The first two(ish) weeks

Well, we have survived our first few weeks as a family of four. It's crazy because in some ways it seems like Liana has been a part of our family forever and being pregnant seems like an eternity ago. But then sometimes I can hardly believe that two whole weeks have gone by. Things have pretty much passed by in a blur and I knew that I better start to write some of it down before I completely forget. I know that this will get super long because so much has happened these past two weeks, but here's what has been going on with us.

The hospital

The birth

We arrived at the hospital early Saturday morning and pretty much got started with prepping for the surgery right away. I had to change into the gown, do some paperwork, talk to a few different people about the anethesia, etc, etc. Once all that was done, they brought me back into the OR to get ready and Joe had to change into his scrubs. They gave me the spinal to numb me which wasn't so bad - it was more uncomfortable than painful. I had to hunch way over so they could get the right part of my back, and I was nervous so I kept tensing up and tensing my shoulders and they kept having to tell me to relax. So, it was more nerve-wracking than anything. It seemed like forever before they finally called Joe back. I remember that I asked them a few times "When is my husband going to be here?" I guess that I was scared that he was going to miss it - haha!


Once they actually started the surgery, it seemed like it went pretty quickly. It seemed much faster than last time, but that is probably because there was just so much more of a build up last time with actually going through labor before deciding to do the CS. This time, it seemed like she had just barely started when I heard her saying, "I see a head". Before I knew it, they had the top half of her out and were asking Joe --"What do you think Dad, any guesses on a boy or a girl?" Well, Joe's track record in that area isn't so hot - with Zoey he said "oh, that's definitely a boy face when he first saw her - lol! So, this time he just said "oh, I can't tell from just the face!" haha :) I was on pins and needles waiting to hear what he would say next and it seemed like it took forever before I finally heard him say "Oh my goodness we have another girl!" I instantly started crying and I really was so surprised. Even though I had started to doubt myself the last few weeks of my pregnancy, deep down I was really convinced that I was having a boy. And Joe definitely thought we were having a boy too, so it really was such an amazing moment when we found out that we have another daughter. I am so happy that we didn't find out the sex of the baby while I was pregnant because nothing can compare to that moment when she was first born.


Once she was out, they took her to clean her up, be weighed, etc and Joe followed to take some pics. Then they wrapped her up and brought her over to meet me and I got teary all over again. One of the nurses took a few pics of the three of us and I am so glad that we have those pictures because we didn't do that with Zoey and I have always regretted it. After taking those family pics, Joe went out to the waiting room to share the news with my mom, sister, and his mom who were anxiously awaiting. I stayed in the OR while they put me back together and then they took me to recovery where I was able to see my mom, Joe's mom, and my sister. They brought the baby to us, and we announced her name - Liana Noelle. We hadn't shared our name choices before she was born so everyone was dying to hear what her name would be. Liana stayed with us for a while while I was in recovery. I was able to hold her and nurse her and then she had to go back to the nursery. Our family left, and then we just hung out waited for them to have a room ready for us.

Later that afternoon, my parents brought Zoey up to see me and to meet her new baby sister. She was a little unsure at first. I think that it made her a little nervous being in a new environment and seeing me in the bed in the hospital gown, with an IV, etc. But after a while she seemed much more comfortable and at ease. We had been talking about what to expect for a while, so I think that really helped to prepare her. She knew that Mommy would go to the hospital to have the baby, and that I would have a "boo boo" on my belly so that she would have to be very careful and gentle. She came up in the bed with me and snuggled with me as I was holding Liana. And she sat on Daddy's lap with Liana too. She seemed very interested and intrigued. But I think the highlight of the visit for her was when she found the cookies that I had leftover from my lunch. At one point she got really quiet and serious like she was really thinking something over, and then all of a sudden, she turns to me and in her adorable little voice says "Mommy, you got cookies?" It was so adorable. So she ate some cookies and then visited for a while longer and then it was time for her to go home and take a nap. As my mom was getting her dressed and ready to go, she said "Can we take my baby sister home with us?" My heart just melted and I almost cried. I thought it was so sweet that she already wanted to bring her home and I was so glad that she seemed so happy about her new baby sister.

