Hayden is 1 month old!

I can hardly believe he's already a month old! No longer is he a newborn but a chubby little baby. He stays awake for hours at a time and is sleeping 3-4 hours at a time. Hudson is great with him too. He tries to help out and gets his bottle for him, will stick a soother in his mouth (or take it out), and pats him on the back when I'm burping him. He's been a great helper.

The greatest show on earth

The circus was in town on Friday so D took Hudson after work Fri night. We weren't sure if he'd like it or get it really, but he LOVED it!
He ate his body weight in popcorn and cotton candy and came home with balloons and a sword. What a guy!

Baby did wha???

Hayden is a day shy of 4 weeks old, 3 days shy of a month old.

Last night, he slept 5.5 hours. In. A. Row!

He was awake practically all evening and grazed which I think helped. We finally got him to sleepyville at 10:30pm and he woke up again at 1:30am. After downing 3 more oz, he was fast asleep and I had expected to get up around 4:30am. Nope, it came and went and I woke up at 7am to a half awake babe.

Crazy!!

Mini D

Hudson at 18 months

Devin at 18 months


Crazy, hey? D now has almost black, curly hair but it started out just like Hudson's.

Other than being a clone of his father, Hudson wants to do everything that daddy does. He follows him around and if D brushes his teeth, Hudson wants to too, along with mimicking leaning over and spitting out the toothpaste (sometimes he spits on the floor but most of the time he doesn't). If D gets out the screwdriver, Hudson will break out his tools and get right in there to help fix. He even went and got his stool himself the other day so he could see in the bathroom mirror and try to 'shave' because that's what daddy was doing. So frickin cute!!!!

Graduating with honors

After the last post and feeling helpless I decided to do something about it. This momma bear had enough of sleeping for an hour at a time so I decided to enroll our baby into boot camp! Yes, boot camp for my newborn. No more sleeping and eating whenever he wanted. I started by keeping him awake after feedings in the day for at least 30 minutes. He needed to realize that daytime is for being awake and nighttime is not.
After being in the habit of staying awake, I am now proud to say that Hayden is on a schedule!!! AND HE SLEEPS FOR 3 HOURS AT A TIME! It took a couple days but we're there. Now he wakes up after 3 hours, almost to the minute, and I can get him changed, fed, and back to sleep is usually under 20 minutes. No longer do I have to sleep on the couch! I can sleep in my own bed, next to my husband! REJOICE!!

I highly recommend Momma's boot camp for babies.

Lost

Last night was the worst night so far with Hayden. Usually Hayden will sleep for 1.5-2 hours and then is up hungry again wanting to eat. Sometimes he just wants to be awake (usually from 2-4am) wide-eyed and alert. Last night the most he slept for at a time was 1 hour. From 4-5am I got a good solid sleep in. That's it.

He just kept waking up. I'd change him, feed him and try to get him back to sleep with no luck. He either wanted to be held, or decided he was hungry again, or was just plain fussy, or spit up, or poop, or pee through his diaper and I'd have to change him and start the whole process again.

I feel so lost with him. With Hudson, I felt like there was a short time where I was getting used to caring for a baby and was able to figure out his needs in a few days. Now with Hayden, I feel like nothing I'm doing is working and I don't know what to do to help him. Like I can't figure out what he wants. Almost like this whole baby thing is brand new to me.

I've spent more time googling different causes for his fussiness and different methods and
tricks to get him to sleep more than an hour at a time. I've elevated the head of his bassinet in case it's reflux. I've made sure he naps downstairs in the noise and light and it's dark and quiet at night when he sleeps in case his clock is out of whack. We've switched his formula to lactose free which seemed to help Hudson when he was a newborn. We warm up his milk (Hudson used to drink it straight from the fridge) in case it's stomach cramps and it's causing him pain. He drinks soley from Dr Brown bottles to help with gas. He's burped well, kept warm, passes gas easy, and otherwise is left comfortable.

I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I've exhausted every single thing I know how to do. And nothing I'm doing seems to be helping at all.

