What Was I Thinking?

I just have to put this out there...why did I ever think it was hard to have an infant the first time around? This may piss off those of you with one child and it probably would have pissed me off before I had my second baby. But really...why did I ever think it was all that hard? Babies are easy for the most part. The hardest part is the sleep deprivation. The first time around, the adage of "sleep when the baby sleeps" can hold true. I wasn't going back to work and I didn't really have that much to clean or do so I really could sleep when the baby slept. I will admit that at first it is a really hard transition from having no kids to having one baby. You can't eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, go out, ect when you want to. However, you still can sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom at some point. Now that I have two, I am finding that exceedingly difficult. I can no longer "sleep when the baby sleeps" because while the baby sleeps, my two year old is up and playing. I think the sleep deprivation is really getting to me. For example, I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. That wouldn't be so bad if I knew I could take a nap at some point today. But I know I most likely can't. Because if Peanut decides that today she actually wants to nap, my little Pumpkin will inevitably be awake. Or vice versa. It is so daunting to wake up in the morning after what seems like nothing more than a cat nap and know the feeling of tiredness will not go away the whole day or night and that the next night will be the same story. Yes I know that this is what you get when you have kids. I get it. I know that I will never feel rested ever again, or at least until my kids are in college. And I am sure that those of you with more than two kids or twins are just laughing at me. I know the me with three kids will laugh at the me with two kids, but I am just so damn tired!!! It will get better, I know. As soon as Pumpkin decides to sleep through the night I will feel like a human being again. But as I told my husband the other day, right now I feel like some sort of disgusting, lactating, hermit zombie.

My House Smells Like Poo

No it is not a figure of speech. Oh sure, my house is dirty right now. In fact, at times, it looks like a house from "Hoarders." But it doesn't just smell. It smells poo. With two kids under two pooping like it is their jobs and two dogs that have decided that since the new baby has been born that they would no longer like to be house trained, my house literally smells like feces. I have two diaper genies that seem to be full at all times and then all the garbage cans in our house are full of poopy diapers. I think it may be time to potty train my oldest, if only to save my home from becoming a fertilizer factory. Any one want to send me a housekeeper?

Stride Everyday Panties Giveaway Ends 10/1-LOW ENTRIES!!!

Hey Everyone. When you get a chance, come enter my latest giveaway for Stride Everyday Panties that ends this week. There are really low entries so you have a good chance of winning. I tried theses panties out and they are awesome. You can enter HERE. Good Luck!!!

What Exactly CAN I Do Now?

Let me first start by saying, I am SO glad not to be pregnant anymore. From the morning sickness to the sore joints and muscles, I was ready to be done. Now that I feel good again I am ready to get moving. But guess what? I can't. That is because I had a c-section, my second. When I went for my two week check-up yesterday the doctor really scared me. She said if I wanted to have a 3rd baby that I really need to take it easy to let my uterine incision heal properly. She said that I shouldn't lift anything heavier than my baby in her carrier, not even my 2 year old. For those of you with multiple kids, I'm sure you know that this is next to impossible. Now that my husband has gone back to work, I am on my own all day, and for three nights a week I am on my own as well. I am not quite sure how bath time is going to work with me not lifting Peanut. I am trying my best not to lift her but when she begs me to pick her up, I can't exactly explain to her that Mommy needs time for her uterine incision to heal.

I'm sure most of you would love to be told to rest on doctor's orders. When my husband was home with me for the first two weeks this was great. All my chores were done, errands were run, and food was prepared (although I did make a lot of freezer meals before I had the baby, I can't give him TOO much credit). Now that I am on my own, there is so much that needs to get done. The house is a mess and about 1000 loads of laundry need to be done. Which leads me to another thing. How is it that 1 tiny little baby could have all of a sudden doubled my laundry load? The problem is, I can't lift and carry the laundry baskets. So all I can do is get the laundry pre-treated and sorted for my husband to do later. I can't vacuum or wash floors, clean my bathroom or wash my dishes. I'm pretty much supposed to sit on a lillypad and breastfeed for the next 4 weeks. I guess I will be blogging a lot in the near future.


P.S. If you are finding me from a blog hop, leave me a comment so I can follow you back. Also, PLEASE enter my latest giveaway HERE. There are really low entries so you have a good chance of winning.

Blog Feature on Simply Stacie

Hey Everyone. I just wanted to let you know that Simply Stacie is doing a bio on me today on her blog. It would be great if you guys could check it out, HERE. If you are finding me through Simply Stacie, Welcome. Please stop by and enter my latest giveaway HERE.

