One Month Already

I had great plans to blog while at home with the littles, but we can all see how well that is going. But I am doing Julia's one month blog today while I'm home with just my sweet girl! Seth is with Nana and they are going to play in the water at a splash pad. I'm sure he'll have so much fun today.

Unlike with Seth, Julia hasn't been to the doctor as often, so my last record of her size is at 2 weeks which was 7 lbs 14 oz and 19.75 inches long. I know she is growing well as her legs and arms have gained an extra crease. She is looking like a chunky breastfed baby and I love it.

She is a great eater still, eating every 3 hours during the day and going for a 6 hour stretch at night. I moved her to her crib the day she turned 4 weeks old. She woke up every 3 hours all night, so I moved her back to our room with the Rock N Play so we could both get more sleep. I moved Seth at 6 weeks so will try to move her again next week sometime maybe. I am not awake with every breath like I was the first time, so she isn't disturbing my sleep by being in our room. I am a big proponent of getting babies to their own rooms as soon as possible for the sake of the parents and their marriage, so she won't be staying much longer.

She can wear some of her newborn clothes, but is mostly in 0-3 months. Yeah for babies fitting in their size only one month after birth!

She is starting to smile and talk some when you talk to her. It is so cute but I haven't managed to catch it in a picture yet. 

She is gassy/has tummy problems some, so she prefers to be on my chest or lay on her side or flat on her back rather than cradled. I'm hoping this will soon mean she'll like sleeping in her crib rather than the Rock N Play which cradles her. I need to buy some music/light toy to put in her crib at night and maybe it'll entertain her while she falls asleep. She prefers to stare at the ceiling/light while laying on her back, but gets bored in the dark, which makes her fussy. Since I keep going back to this, I guess sleeping in her crib is pretty high on my priority list.

I love dressing Julia up just because I can. I remember going to visit Jill and baby Erin when she was about 6 weeks old and the girl had never worn a bow. I dressed her up for church including all the accessories during my visit. Now I get to do it with my living baby doll. I don't always dress her up, but definitely when she has visitors or is going anywhere she gets dressed up complete with bow (half of the time the head band is too big but I keep trying.)

I found Mama (an online app powered by Wish) that sells all things baby and mom for really cheap. I bought Julia a couple of pairs of tennis shoes that look like Converse for $4 each. Can't wait to get those. I'm really trying not to buy clothes until I make it through all that she has currently. 

We've had one visitor at home so far and have another coming this week. It's been very low key. Our schedule currently includes taking the kids to school, eating breakfast and watching a movie in the morning with Seth, eating lunch, Seth napping from 12-3 (while I watch adult TV, shower, get dressed and do laundry/chores), and then loading up the littles to pick kids up from school. Once they're home we have homework and dinner preparation before Daniel goes to football practice at 6. Bed time is at 8 and whenever Daniel gets home.

Seth definitely makes having a new born interesting. He is being a strong willed 2 year old, so that is fun. I guess the rest of my life is resolved around being consistent with him when he tries to assert his independence during the day.

I set up the baby monitor cameras this week. One is set in our bedroom so I can watch Seth while he naps during the day and the other on Julia's crib. Once I set it up, it had an interesting affect on Seth. I told him that I could see him and he would need to stay on the bed and take his nap. The monitor has a talk back button so I used it to tell him to lay down and go to sleep the first day. It scared him into submission and he has since talked about the camera talking to him so he needed to obey. He also hides under the pillows so the camera can't see him while he sleeps. And being still while hiding is just the thing that he needs to lay down and take his nap with much less of a struggle.  I think it's kinda funny that he hides while he sleeps, but whatever works. He keeps warning Julia that she needs to stay laying down or the camera will talk to her. Funny guy!

Today Julia and I are taking Daniel lunch and tomorrow Haley is on the schedule. Seth goes to Bible Study Fellowship with my mom on Wednesdays so I plan the few errands I've run on those days or Fridays when Bj is scheduled off. I haven't attempted errands with the two littles by myself because I haven't had to. I did take them to the park one day last week and learned to take a stroller in the future. I had Julia in the Moby and when Seth got tired, I had him on my back. That was crazy!

3 more weeks of lazy!

Taking a Break

Since Julia was born (actually the day before) I have been taking a break from teaching my Wednesday night class. Melanie is scheduled to teach the month of September and then I was going to pick up again.

Well Sunday she told me I could take a break indefinitely. And it feels kinda weird. Lazy almost. I did find a cute craft I am going to help the girls make probably after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, but until then I guess I'm just going to go to Bible study on Wednesday nights or fill in as needed.