You'd think with the second, things would come to you like second nature but I feel like I'm missing something or just clueless on what to do.

Who knows, maybe it's not something I can fix. Maybe it's just something he needs to grow out of. Either way, I wish I knew the answer.

TGIF

Hudson's favorite day of the week. Not only because that means he gets to play with daddy for the next two days but also because it means that it's garbage day!

He sits in the window, waiting for the big red truck to drive down the street picking up garbage. What a silly guy!

2 weeks

I was thinking about the time that has passed since Hayden was born and it feels like these past two weeks have gone by in a blur. We've definitely been busy and I hope things will settle down in a bit in all aspects.

I think he looks a lot more like Hudson did when he was first born. I thought they didn't look alike AT ALL at birth but now I definitely see similarities and I love that. I love it when you can tell two people are siblings just by seeing their physical characteristics. I'm not sure why I do, maybe because it's another thing you share only with one other human on the planet? Either way I think that's the only child in me coming out.

In other news, I'm only up 10 pounds from my pre-Hayden weight! I've never been one to be really concerned about weight or even to weigh myself more than a few times a year but I thought I'd see what 2 weeks out left me at. I fit into my regular clothes one week post Hayden but my ute still needs to shrink back down to size. With Hudson, I gained much more weight in the pregnancy and I was up 15 pounds when I got pregnant with Hayden. So my goal is to lose the 10 I still have left from Hayden plus the 15 I carried over from Hudson. Pretty reasonable I think. I'm feeling really good about myself and happy my body has rebounded so quickly. Now if only there is something I could do about the saggy skin that's left behind...

My poor little guy

Today Hayden had his circumcision. He did quite well though, only made a peep during the local and was quiet during the whole procedure. It looks quite sore but I think that's a momma's projection as he seems quite fine. The only differences are that now when he cries, he uses all of his lung capacity. No more little whimpers or quiet cries, he screams. Also, he now has the ability to take on a fire hose with the distance his pee can go. It's crazy!! He literally peed OVER my head at the doctor's office. No joke. We'll have to be extra careful changing diapers from now on.

So far, even though sleep has been minimal and usually no more than an hour at a time, I feel pretty good. I haven't even had to develop a caffeine addiction :) It's amazing how well your body adjusts and does what you need it to do. I feel like I was much more tired with Hudson as a newborn which is weird since I could have slept when he was sleeping. Maybe I just didn't? Now I treat sleep like a bank account and try to keep it topped up when I can. I try and keep sleep a priority and it seems to be working. Ask me in a week and I might have something different to say.

Tomorrow we have a photographer coming, the same one that did Hudson's newborn pictures. I can't wait to see them!

Happy Mother's Day

Please excuse the look of the blog. I'm trying to
update it to include the new peanut, it's just slow going right now.

Things have been going quite well. This weekend was a busy one for us. D spent all day Fri, Sat, and Sun out at our lot planting trees and all other things related to the trees. He worked his butt off and we *think* it'll take just one more day this weekend to get things done.

I had to work this weekend and so my dad watched the kidlets for us. I wasn't sure if he'd be comfortable looking after Hayden but we didn't have much choice. He made out great and enjoyed spending time with them so that's all that matters. Originally, my mom was supposed to watch them and actually took a week off work to stay with us and help out but she's back drinking again. I'm just so over it, the whole thing, including her. Enough about that.

Needless to say my Mothers Day took a raincheck. D did make a wonderful breakfast for us this morning but with all this tree stuff, there wasn't much time spent as a family.

I've been sleeping on the couch until Hayden gets into a routine. Or at least until he sleeps longer than 1.5 or 2 hours at a time. I'm afraid that he'll wake up D or Hudson or I will getting in and out of bed. I do miss sleeping upstairs though, beside D. We get so limited time together it feels like and with me on the couch, it feels like even less. What can I say, I miss cuddling him.

Uh-oh

Hayden is a week old already! Things are going great at home as we're now settling into a routine and D and I are slowly figuring out what life is like now with 2 little ones. I still can't believe that we are parents to two kids now, it almost feels like we went from a married couple right into a family of four.

