You guys . . . my life is so much easier with two babies than it was last time with one little baby :o
Granted, I might be changing my tune next week when Jared goes back to work and I have to keep up with Alice AND Jack's needs, and I'm not able to rest and recover as much. But still. I'm a broken postpartum woman right now, but not nearly as broken as I was with Jack. Remember though, if you ever hear a mom say, "The transition from ____ to ____ babies was the hardest," or, "The transition from ____ to ____ babies was a cinch," take it with a grain of salt. I truly believe it depends mostly on the temperament of the babies. Also the personality of the mom. If Jack had been born second and Alice had been first, I'd be lamenting how the transition from 1 to 2 babies is absolutely impossible compared to transition from 0 to 1. Jack was just such a colicky baby. He cried all day and night, could not be set down anywhere, was up every 2 hours at night needing to eat for almost a year, and it would take a full hour of bouncing aggressively on an exercise ball to get him back to sleep every time. So in comparison, Alice waking up twice a night to eat and oftentimes falling back asleep on my walk back to her bassinet has been a dream. Again, this will probably change next week when Jared's back at work and I have to keep Jack entertained, but so far I'm less tired with a newborn than I was when I was pregnant. So grateful for that. Ok, here are a few pictures from our week!
On Thursday, Jared and I decided to attempt a mini date before picking Jack up from preschool. We stopped by our quiet small-town taco joint for tacos and a horchata. Alice did great. Me and Jared reminisced about how we couldn't take baby Jack to a restaurant for over a year without having major regrets. Heaven bless all the colic mamas and babies. It does get better eventually, I promise! Unfortunately, this little half-hour date, which involved walking 2-3 blocks total, was too much for 2-weeks-postpartum Laura. My body gave up on me as we neared our car. It was as if I'd been slammed by a train--all of a sudden I was hit with a pounding headache, and as soon as we got to the car I collapsed into a pile of muscle aches and chills. It was a very warm day but I put the heater on full blast and shivered all the way home.
At this point I started to panic that this was some kind of postpartum infection and I was going to go into septic shock. When we got home I took some painkillers and a long nap, and after waking up I felt mostly back to normal other than the body aches. I drank a ton of water and have been fine ever since. If I'd had a fever I would've been calling my OB to be seen immediately, but I didn't and feel fine now. Jared's theory is that it was just shifting hormones. My theory is maybe my body was warning me that mastitis could be at bay if I didn't start drinking more water and massaging everything out more aggressively during feeds? Who knows. Glad the chills are gone though, that was kind of scary.
^^Evenings with a newborn! Savoring this stage. Some nights she'll be down by 8:00, other nights she insists on partying with us until 10:00+. Now that it's fall it seems like there are lots of good show/movie options. We've been watching something every night after Jack goes to bed, and we can't be mad when this sweet little face decides she's going to join us.
Oh, the title! We put a downpayment on a car! We should have it by next week. Two kids and buying our first family car, all within a month. Feels like we've reached the next level in adulthood/parenthood and we are very excited about it.