Adjusting
It's amazing how your first baby can really throw you for a loop, chew you up and spit you back out sleep deprived, hungry, emotional and feeling completely helpless and out of control, while your second just sort of fits into your life like a new chair when you've just rearranged the furniture. I am blown away by how smoothly our transition has gone from being a family of three to a family of four.
Steve and I seemed to learn the ropes of parenting two children pretty quickly and are working together as a team. With Eva we were so thrown for a loop that we would bicker and fight and look desperately at each other with eyes that pleaded "would you just HELP me?!" Yet we were both so overwhelmed neither of us knew how to help one another. This time we are in sync like a perfectly planned out playbook, switching off babies as feedings and naps and cry fests require. Steve has taken almost two weeks off work to help me out and I don't know how I'd do it without him. He has been SuperDad and SuperHusband this past week.
And Isabella? Well, she is pretty much a dream baby...she just sleeps, eats and looks cute all day with barely a whimper or cry. I struggled for the first two months when I breastfed Eva, yet so far Bella's feedings have gone pretty well.
The only bump in the road so far has been...Eva. Poor girl. The first day we came home from the hospital with Isabella she had an eye infection and an ear infection. 
She was miserable, angry with us for leaving her for a day and totally impervious to the new addition. As she gains understanding that this new little "puppy" as she calls it, isn't going anywhere, her world is crumbling and she is running head first into "toddlerdome". She is disobedient, whiney, trantruming for no reason and one step away from breaking down and just wailing on the floor with little fists clenched. She has been the most exhausting part of our new journey. I'm sure with a little time to adjust things will get better.
Despite that we are all doing well. I am getting more sleep than I expected and feel surprisingly rested.
Life is good.
7 comments:
Wow! I'm glad to hear things are going so well. You're pretty lucky with such an easy pregnancy, a friggin 3 hour labour AND feeling rested. That's amazing! Way to go!!
You only had a three hour labour!!! WOW, everything seems to be going perfectly for you guys!! I'm so happy that Isabella is such a good baby and everything is going really well. I'm sure that Eva will adjust quickly. (I love that you have your blogs since I can access to them from the school, I get facebook deprived here so this is perfect!)
Tarilie
Wow! I am glad that you and Steve are adjusting so well to your new addition! We had some behavioral issues with Tiana too when Micah was born. It will ease up....:) The hard part is not automatically putting the newborns needs before the toddlers! I was given pretty good advice but it was hard to follow and that was that often it is better to meet the need of your toddler first because generally it can be done fairly quickly and it's okay to let the baby cry for a couple of minutes. Whereas if the toddler is always second then they quickly feel like they have been replaced or they aren't important. Micah is now 1 and Tiana is 3 and I still have to work on not automatically meeting his needs first or favoring him because he's the 'baby'!!! Ah, parent-hood, I guess it's a lifetime job, hey?! Enjoy you guys, you sound like you are doing great!
Well it sounds like you guys are adjusting nicely to having 2! Thats really to bad that Eva got sick, kids always have perfect timing hey... I hope my first adjusts ok to the new baby! He seems to like helping out with kids I watch but I guess they always leave at the end of the day! I am sure she will get better, maybe once she can start helping out! She will probably turn into "mommy"! But as for the rest, it sounds like you guys are all doing great!
Glad to hear that things are going so smoothly and that you are enjoying your two beautiful girls! As I said on Steve's facebook page, that is probably the saddest looking little girl I've seen in quite a while! Hopefully she is feeling better!
I am glad to hear that things are going so well for you guys! I hope that Eva adjusts alright:) I'm sure it will just take time. I have no idea how Layla is going to react to having a new baby brother in just a few weeks! Take care!
Mel - Thanks for the advice...it's good to hear something like that. It's so true that we tend to put the "baby" first, which is why the toddler probably acts out. They just want attention!
Cass - Haha, I know she looks so pathetic and awful...like she just came back from a 5-day drinking binge!
Jules & Mandy - Hopefully your toddlers adjust well to the new babes coming. It's so hard for them not to be the "baby" anymore.
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