I've been teaching on Wednesdays for about 7 years so it just feels weird. I love teaching the girls, but things have changed some since that became my daughters primarily. It's hard to teach your own kids in a setting with other kids. You are either harder on your own kids (that would be me) or easier. It's just weird to change from parent to teacher. I haven't taught Katelynn at all, but teaching Haley is stressful to me, just like parenting her is my biggest struggle right now. I waver somewhere between the hands off take responsibility for yourself approach (which is not really my forte and often feels like an uncaring parent which I am definitely not) to being too much in her business which just encourages her to rebel.

So not teaching her on Wednesday nights right now is definitely a blessing. I love that girl, but as my oldest, she and I get to deal with all the parenting firsts, and I expect more from her. It's just hard!

So I am getting some mental space to just parent and not parent and teach and to focus on the other areas of my life where God is developing me and growing me. Not working and only teaching Sunday every other week should give me free time, and it does, but I need to decompress during the day some to deal with the evenings. I do have 6th, 5th, and 3rd graders with homework to manage as well as the responsibilities Daniel has from playing football (mainly chauffeuring him around or getting Bj to do it.) NCIS is my current time waster during the day and I'm really enjoying it!

I need to get Julia on a more consistent schedule, but I'm not really dealing with that yet. She eats about every 3 hours during the day and has two 4.5 hour stretches at night. The main thing I'd like to do is stretch her to every 4 hours during the day and eating at 6:30 or 7 in the morning to better facilitate my work schedule when I go back. That means I need to feed her at about 9:30 at night and again at 2. I don't want to wake her to feed her in the middle of the night, so I'm just not there yet. I think Seth ate at 10, 4, and 7 during the night for a while, but they were concerned about his weight and pushed me to feed every three hours (which I did during the day but not at night). Without those concerns, I just need to try to get her to eat every 4 hours. Yeah, I'm not dealing with that or moving her to her crib for another week or so. Seth was in his crib at 6 weeks, and she is a much better sleeper, so I don't anticipate any problems. She sleeps great in her Rock 'n Play, so that was definitely a good investment if any new or soon to be moms want my recommendation.

I am scheduled to preach on October 18th, so I've started getting some thoughts together. We all know that what I study now is most likely not what I'll be preaching about, but I am getting back in the habit of studying and listening for God to speak. It's been a couple of weeks since I've spent the time in prayer/studying like I like to (with good reason and I know God understands).

A break from some things and diving into others. That's how this life works and I'm trying to enjoy where I'm at before it changes again.

2 Week Checkup

Today Julia had her 2 week checkup. She weighs 7 lbs 14 oz (which is up a pound from discharge and more than birth weight, is 20.25 inches long, and has a 13.58 inch head circumference. These are all totally within normal range (pretty close to 50th percentile actually) which I am not used to.

Today we got to see Dr. Tran, who I really learned to love when Seth was little and we were having all his weight issues. She was surprised to see me and asked about Seth. I think I'll take him with me when we go back to the doctor in ONE MONTH!! At this point with Seth we were going back every week or so for weight checks, so one month between visits is a big deal!

In the past two weeks our sweet girl has changed a lot. In the past few days she has started being aware more during the day instead of just sleeping all the time. Last evening she ate at 6:30, 8, 9, 10, and 12. Cluster feeding is for the birds. But she did sleep until I woke her up at 7 to get ready for the doctor, so there are some advantages I suppose. It just made the evening really long. I suppose she can't be super easy all the time. Bj said she was making up for lost time. 

And she can wear some of her 0-3 month clothes. Seth was 6 weeks behind in clothes and still wears smaller clothes. Maybe this is an indication that she'll be truer to her correct size compared to her age. She has a lot of 0-3 month clothes, so I'd better start going through them all before she's too big. I seriously think she could never repeat clothes before she moves up a size again. She is in size 1 diapers but I will use up the 3-4 newborns I have left soon while they are doable.

Today I heard Seth telling Julia "its okay mommy's here." She wasn't crying but he informed me he was telling her so she'd feel safer. He is such a sweet boy!

Sunday Bj goes back to work so I start my new normal of taking the kids to school and picking them up with the littles in tow. I just have to get them all in the car (with jammies on) by 7:30 and get Seth's nap done early enough I don't have to wake him to pick the kids up.

5 more weeks until the new normal changes again and I go back to work. A little bit at a time we are getting back to real life as a family of 7.

