Month 1-Part 3

Well, somehow I survived the first month. Of course I knew I would, but whew, it has not been the easiest month. And to think Michael was home for half of it! Eek! It is a challenge to take care of two children, neither of which can really care for themselves. The hardest part is trying to take care of one when the other one is screaming for me, which is almost always. Some days are better than others. Yesterday was horrible, meltdown after meltdown and Maddie was fussier than normal during the day, and then combined with minimal sleep for the last month and it's a break down and lots of tears. And then going to bed knowing that I will be up every 2 hours and the next day it starts all over again...

I have learned a new level of exhaustion, and by the grace of God, I am able to get through each day. I have said that He gives women something after a baby is born that allows them to function on very little sleep. It is a completely different experience having a newborn with a toddler. There is no sleeping when the baby is sleeping. And finding time to get everything else done that needs to be done is a whole other issue. But somehow, the kids are fed and the house is clean, well, somewhat. :)

I had my first (I'm sure of many) shopping trips with the kids, sans Michael. It did go better than I thought it would. I think the worst part was getting home and unloading. Nate thought it would be funny to run in the street, Maddie was screaming, and I had to unload all the groceries. But I did it and I'm a little proud of myself. It was my moment where I thought, I really can do this...and maybe even do it well...eventually. :)

But then I have days like today, not so bad. Of course there's meltdowns and tantrums, and there's always crying and poop to change, but not being tested all day long is good. Very good. Plus I love my cuddle babies, and now I always have at least one that wants to cuddle with Mama. I love the smell of Maddie and so-soft skin, her little fingers and toes. I love Nate's giggles and watching him learn new things, explore, and grow. And that's what keeps me going each day.

Month 1-Part 2

Nate. Where do I start? The transition has been a difficult one for him. He was never good at sharing Mommy and Daddy's attention and so having this little creature around ALL the time has not been easy for him. He throws several more fits a day and will do things he knows are naughty just to get the attention. He doesn't seem very interested in Maddie most of the time, but every now and then will go over to check her out (looking at her feet or poking her ear-he thinks this is funny). He wants to sit on the lap of whoever has the baby and if we hand the baby off so he can sit on our lap then he no longer wants to.

I think he is going to be a good big brother. Recently he has looks of concern when she cries. He has gone over to her and rubbed her head or tried to put the pacifier back in her mouth. I think as they both get older it is going to be awesome to see them play together and to watch him look out for his little sister.

We went back to the allergist for a follow-up visit. Kind of a waste of time. I told him that I felt food was not the cause and he didn't really have much to say, except that it's hard to rule it out because there could be several variables. We won't be going back. Nate's skin seems to cycle, and he'll have flare ups and then it will get better, but never completely clears up. Right now it's not too bad and he's not itching quite as much but we are still going to see a dermatologist as the next step. When it does flare up it is horrible. He can't take baths because it hurts and diaper changes are torture and he'll itch until he's raw. So if we can get some advice and maybe different creams to use during flare ups that will help a lot.

He's still working on those back molars. I swear it's been several months and they're still not poking through the gums (I checked last night just to get my finger chopped on, which resulted in a lovely blood blister). So he is gnawing on everything and a drooly mess. Lots of new things with Nate in the last week or so. He can now climb out of his crib but has only done it a couple of times and doesn't climb out at bedtime (thank goodness!). Not sure why, especially on nights he does not want to go to bed, but am extremely grateful that he is still staying in there, nice and confined. He has started chewing through his pacifiers so yesterday I stopped the paci during the day and just for use at sleepy times. We are also getting ready to move him to his big boy bed, probably this weekend. He also has learned how to open the patio door. This makes for great fun when I'm breastfeeding and he decides to make a great escape to the yard. Luckily it's fenced and the pool is empty so he doesn't get into too much trouble. I can usually finish up feeding her and watch him out the window.

He is working on feeding himself with utensils, but is still a work in progress. He says uh-oh all day for pretty much everything. He also started saying "all gone" and "poo-poo" (of course not to tell me he has to or even that he's gone, but just when I'm changing Maddie's poopy diaper) and baby. And of course, he's still into and on everything. He is an exhausting little, er big bundle of energy.

