WARNING: FRICKIN LOOONG POST
Boy o boy has it been crazy! (sorry for the lack of posts but now that everyone is on fbook, i feel that it's just easier to upload pix and videos rather than writing this blog haha, but i figure I should really keep up with this journal to chronicle this intense life stage).. moving fwd...
I can't believe I gave birth just 6.5 wks ago to another baby! I was driving back from an unsatisfactory visit to the hair salon (stylist couldn't follow simple directions and now my bangs are too short..boo) and was thinking "i can't believe i'm a mother of TWO kids!" Everything seems to be happening so fast. And now my whole life will be completedly uprooted to the urban jungle that is NYC in just 2.5 wks! Excited? YES! Nervous? EXTREMELY.
For starters, I am really nervous for the 5 hr plane ride with J&M. It will be their first plane ride. Jacob has the attention span of a fly and is still too young to be reasoned with. I am trying to train him to watch the DVD player so we're not chasing him around the plane. I'm going to bring new toys which I'm 100% positive will end up being chucked on the floor within a minute or two. oi... i have a headache just thinking of the plane ride. Good thing Chuperman will have to deal with Jacob as I have my hands full with Micah. I know how mean ppl can be to mothers with babies on planes. I think we've all seen it or experienced it. I'm going to try my best to tune everyone out (rudeness, looks of horror, etc).
While our apt is brand new, it's quite small for a family of four. We're talking 840 sq ft. Chuperman's pix on fbook are very nice, but quite frankly, make our apt look deceptively spacious. It's only 2 bedrooms and they're side-by-side. Meaning, if one baby cries, he might wake the other baby in the next room... Even in my parent's spacious home, just yesterday, Micah was crying and woke JAcob from his nap. Jacob was PISSED off and was screaming and crying... oi... God help me perservere through the next few years of insanity. I know I can do it -- I just need to tough it out.
I'm looking for a baby-sitter/ live-out nanny. Yes, I know - many moms take care of 2 babies without much help. Well, everyone is different. I need help with Jacob. Especially since Micah can easily take 2 straight hours of my time for cluster feeds, diaper changes, cleaning up his spit up, etc.. very difficult to oversee Jacob in times like this, especially since Jacob can be so clingy and needy too, he still cannot fully feed himself, and really needs 100% supervision when he is awake since he is so rambunctious. I cannot hold both of them at the same time if they're both crying.
Yesterday, I had Micah in the stroller and Jacob almost pushed the stroller over - TWICE! And today, Jacob was shaking Micah's playpen with Micah sleeping in it.
I wish Jacob could learn to hold hands and to stand still. I think we're gonna have to get him a monkey-on-his-back backpack leash, which will prob last 5 mins haha.
Hopefully I can find a good sitter so that I can freely run errands and get things done without 2 babies attached to me in NYC!
30-Day Chinese Confinement: Boy am I'm glad this is over! For the first month after giving birth to Micah, I pretty much stayed home all day long except to go out for doctor appts. Micah also had jaundice and was sent to the NICU for phototherapy for 24+ hrs. It was super hard on me to be away from my baby AND with Chuperman gone. During those 24 hrs the baby blues hit me hard. I cried and cried and cried so hard that I could barely open my eyes. Even the NICU nurse noticed my puffy eyes. She knew that I was sad to be away from my baby, but she didn't know that I was also sad b.c my hubby wasn't around either. Once Micah got discharged, the baby blues quickly retreated as fast as it came. I was fine when I was able to bring Micah back home. Gosh, really wasn't expecting to completely meltdown while Micah was in the NICU. I'm positive it was the friggin' hormones doing their thang! Stupid hormones!
Anyway, in terms of recovery after birth, 2nd time is a cinch! Compared to the first time around, I had relatively no pain. The nurses were even surprised that I had no pain and felt fine after birth. And my energy level came back pretty fast! I even had enough energy to take Jacob to a bunch of bday parties, showers, and outings during the first 30 days. I still need to give Jacob undivided attention without Micah to make Jacob feel special and loved. I think Jacob can be jealous of Micah at times and definitely misses Chuperdaddy. It's a tough time for Jacob too so I try to spend quality one-on-one time with him everyday (in between Micah's feedings).
What is Micah like? So far, my 2nd son is in general more laid-back than Jacob was at this stage. His cries aren't as ear-piercing or urgent, although he does have fussy spells that can last an hour at a time. Micah is a big feeder just like Jacob. I have less milk this time around b/c in the beginning I had the nanny help with feedings at night so that I could rest, which kind of jacked up my supply since I was too tired in the middle of night to pump:/ But after much effort to eat more nutritious foods, drink more soymilk, my milk supply is back up and I still have a slight surplus. I currently have about 4 or 5 gallon freezer bags of milk in the freezer (takes up more than 1/2 of freezer). The last time I had so much milk that I had to purchase a deep freezer that sits in the garage! I'm less inclined to pump as much this time simply b/c our freezer in our new apt is TINY. Where are we going to store ice cream and dumplings if the freezer is jampacked with Micah's milk?!
So back to Micah, I think he drinks like 5-6 oz at each feeding which I believe is quite a lot for a 6.5wk old. The only thing that is kind of annoying is that he spits up after each feeding, prob b/c of my oversupply. Hopefully Micah will grow out of this as it adds to more laundry.
Micah has slept through the night twice already starting this past week! He slept from 11pm-6:45am one night, and the next night he slept from 11:30pm-7:45am! Last night was 2:20am - 9:20am... we're talking 7-8hrs between feedings -not bad stretches! He still wakes up in the middle of night, but I just pat him down and give him a pacifier;) Oh, I think Micah is addicted to the soothie. JAcob was not. With Jacob, I had more patience to go without a pacificer. It's definitely soo much easier with a pacifier. Saves a lot of times. I just hope Micah grows out of it SOON so he's not too dependent on it.
Oh wow, this is what happens when I don't post on a regular basis -- my post is out-of-control SUPER long. This is a frickin saga of a post. Congrats if anyone read down this far!! I'll try to post on a more regular basis.. sheesh! It's so hard to keep up between fbook, email, and this blog:P
Have a good wkend y'all!
I'm turning 31 on Sunday.. booo!! Chuperman won't be here to celebrate.. booooo!!! Although to kind of make up for his absence, he sent me abuncha beautiful roses today =D
