Just Sayin': Jack: 1 Month

For my daughter, Mia, I diligently wrote (by hand) in a journal for her first year of life. There is no way in hell I'm doing that now...sorry Jack. I figure a good compromise is to make an intention to have a blog post every month to document Jack's life...at least for this first year. I hope to include the good, the bad and the ugly and be as honest and candid as possible. For this month's post, I have to apologize for the lame iPhone pictures. Nate has been SUPER busy with various work related things and sadly, has not found the time to really edit and go through our pics of Jack and the family. He better get to it this next month :)

It helps me to stay focused if I have headings or topics, so for Jack's first month I am choosing to address these topics: Outings, Nursing, Sleep and Adjustments (Mia's and ours).

Outings: I have definitely been more in the "hibernation mood" this month, mainly due to the blah weather and me simply wanting to allow myself some down time and for it to be okay NOT filling my days by doing doing doing. That being said, we have had several outings and for the most part, they have been very successful :)

Mall of America (I know, we are crazy)=first weekend as a family of four, went on rides, shopped at Old Navy, successfully nursed in public for the first time with Jack, everyone had a blast!
Groveland Tap=burgers and beers after the MOA. Great time....except for when Mia found old gum under the seat and started chewing it....NASTY!
Crooked Pint Ale House=lunch outing with Jack while Nate was still on leave...yummy food and beer
Fuji-Ya=Valentine's Day night dinner with Nate...Jack was there too, but was sound asleep the entire time in his car seat...so perfect :)
Target=duh, who doesn't go to Target soon after a kid is born
Healtheast clinic=1wk check up followed by two more weeks of "weight checks" to monitor weight gain. Jack was 8lb 3oz at birth, 7lb 12oz at discharge, 7lb 14oz at one week, 8lb 1 oz at two weeks, 8lb 12oz at three weeks. He's good to go :)
MN Children's Museum=always a good time. Mia had a blast and Jack was asleep in his car seat the whole time.
Nate's work=to fax in paper work for short term disability and to show off our son.
Java Train=weekend morning visit for coffee and treats, Mia played and Jack slept.
Multiple visits with family and friends (maybe like 6-7)=birthdays, brunches, dinners, lunches to introduce Jack and to keep in touch with so many people that care about us :)

Nursing: So far so good! I am trying very very hard to stay calm and relaxed about nursing because I do believe that the stress and pressure I put on myself the first time around was just plain not helpful. This time around is so much different. I "feel" things/sensations differently and I am convinced that, so far, I am producing a bit more than I was able to with Mia. I am trying to drink liquids all day long and also make sure I am eating enough food to maintain a good supply. Jack nurses well and has never appeared to be frustrated or upset when finished. For my own selfish reasons, I immediately started nursing him laying down through the night feedings...this was so easy and helped with my sleep too. I am also being realistic with myself for pumping too...so far, I have a freezer supply of about 34oz that I got within 4 weeks. I have no idea if that is "good" or if I am behind, but I feel pretty good about it. Mia is also VERY interested in what I am doing when I nurse Jack. She asks lots of questions and is all up in my mix. She also has watched me pump and now will imitate it with her dolls, animals and pretend she is using her teapot as a pump. Tonight she put the spout of the tea pot on her chest and made a motion like she was turning on the pump and then switched sides and also then decided to nurse her hippopotamus...we were dying with laughter. I love nursing Jack and I hope we continue having a good experience together.

Sleep: Looking back in my old school journal I kept with Mia, I notice that by this time, Mia had a few nights sleeping for more than 5 hours straight. Jack has not done this yet. BUT...he is still a very good sleeper and form day one has slept well through the night with about 3 wake ups around 11ish, 2ish and 5ish...and so on in to the day. Sleep is my number one priority to maintain my sanity and there are days I literally can not even find the energy to write a thank you note...and there are other days where I get a lot of tasks done and feel very productive. I just hope we can get a good pattern/routine going by the time I head back to work at the end of April.

Adjustments: Holy hell, talk about adjusting to having TWO kids at home. I don't know which is worse...having twins or having a "tantrumy" toddler and then adding a newborn. So far, there are two main things I notice myself adjusting to while having another newborn at home in addition to having an almost 2.5 yr old: having very little patience for Mia's tantrums/attitude/refusal to eat/potty training regression, and preferring more hibernation or having more hesitation to "go out" for feeling guilty about asking anyone to watch BOTH kids and also having the worry about the next day being too tired to function. Mia is absolutely testing her limits with us in various ways and many people have noticed that dreaded word: regression. It seems to be getting better and of course it gets better when both Nate and I remain calm and consistent...which we both need to work on. It also could be her developmental stage and age right now being 2 years 4 months when Jack was born. The other thing I am adjusting to is my preference lately to "lay low"...this is SO not like me. You wouldn't think that I've been wanting to hibernate with the list of outings I gave above, but Mon-Fri when it is sometimes just Jack and I...I just want to chill, sleep, search the web and do nothing. When we do go out or think about going out on weekends, I have this guilt about asking anyone to watch our kids...NOT because I am all emotional about leaving my children with anyone or cant fathom being away from them for a night out...but because who on earth would want to watch TWO kids at the same time when one is a newborn and one is a toddler who can be a little B. It reminds me of that whole "not wanting to leave for an overnight unless the baby sleeps through the night, otherwise I'd feel guilty for the person having to wake up" thing. The hibernation thing could also be easily explained by the time of year (cold, wet, blah Feb.) and the obvious fact that my emotions, hormones and body is recovering from labor and child birth....duh, I forgot about that part :) Overall, I am doing pretty well and I think my fluctuations in mood and energy are pretty typical for most. I think there are definitely parts of my life and marriage that are operating on survival mode at this point, but I hoping it all evens out once we hit our groove.

K, enough talk (boring!)....on to some pictures. Again, sorry for the lame phone pics...next month's will be way better :)

See that awesome Velcro swaddle?...Yup, we accidentally left it at the hospital...Booooo!

Neighbor Annie came to visit Jack right away and was very excited to hold him...she is going to be a big sister ANY DAY NOW!

Daddy preparing for first attempt at a photo shoot with his son, awwww

Big sis, Mia, holding Jack and singing a song to him...made our hearts melt and tears flow

Ummm, FREAKY picture! Mia wanted to "give Jack a bath" and I set him in the take-home tub the hospital gave us and he looks like a fake little doll

Mmmm, first outing for lunch with just Nate, Jack and I (Mia was at day care) while Nate was still on leave...we went to the Crooked Pint Ale House in Mpls, it was yummy