Month 1-Part 1

I feel like there's so much to say, so I've decided to divide up this entry into 3 parts: one for Maddie, one for Nate, and one for me. I will start with Maddie.

First, I cannot believe that a month has gone by. Only 11 more of them to speed by and she will be one. Since this is our last child (still have a bit of a struggle with this one, even though I cannot imagine having another one!) I really want to take in every moment with her and soak it all in. I love her little toes and the little sounds she makes when she's sleeping (like little grunts, so cute).

For the first two weeks she was a dream baby. Very content. The 3rd and 4th weeks she was pretty fussy every evening. It seemed like nothing would make her happy, and we could get her to stop crying by changing positions or walking her, she just wasn't very happy. And now, entering into the 5th week, things are calming down a little bit. She is still fussiest in the evening, but seems to be more content than she was. She is pretty good during the day, although she still sleeps a lot. She likes to be held most of the time when she's awake, but she will sit in the swing or in the play pen and just look around for a little bit.

She eats every 2-3 hours. She was a very lazy eater and would eat a little and then be back for seconds after about 30 minutes. This is getting better too. She is also only pooping once (sometimes twice) a day. I remember Nate doing this and the doctor said it was normal, but I don't remember him doing it so young (maybe around 6 months?) and it seems strange to me that a newborn wouldn't be pooping all day long--she used to after every feeding but now it's once or twice a day. And her stats: at her two week check up she was 10lbs 3oz and about a 1/2 inch longer. Anything else I want to remember? She's a big baby (even though she's tiny to us) but she has the skinniest legs. We call her a frog. She also has funny hair. It's almost bald on top except for a small thin patch of long hair and it's a bit thicker on the sides and back. It will be nice when it all grows in normal! :) She's smiling and I don't care what anyone says, it's not gas! I love to watch her sleep, which is precisely what I'm doing now as she is lying on my while I type this up.

Madelyn Frances Riker

She is finally here! Sometimes I still can't believe it...all that time spent anxiously awaiting her arrival, but now there is no more waiting. She is finally here to love on and hold in my arms, which in fact she is doing right now. So here is her story of her birthday....

Her due date was Wednesday, July 27th, but of course she couldn't be early to the party. We made sure she wasn't too late and had the induction scheduled for Friday, July 29th. Even though I've had contractions for the last couple of months it was very infrequent and never more than just a couple at a time, at best a couple times a week. So that Tuesday when I woke up at 3am with "cramps" and still had them when Michael got up for work at 5am, I thought that this was really going to happen that day. Nope, of course not. I had contractions for 7 hours and then they just stopped. I was feeling contractions when I went in to the hospital on Friday, but nothing regular or very strong. When I was hooked up to the machine they showed up and even the nurse thought that this was going to be a quick labor (she had joked that maybe just sniffing the pitocin might be enough). I thought it would be quicker than Nate's labor, since she was my second and I was already starting at 3cm.

The pitocin was started at 8:30am. It was slow moving after that. I was only 3.5cm by 11:15am. Very disappointing. So the doctor decided to break my water and hopefully that would help get things moving along. At 12:30 I was only 4cm which was depressing, because by this time my contractions were very strong and I thought I would be making real progress. So no surprise that I opted for the epidural, which of course helped a lot. At 2:25 I was 5cm and we were all thinking that it might be a longer night than we had thought. BUT, not even an hour later (3:15) I was feeling some pressure and so the nurse checked me and sure enough, I was at 10cm and the head was right there! I pushed through 5 contractions and Miss Madelyn was born at 3:27pm.

It was amazing! We did skin to skin, so right after she was born they laid her on my chest. She instantly stopped crying. I was overjoyed to finally have my baby girl here. The rest of the afternoon/evening is a blur. Michael's parents came up to the hospital and Michael went and got Nate so he could meet his little sister. She was given a bath and I was given dinner (food finally!) and after everyone left it was just the three of us. The beginning of long nights with no sleep has begun! But we are so happy to have her here with us, after all this waiting, it was worth it. She is precious as can be. And although the first day was rough (a lot of crying) things have smoothed out and she is a very good baby.

8lbs 13oz, 21 inches long