The hospital stay/recovery

I stayed in the hospital for 4 days and came home on Wednesday. They would have let me go home on Tuesday, but I really didn't feel ready. The recovery was really pretty rough. I had a lot of pain for the first few days. It was really hard for me to move around, even rolling over in bed or readjusting myself to be able to nurse Liana was really painful. I didn't get out of bed at all on Saturday, but on Sunday they told me I really needed to get up and moving around because it would help my recovery. Well, the first time that I got out of bed was awful. My mom and my sister and grandma were all there and helped me, but my incision was still burning so much every time I tried to move that I was pretty much in tears the whole time. But, somehow I survived getting out of bed, walking to the bathroom and then getting back into bed. From then on, I tried to only get up right after I had my latest dose of the pain meds so that it would lessen the pain at least somewhat. But even so, those first two days were really rough physically. I was really frustrated because I couldn't even really get up to change Liana's diaper by myself, or get her out of the bassinette when she needed to nurse. Luckily, my family was up there a lot of the time to help. Joe stayed with me the first night, then my sister stayed on Sunday night, and my mom stayed on Monday night. By Monday, I was starting to feel a little bit better. Since I wasn't having so much pain, I tried to get up and move around a lot and not just stay in bed all day. I was out of bed for a lot of the day and was able to keep Liana in the room with me all day without needing to constantly call the nurses for help anytime I needed to change her, pick her up, etc. But once I wasn't laying in bed all day, that is when the swelling in my legs and feet started. It happened with Zoey too, so I guess I should have been prepared, but my dr led me to believe that the recovery would be easier the second time around and I shouldn't have so much swelling since I hadn't received all the fluids during labor leading up to the CS like the first time. Well, that definitely wasn't the case. I wouldn't say that the recovery this time was worse than with Zoey, but it definitely wasn't any better. By the time I left the hosptial, my legs and feet were so swollen that I could barely bend my knees. My feet and ankles were so puffy that I couldn't fit any shoes on at all, and so I had to leave the hosptial in flip flops. I looked like Frankenstein when I tried to walk because I couldn't really bend my legs at all. But even with the swelling and the pain I was still dealing with from the surgery, I was definitely ready to go home. I missed Zoey so much while I was in the hospital. Joe brought her to visit every day, but it was still hard for me to be away from her. I was anxious to bring Liana home and start our lives at home with the newest member of our family.

Adjusting to life at home with our family of four

Zoey

Before Liana was born, the thing that I was the most nervous about was how Zoey was going to react, especially since I am not able to pick her up, carry her, etc. She is very much a Mommy's girl and a snuggler so she is used to me picking her up, carrying her upstairs for bed, etc. I tried to stop picking her up and carrying her for the last few weeks of my pregnancy to get her used to it and it was a disaster. I would tell her that I was not going to be able to carry her once the baby came because I would have a boo boo on my belly so she needed to be a big girl and walk by herself, etc", but she just was not having it. She would cry and pout and say "I'm a baby Mommy - carry me!" I tried not to give in, but she would just get so upset and then I would feel guilty and so eventually I just stopped trying. So I was holding her and picking her up and even carrying her up and down stairs right up through the end of my pregnancy. So, I was really worried that Zoey would have a hard time seeing me holding and carrying Liana if I wasn't able to do the same with her. But she has really handled everything really well and we have not had any issues with me not being able to pick her up. She seems to completely understand about my "boo boo" on my belly and that I can't do certain things with her. When it's time for her to go upstairs, I will tell her that I can't carry her and she needs to walk and she will just say something along the lines of "Okay. Only Daddy can carry me? Your belly hurts?" and she has been really good about the whole thing. She even has been asking me "Mommy, is your belly better?" And when I tell her it's getting a little better, she says to me "I will make you feel better" and then kisses my belly. She is just such a little sweetheart.