Learning From the Past

So I know this is probably TMI for some of you, but the truth remains the same. I have said many times that if we will learn from our trials and struggles, the next time we are faced with something similar, it will be easier to handle and worth the effort to not just get through it but to defeat the enemy, to rise above the struggle in God's strength.

I have always been a big proponent of nursing my children. With Seth, my goal was to nurse for a solid year until I was able to give him cows milk and not have to buy or supplement with formula. I met that goal, but it was not easy. For at least 6 months he wouldn't eat enough and he wasn't gaining weight like the doctors wanted him to. I tried multiple things at the suggestion of his doctors: Increasing my fat intake (by drinking more milk and ice cream myself), feeding him more often including waking him up to feed him (which I am against), making sure he sat up for 30 minutes after eating to aid digestion and decrease the frequency of spit ups, etc.

And each time I went back to the doctor, I felt like I was just not good enough to properly feed my son, that I wasn't doing enough and was failing him.

Yes, I made it through and Seth is totally fine, but it was definitely a struggle I had to rise above. Poor boy is still small for his age and I have the hardest time finding him pants that are both long enough and skinny enough for his waist. But he is fine. He is healthy and thriving.

So this time, with Julia, I had the same goals for myself and I don't see any reason that will be an issue. I feel like I've been down this road (the much more bumpy version) and I've learned to just keep moving forward one day at a time and things will work out.

I was a little concerned that she was only nursing on one side and maybe not getting enough nourishment, but I just kept going and that has evened out. I didn't stress or worry or blame myself for her "what ifs" but just kept going, doing what I knew from my previous experiences.

OK, let me make this spiritual, which is really where I was going with this.

How many times when God takes us down a path do we question and worry if things will turn out the way we expected? And yet, if we will keep on moving forward, trusting him one day at a time, we have learned from the past that God will see us through and take care of the details of our lives. And the next time we go through a similar battle, we can look back and remember where he has brought us through before and KNOW that he will do it again.

How many times did God remind the Israelites of his provision? Of the victories he had already won for them? Of his ever present hand in time of distress? Why? So they could build their faith to trust him more each day.

Reminds me of the song "Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus." There is a line in the chorus that says "how I've proved him o'er and o'er." And yet when we get in the middle of the struggle, we want to cry out to God, begging him to come through as if we aren't sure that he will. But he's done it before and will always show himself, again and again. That doesn't mean it will look exactly the same as before, but we can rest knowing that God will not leave or forget us, but will be God in our lives if we let him.

So take a moment and look back to where God has brought you from, to the many times he has taken care of you, not envious for days long past, but reminding yourself who your God is and what he is capable of.

Julia's Birth Story

Let me start by saying God is so gracious and merciful! For the most part things went really well. During our few hiccups I just remained focused and wasn't at all anxious or worried. I was totally at peace through every thing and give all the glory!

We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 4:30am on Thursday August 27th. At 3:35, they called us to move it back to 6:15. I was already up and my mom was on her way to my house when we told her so we chatted an hour before I let her go back to sleep and we left for the hospital. We put the car seat base in at about 5:45. Nothing quite like last minute.

We got to the hospital on time and in the first thirty minutes, I got my IV (without passing out), got all the baby/contraction monitors hooked up and Julia started kicking the monitors. I was dilated 2 cm when they started the Pitocin at 7:20. Doctor Wiegman showed up at 8, checked me and I was 3.5 cm and Julia's head at -2 station. He broke my water.

At about 9:45, I got an epidural and was so happy when it took affect. I could still feel the contractions on the top of my uterus, which I don't remember from Seth's delivery. Julia has been so much higher in my ribs the entire pregnancy so maybe that is the reason I felt the contractions so high up with her. At about 10:15 we started noticing a significant heart rate drop for Julia with each contraction down to 60 or 70 beats per minute and quickly recovering to 140 after the contraction was over. At 11 they gave me oxygen to try and help. Seth did the same thing and had the cord around his neck twice so we anticipated the same.

Doctor Wiegman showed up about noon and checked me to find I was complete and ready to push. Mom had just got there with Seth so I said a quick hi and bye before I started pushing. I was surprised he wasn't freaked out with me in a hospital bed, especially because I had oxygen on my face. He was all smiles and excited to meet Julia.

I pushed through three contractions and she was born at 12:10pm. Doctor Wiegman later said he was glad we got her here fast or he was going to have to do something because the cord was around her neck so tightly. She came out a little blue in the face with a bruise across her forehead and on her arm. Her hands and feet were white because of poor circulation during delivery. The nurse said she was glad I wasn't more worried because they were able to give direction without dealing with an emotional mom. As I prayed for, I was blissfully ignorant of how bad it really was or could have been and was able to enjoy her delivery and not worry. That was definitely a God thing!

