/needing something and it makes me want to burst into tears myself, then grab a bottle of chardonnay and lock myself in my room. Those times usually result in a call to my husband at work with the ever-important question, “WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME?????”
However, even through the hard times, I am definitely appreciating all those little newborn things more this time…the little coos, the expressions, the first smiles, the smell of their hair, the soft skin. I sit and stare at her a lot. I am biased, but I just think she is perfection. Spit up, gas, fussiness and all :-).
On another positive note, Emma has SHOCKED me with how well she has adjusted. She is the first grandchild on both sides and it has been just her for 3 full years, so I was prepared for some acting out or a little jealousy. She has been remarkable. The loving gestures she shows Morgan bring tears to my eyes. She probably kisses her about 100 times a day, wants to change every diaper with me, and is on “binky” duty if she fusses and spits it out. I know this could change at any time, but for now, things on this front are very good.
Each day seems to get a little easier, or rather, we are sort of finding a groove. All babies grow out of reflux, so I know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. More to come from our adventures in newborn land, fow now the baby is crying (shocker!) I have to run! Thanks for listening to my saga!!! xoxox Jen
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