So, it was a very pleasant surprise that Zoey has been adjusting so well to having a little sister. Already she loves her so much. She constantly wants to be around her, and hold her, and follows me around whenever I have her. She pulls her little stool up to the chaning table every time I change her diaper, and helps me by handing me the wipes, new diaper, etc. When I nurse Liana, lots of times Zoey is right up there with us, either wanting to watch, have me read to them, and most recently she has started pretending to nurse her baby dolls. It's so cute. We really have not had any jealousy issues at all. If anything, it's actually the complete opposite and she is very possessive and protective of her. One of the first times that my mom came to visit, she was changing Liana's diaper and so of course Zoey had pulled up her little stool to "supervise" the whole process. She looked at my mom and got very serious and said, "Grandma, be careful. She's very delicate!". We all just about died. That is something that Joe and I have said to her, so obviously she has been paying attention and understands. I think it's so great that Zoey isalready soattached to her little sister and I am loving watching the relationship develop between them develop already.

Some of my other favorite Zoey moments from these past two and a half weeks:

*I had just finished nursing Liana and they both were on my lap. Since Joe's mom was visiting at the time, I thought Zoey might like some one-on-one snuggle time with Mommy. But when I tried to hand Liana to Mary , Zoey protested and said "No, I want Liana with me". I was so shocked that she passed up the opportunity to have Mommy all to herself because she wanted Liana to be with us. About 5 minutes later Mary said to Zoey "Okay, can I take Liana now Zoey", and her response was "Just a few more minutes..." She really did not want to give her up - awwww! That really melted my heart :)

* My sister was here visiting and was holding Liana. She was getting ready to leave in a few minutes and mentioned that she would be going home. Zoey got all concerned and ran over to her and said "Aunt Shannon! Don't take my little sister with you!". She really is so attached to her already.

*Anytime that Liana starts to cry, Zoey will go over to her and say "Shh....I'm here, You're okay. Don't cry." etc. She is such a little mother. She gets upset if Liana is unhappy and will tell me "Mommy, she's hungry. We need to change her diaper, etc"

*If Liana is sleeping and in a different room, Zoey always wants to check on her. She doesn't like for her to be out of her sight for to long, so she is constantly running into the bedroom to look at her sleeping and then coming back out to tell me "Mommy, I checked on her".

So, overall I could not be happier about how the transition went for Zoey. I really never expected that it would go so smoothly, but I am really glad that Zoey is so happy to be a big sister. I have really loved seeing her interact with Liana within these past two weeks and know that it will only get better and more adorable as time goes on and they both get older.

Liana

As for Liana, she is a really great baby. I feel like things are much easier this time around than they were with Zoey. Part of that I'm sure is because I have already been through the newborn stage before, so I knew what to expect somewhat. But, I really think in general, she is an easier baby than Zoey was. A big part of that is the nursing. I had so many struggles with Zoey because of the tongue-tie, that nursing was really difficult for me for at least the first month, probably closer to two. Liana has been significantly easier. She latched great right away at the hospital, and I almost couldn't believe that it was so easy. We did have a bit of a setback once my milk came in. She would get frustrated because the milk wasn't flowing immediately, and would fuss and cry and wouldn't be patient enough to wait for the letdown. We were having problems on and off where she would do fine one nursing session, and then the next time she just would not nurse at all, so I finally decided to meet with a lactation consultant on our third day home from the hospital. The appointment helped a lot. She showed me some different techniques for getting her to latch, and we were also able to weigh her to make sure that she had gained weight from when we left the hosptial, and also to see how much she was taking during a feeding, to make sure that she was nursing efficiently. Things looked good on both counts, so it was really great just to put our minds at ease and know that she was doing well and gaining weight on track. So, things continued to get better after that appt, and she finally got the hang of being patient enough with nursing to wait for the milk to start flowing, and now she is nursing without any problems. SO much easier than Zoey when we were dealing with the dumb nipple shield and fighting to get her to latch at every feeding. I can honestly say that I am really enjoying breastfeeding this time and definitely can see it for the bonding experience that it really is between mother and baby. With Zoey, that didn't come until much, much later, so I am so happy that things are easier this time.