She weighed 7 lb 5.8 oz and was 19.5 inches long. Bigger than Seth by almost 12 oz. Dr. Wiegman though she may be smaller than Seth due to the measurements of my uterus and weight gain at the end of the pregnancy, but he was wrong. The nurses asked me at some point how big I thought she was and I said bigger than Seth, over 7 pounds, and I was right.

They handed her to me for some skin to skin time and to try an get her to nurse. She didn't want to latch on, which the nurses attributed to her being tired from her tough delivery. The grandparents (minus my dad) were allowed back in about 12:30 and I was told they would take Julia to the nursery about 1:30 to clean her up and get her to cry a bit to help with circulation. Jill and the girls got there about 1 and got to meet Julia before she went back to be cleaned up.

After they took her back to the nursery, the nurse got me cleaned up and into my postpartum/recovery room. As soon as she left, I got out of bed, changed clothes and got settled on the couch. When the next few nurses came in to introduce themselves, they were shocked to find me out of bed and commented how I didn't look like I'd just had a baby. That was my goal from the beginning and I am glad things went well and I could speed up my recovery by being active without overdoing it.

That evening, we had some more visitors including Pastor and Sister Snyder, Kim Williams, my coworkers (Elaine, Shannon, Alex, and Jeff), and all the kids and my mom and dad. We were able to get a new family picture (which we failed to do when Seth was born and I've regretted).

When we left the hospital the day after she was born, Julia's weight was only down to 6lbs15oz, which is about 5% of birthweight. She also was not jaundice at all. Praise the Lord! She had already become a pretty good eater (much attributed to a mom who knew what she was doing) and we haven't had any weight issues with her.

 

We went to the pediatrician on Thursday (9/3) for her first well check and everything was perfect. Her weight was up to 7lb 1oz and she had already grown a quarter of an inch (although the way they measure length is definitely less than perfect) and all her percentages are about average. 25th percentile in weight, 46th percentile in height and 21st percentile in head circumference.  They also told me we could do the 10 day blood test at the office when we go for her 2 week checkup instead of at the hospital. This was an answer to prayer as the hospital where we would normally go for this is not on my insurance, so I'd decided to figure out if there was another way to do this or if we could just avoid it all together. The doctor mentioned it without me even asking, so I know God was making this as easy as possible for me.

And life as a family of 7 has begun!

Sweet Addition

You'll be happy to know that I was able to take good notes during Julia's labor and delivery. I haven't crafted that post yet, but wanted to give a semi-quick update on Miss Julia in the mean time.

Today, she is 5 days o!d and has been such a sweet easy addition to our family. She sleeps almost all the time (unless she needs something). Seth was so alert from birth so that made him a bit more high strung, although I think he was a pretty easy baby as well.

Julia and I have got this nursing thing down. She isn't on a schedule really yet, but that will come. I really think the difference is my previous success nursing Seth for so long. And I'm not stressed about it. If you'll remember, the stress with nursing Seth was increased by his borderline  jaundice (which led to the suggestion to supplement with formula) and his inability to gain enough weight which I took personal responsibility for. This has been such a different experience.

She has slept two 4-6 hour stretches each night between feedings. During the day I feed on demand which is generally every 3-4 hours.

I think Seth's birth and the subsequent adjustment on our family was so much more stressful because our new adjustment with the other three kids. They are older now and taking more self responsibility regarding school work and are just growing up. They are very helpful mostly and my expectations are more realistic.

Seth's adjustment has been okay. I supposed he is a little more moody, but some of that is just him being almost 3. The older kids get to hold Julia quite a bit (depending on homework) and I am able to spend time with Seth unless Julia needs to be fed. It is working really well so far. Obviously I have more opportunity to hold her during the day and since she sleeps so much, i can lay her down and Seth and I get to cuddle on the couch. Grandparents and Bj are taking him out some so that helps him too I think. The real test will start the week Bj goes back to work.

Today Seth went to Bops with Bj and Maggie leaving Julia and I at home. I literally was almost bored. She slept, I fed her, gave her a bath, and watched a movie.

I am hopeful that being home for the next weeks will help get a schedule
with Julia and get the kids started on the right foot with school this year. If we can get some organizational and behavior patterns down before I go back to work, this could really be a corner turning year for them all.