Breastfeeding is Hard (or Stating the Obvious)

I now know why some women choose not to breastfeed. It is really hard at first. It gets easier, but it starts out really hard. When I was in the hospital with Pumpkin I truly understood why this was so hard. First of all, she was a VERY sleepy baby. She really slept for like 6 hours at a time and waking her up was really hard. So breastfeeding her every 2-3 hours was impossible. Then when she finally woke up, she was so hungry that she got very upset and had a very hard time latching on. So I would spend 45 minutes trying to get her to latch on to no avail. Then she would be upset and I would be upset because I felt like a failure, especially since I had breastfed my other daughter for 12 months. I thought I would be a pro this time.

With Peanut, breastfeeding went very differently. I delivered her via c-section and was under general anesthesia so I couldn't breastfeed her right away. Her blood sugar was really low so they gave her a bottle of formula the minute she was born. They also had to do quite a bit of suctioning to get her revived when she was born, and she ended up with a sore on the roof of her mouth that made her really reluctant to eat. We did everything we could to get her to eat that first week in the hospital so most of the time we gave her formula and I pumped. This really had no effect on her future ability to breastfeed and in fact she never, EVER, took a bottle after breastfeeding was established (to my detriment I might add, since I had to go back to school when she was 3 months old).

The thing that was hard this time around was all the conflicting advice I was getting in the hospital. The nurses kept telling me I had to wake her up to feed her, which was impossible. This involved getting her completely undressed and rolling her around until she woke up. I know she had to eat, but I always heard that you should never wake a sleeping baby (j/k). Then my pediatrician kept saying not to worry about waking her up to eat, that she would wake up when she was hungry and that she didn't really need much in the first few days of life. Then the lactation consultants all were giving me different advice as to how to get her to latch on. My head was spinning. At three in the morning when I hadn't slept at all in 2 days, when my baby was crying and hadn't eaten in 5 hours, when I was trying to get her to latch on for 45 minutes, that bottle of formula sitting on her bassinet was looking pretty nice to me. So I gave it to her. And you know what? She ate every ounce and I didn't go to mommy jail.

I now know why many women choose to formula feed their babies. I have made a commitment to myself to want to breastfeed my babies for a year and I am willing to continue trying until I get it. But for women who are on the fence, who don't have support from their spouses or families, and their babies are not easy breast feeders, I can see why they give up. And everyone, other moms, doctors, nurses, should give them a break. I felt like when I told the nurses in the hospital that I gave my baby formula that they were going to punish me.

Guess what? Even though I gave my baby several bottles of formula, she is now, at 13 days old, a great breast feeder. So it goes to show that if you stick with it you CAN breastfeed. But I have a fantastic husband that truly supports me, that lets me rest, that helps me out when he can. But breastfeeding is hard, and if you need to formula feed, there is nothing wrong with that.

PLEASE, come enter my latest giveaway HERE. There are really low entries so you have a great chance at winning.

A Child is Born

Sorry about the lack of posts the last week but I was busy having a baby!!!

Introducing my "Pumpkin," born September 3rd at 9:44am. She was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long.

I am happy to report that her birth went very well. For those of you who regularly read my blog, you know that I was incredibly nervous about my scheduled c-section since the birth of my last baby was not so great. This time was absolutely wonderful. I was nervous waiting in the pre-op area before hand but when we went back to the OR things went very smoothly. I got numb very quickly and the anesthesiologist was great. The doctors were very quick getting Pumpkin out and she was perfect. When they wheeled me back to the recovery area I was feeling great and chatting with everyone. I even managed to breastfeed in the recovery room. I did start having nausea and vomiting in the recovery area and it persisted for the next 24 hours, but honestly I didn't care because I was so happy everything else went great. We were in the hospital for 3 nights but I was anxious to get out the next day because I was feeling so good. I was able to get out of bed shortly after the c-section and walk to the bathroom and I credit that with a speedy recovery.

Things are going great so far at home. I am happy to have my husband at home with me for now and this next week to help me out as I am still recovering. I still haven't had that first margarita as I am still on Vicodin but I will let everyone know when that momentous occasion occurs. Thank you everyone for the good thoughts about the delivery. I will try and get more posts written in the next days and weeks about my precious little newborn.

I am Having a Baby Tomorrow!!!

So my C-section is scheduled for tomorrow at 9am and I have to be up tomorrow around 4:30am and there is not a chance that I will be sleeping tonight. I am way too nervous and anxious. I don't really no what to expect because I was under anesthesia last time and I hope this time I can be awake. I will keep everyone posted but I probably won't write a post for a while. Make sure to enter my latest giveaway while I am gone so I have lots of entries waiting for me when I get back. Wish me luck!!!