As far as sleeping goes, the first few nights home were rough. She did not want to sleep in the basinette at all and if I finally managed to get her to fall asleep in there, she would be up within 30-45 minutes. So, most of the time I ended up giving up and letting her fall asleep on my chest after nursing and I was sleeping in the recliner or the couch. Things were starting to get a little better with the basinette, and she was sleeping for longer streches, but then I heard about a great new product on one of my online message boards. It's made by Fisher Price, and it's the "Rock 'N Play Sleeper" http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Newborn-Rock-Sleeper-Yellow/dp/B002M77N22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297276821&sr=8-1. I debated about getting it for a few days, but the reviews on Amazon were all promising and I had heard from other moms online that it really helped their babies sleep, so I decided to give it a try. So, the day that it arrived, I set it up right away and put her in it to see if she would like it. Well, she feel asleep almost immediately. I thought that it was probably just a coincidence and too good to be true, but I have to say that using this rather than the bassinette for sleeping has made a HUGE difference. She falls asleep much easier, and stays asleep longer too. Last night, she even slept for a strech of 5 hours! I am still swaddling her, and using white noise/womb sounds, and the combination of that with the RNP seems to be the magic combination. I am happy to say that I am not feeling too sleep deprived. She usually is up twice throughout the night to eat, and then goes back to sleep pretty easily so I feel very lucky. I just hope that she keeps it up.

Other than the eating and sleeping, there isn't too much else to report for Liana. We were at the dr. on Monday, and she weighed 9lb 2 oz. So she has already surpassed her birth weigh which is good news. The dr said that she looks great and seems to be doing really well. He said at this point, pretty much all she will do is eat, sleep, and poop - and as long as she is doing all of those well, we are doing a good job. haha! She does have a few short periods of awake and alert time every day, and she is usually pretty happy. She will sit in her bouncy seat for a little while, or the swing, sit on the couch and listen to stories with Zoey, or just happily cuddle with Mommy. She definitely isn't a very fussy baby. She gets upset when she is hungry or needs her diaper changed, but other than that she is a happy girl. I feel so blessed to have another beautiful daughter and I fall more and more in love with her every day!

Updates on Me

As for me, I am finally feeling much more like myself. The awful swelling in my legs and feet is finally gone. It lasted for about a week after I left the hospital. Luckily, Joe was home with me for the first few days and through the weekend, and then my mom and his mom were able to be here to help me out a bit when he went back to work. I am so lucky to have a supportive husband and family members that are close by and willing to help. I really don't know what I would do without them.

As for the other things, I can go up and down the stairs now without restricions, but I am still not able to drive. I'm not exactly sure why I have to wait so long, but I'm just following dr's orders. I'm also not supposed to be lifting or carrying anything heavy, so still can't pick up Zoey which is hard for me. She is being really great about it, but there have been a few times where she has been upset about something and I really wanted to just pick her up and snuggle her. It's not quite the same when you say to a crying child "Okay, walk over to the couch and then crawl up on my lap so I can snuggle you and comfort you". Luckily, she has continued to be really understanding about the issue and doesn't get upset when I don't pick her up. I think that talking about it so much beforehand really helped to prepare her for what to expect.

So, I would say I am adjusting well to being a mother of two. The hardest thing is trying to figure out how to balance my time and attention and get everything done. It's really hard when Liana is so needy with nursing all the time, needing to be changed, held, etc. I feel bad because it makes it really hard to give Zoey a lot of attention. We have been watching way more TV than I would care to admit, but sometimes I am just desperate for her to sit still for a little while so that I will be able to nurse Liana without having to get up and chase after her a million times. And Dora always seems to do the trick and buy me a few minutes of peace to nurse/change diapers/use the bathroom...whatever. Forget trying to do any housework. My house has been an absolute wreck for the past few weeks and I don't have the time or energy to keep up with it. I still haven't figured out how I'm supposed to go up and downstairs to do laundry, or vacuum, or even load and unload the dishwasher with two needy kids to take care of. I'm hoping it will get easier with time. Maybe someday I will be able to get them to nap on the same schedule? Til then, I gues I will just have deal with a messy house and wearing the same jeans and yoga pants over and over since I don't have time to wash anything else! I won't complain though, it's a small trade-off in order to have my happy little family. When I look at my two beautiful little girls, nothing else seems to matter and I feel like the luckiest Mommy in the world! :)