Friday, February 19, 2010

Sleeepy

Two kids is more like what you'd imagine 72 kids to be. Oh my goodness. I'm writing an entry today because yesterday was awful, and today has been really, really good, but I'm still completely bushed.

I myself am doing quite well. The truly crazy hormones never kicked in. I'm a little anxious, and a little more prone to emotion, but there's been no lying in bed for an hour and crying for no reason. It's nice.

Em is a good sleeper so far, just like her sister. Last night she ate around 8:00, and then kept eating until 11:30. I thought it was going to be a very, very long night, but I put her down around 11:30, and she slept until 5:30 this morning. I got five and half consecutive hours of sleep! With a one-week old!

I would have gotten three more after that feeding, except that the idiot cat kept waking me up. Now, I didn't like this cat before. But we have always been able to ignore each other quite comfortably. Lately, though, she has taken to coming up to our bed at night and meowing for absolutely no reason. She has food and water and a clean litter box, and she definitely does not want to snuggle. I don't get it. But I do know I want to kill her.

Yesterday was awful because Grace whined nonstop for the entire morning. I don't mean that she was mostly okay and just whined a little more than usual. I mean that she followed me around the house like a puppy, whining and saying, "Ut! Ut! Ut!" I'd make my way to the nearest chair so I could pick her up, and she'd just collapse on the floor and cry for ten minutes. All morning. From 9:30 until 1:00. I had no idea what her problem was, since she got plenty of attention from me (poor Em sits in the bouncy seat WAY more than she really should).

Of course, today was the complete opposite. She's had almost no outbursts, AND she's started walking. And putting blocks together with ease (she could do it before, but only through brute force and persistence, and mostly by accident). And has two canines coming in. So I'm guessing it had more to do with teething and milestones than it did with the new baby. This is a relief. I was not looking forward to that; after just one day I started really disliking her. Imagine if it went on for a week or two.


The one thing I am sad about is that Em gets so little attention unless Grace is napping or in bed. Not that she cares, of course, but sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and stare at my new baby for a few hours. I could have done that with Grace, but didn't really want to until she was too old to be willing to sit still that long.


There is nothing exciting to report, other than Grace's walking (FINALLY). She's still unsteady and will psych herself out after a few steps, but she's taken 4-5 steps at a time at least ten times today.

Oh! Em went in for a weight check yesterday. Average weight gain for a newborn is about 1 oz/day. Em has gained almost 3 oz/day since we left the hospital. And after last night's unending nursing session, I imagine she weighs even more. She's been very sleepy today, too, so I'm guessing this is her one-week growth spurt. This means she might soon fit into all the 0-3 months clothing we have. James and I were sure we'd have another hefty baby, so we didn't bother with the newborn stuff again. Well, of course she arrives 3 weeks early at normal 40-week weight, and just swims in all of her clothing. This would not be so bad, except that everything wants to bunch up around her face, and she goes mad with the rooting and grunting.


I am starving, and Em will be soon, too, so I'd best be going. Not the most exciting entry in the world, but since I just had a baby I thought it'd be nice to let everyone know I haven't gone off the deep end, nor am I planning to. I'm just really tired.

1 comment:

  1. Whee, a post! Exciting posts are not required for the first month and a half. :) Posting at all is an accomplishment!

    I'm SO GLAD that it's probably the teeth. Also, dunno how you guys are with "play alone time" for Grace, but I tell ya with J, I was so thankful that we'd been working him up to longer and longer times of playing alone, gated in his babyproofed room. I feel guilty about leaving him just like I feel guilty about throwing the baby in the swing, but he plays well by himself.

    If you can get her to play by herself for 30 minutes at a go with just visual check-ins, it will make interacting with 2.0 much less stressful. Also remember, yes she is a newnewborn and needs lots of snuggling, but if she is asleep, which she surely is most of the time if not eating, the swing is probably okay.

    Do you have an infant sling or bjorn thingy? That would at least allow you to assuage some attention guilt by increasing the physical touch you're able to give her, while you can still be in the room "playing with" grace; even if you don't get a chance to purposely love on Em, alone, she knows that she's with you, which is the important thing to HER, and your hands are free to play with Grace (hold books, hand over blocks, etc) and your lap might even be kinda free depending on how the sling fits.

    ReplyDelete