One Month

Can you believe we’re already one month into this whole “two kids” thing?

I’m blown away by the fact that Jonah has been here for a month already. It seems like just yesterday we were debating whether or not we were going to wait him out and let him come on his own or go ahead with the induction. I’m so happy that we decided to get the ball rolling because I can’t imagine life without him here now.

They say the first month is the hardest, right? While things haven’t been too terribly terrible, the recovery process for me has been a bit longer than I expected it to be. While there were parts of the month that felt like they were flying by, for the most part the month felt like a month. Long, drawn out…busy and exhausting.

We’re slowly finding our groove, but it’s taking some time…as I expected that it would. I knew that we wouldn’t magically fall into some perfect schedule. I had hoped maybe I’d be that lucky, but I didn’t anticipate it.

Here’s our number two at one whole month old:

Things are starting to pick up around here. We are really crazy about this little guy. I mean completely smitten and in love with him. I really can’t remember what life was like before he got here. He completes our little family in ways that I never imagined. He’s spending more and more time awake during the day; making eye contact and giving us sweet smiles.

Right now, he wakes up between 8:00-9:00 and takes several 45 minute or an hour catnaps. He takes one three to four hour nap in the afternoons, usually from 2:00-6:00ish every day before going back to bed around 10:30. His sleeping schedule is pretty consistent at night time. He’s sleeping in about four hour increments, which is fabulous. We’ve had a few 1.5-2 hour nights (which kicked my tail by the way), but for the most part he’s sleeping great.

Jonah absolutely loves to be held and snuggled. He’s got a vibrating bouncy seat that he will sit in for short periods of time (usually when I’m in the shower) and he got a Bumbo and a swing for Christmas. The swing is proving to be most helpful at night time. Once I give him his last big meal of the night, I can lay him in his swing and he’ll sleep peacefully and without waking for about four hours.

Because he’s such a little snuggle baby, I have been having a hard time getting a whole lot accomplished throughout the day. Everyone has said to get a baby carrier, so we’re getting one. We just haven’t yet.

Nursing has been hard. I am writing an entire post about breastfeeding (just haven’t finished it yet), but in short, it’s hard. Jonah is nursing like a champ, but we’ve hit a few bumps in the road throughout the process. We started out with no issues whatsoever. My milk came in as it was supposed to and Jonah had no trouble at all. Then I got mastitis for the first time. Which led to latching issues on the right side. Which led to more issues.

We’re still hanging in there and I’m still pushing through the discomfort and the pain and he’s nursing between 10-15 times per day, generally for about 15 minutes at a time. He’s wearing size one diapers and can still squeeze into Newborn clothes and 0-3 month clothes. He’s gaining weight pretty steadily and he’s starting to get those yummy little baby rolls that everyone loves. He’s going to be good and squishy in no time!

How Noah is Doing:

Noah is doing fantastic so far. We’ve had a handful of days where he acts out and we have major meltdowns. Those have shown to be the days where Jonah is a little extra clingy and has a few more nursing sessions that he averages. Those are the days that Noah needs a bit more attention and I don’t have the chance during the day to give it to him. We’re having to work on teaching him not to be so “in Jonah’s face” all the time. He likes to give his brother hugs and kisses, so we’re having to teach him to take a step back and not be so in his bubble all the time. He’s getting there.

How Josh is Doing:

He’s adjusted pretty well to having two boys in the house. He’s been a huge, huge help since Jonah arrived and not I’m not really sure how I would have managed without him so far. He’s handled most of the cooking duties and a big majority of the cleaning duties since baby boy arrived. He’s let me sleep late every single weekend and every single day that he’s had off since Jonah was born. Love that man. He knows that I can’t function without eight hours of sleep. And he’s been patient enough to put up with my horrible mood swings and crazy hormonal adjustments. He’s a good one. He really is.

How I’m Doing:

As far as recovering from pregnancy goes, I think I’m back to about 98%. I am still having trouble with my left hip/leg on occasion. If I’m sitting on the floor with one of the boys, I have to put all of my weight on my right leg when I first stand up or else my leg buckles completely. I did some reading and apparently it’s a common issue that I’m just going to have to heal from slowly. Other than that I’m mostly pain free. Just so tired. I really don’t know what I would do if Jonah was sleeping in the same short spurts that Noah did when he was a baby. I’d seriously be dead.

I’m still struggling with finding the balance on how to get things done during the day. Not even a lot of things…just a few. Like doing any cleaning or folding more than a half a load of laundry at a time. In general, I manage to get the boys fed, bathed and clothed and usually snag a shower myself by 4:00 when Josh gets off work. Other than that, I consider it a great day to do more than just those few things. Nursing is taking up so much more time than I thought it would, so everything is on a stand still until we get past this nurse on demand/eat every two hour phase. Soon enough.

For now?

We’re all just loving on this squishy little guy. Snuggling him and loving on him as much as we can. Oh…and smelling him. Because seriously…is there anything that smells better than a brand spanking new and clean baby?

I think not.