Hayden is slowly getting turned back around from being awake all night and sleeping all day. He likes to cluster feed from midnight til about 7am which means that momma gets very little sleep at night. I just sleep when I can and so far I haven't needed to rely on anything stronger than a couple cups of tea to make it through the day, lol. I know it's only been a week but I think we'll be fine and it's not going to be as coma inducing as I thought I would be.

Hudson is getting used to having Hayden around too. He checks on him when he's sleeping in his bassinet and when Hayden cries he runs to hand me the bottle or his soother. Yesterday, he even tried to give Hayden his soother but was a bit too rough for my liking. At least he's trying to be helpful and we're trying to encourage it and keep him incuded. I need to get over feeling guilty that I can't spend the same amount or quality time with him anymore. No more outings for a bit until Hayden is older but I guess that's what comes with families with more than one kid. As an only child, I'm very quickly trying to learn how to manuver into these unchartered territories.

Hudson's favorite saying is 'Uh-oh'. He says it probably 50 times a day and used to say it with the proper meaning but now says it for EVERYTHING. He says it when he drops something on the floor, his sippy cup is empty, when Sesame Street is over, when he wants a snack, when Hayden cries, etc. It's kind of funny but I find myself saying 'No honey, that's not Uh-oh' more times than I thought I ever would. Sometimes we even hear him in his room by himself saying 'uh-oh' and we just laugh. He's is too cute for words.

Hayden's arrival!

Hayden was born at 4:11am on Friday, April 29th. Here is his birth story:

Thursday evening, around 5pm I started feeling strong contractions. They were only coming around 10 minutes apart but I knew that this was 'it' so to say. D had planned to go to the farm that night after work to work on getting stuff ready for the trees but I told him that I needed him here and so he came home instead. I ended up having to work for a bit (I know, I'm crazy) and met my clients at 7pm. By the time I was ready to drive home (we live about 20 minutes outside the city), I needed to pull over during the contractions and were still around 10 minutes. D drew a bath for me and decided that he'd run into work (into the city about 30 mins from our house) to get things wrapped up for work and assign files etc.

By the time I got out of the bath and put Hudson to bed (9pm), my contractions were quite strong and 8 minutes apart. I texted D and gave him the update as he was trying to hurry and get home. At 9:30pm, they jumped and BAM, they were 3 minutes apart!!! I was freaking out. D was still in the city, 30 mins away (the hospital is right beside his work) and had to come get me so we could go back in. There was no way I could drive and besides, Hudson was asleep upstairs. By this time my contractions were unbearable and I needed to get to the hospital NOW. D called his brother to come get Hudson and he raced home to come get me.

I waited outside for him and we left, leaving a sleeping Hudson for about 5 minutes alone while his brother got there. It was either that or I call an ambulance because there was no way I could just sit and wait. We got to the hospital at 11pm and they didn't even make us stop and register at the ER. They saw how much distress I was in and I needed help. D raced me through to the labor ward where a resident was waiting to check me. Usually they put you in the assessment wing and hook you up to monitors for 30 mins, take a urine sample, etc before doing anything. I was already 5cm!

They took me right to a delivery room (I skipped antepartum all together) and put in an IV, etc. At this point I needed pain medication badly as my contractions felt right on top of each other. The nurse told me that unfortunately, the anaesthesiologist had just gone into an operation and it would be an hour before he would be able to get to me and give me the epidural. I just remember being so deflated. I had no idea how I was going to deal with the pain and I was worried that by the time he got to me it would be too late. They were able to give me Phentonol but it only helped relax me a bit in between the contractions and did nothing for the actual contraction.

The anaesthesiologist came in at 12:30am and I can't tell you how relieved I was to see him. I was trying to stay calm and breathe through the contractions and relax but it was just too much for me. Thank goodness he was there because I truly didn't know how I was going to hang in there much longer. The resident also checked me again and thought I was 6cm but my water was bulging and couldn't get an accurate measurement. I felt so much better once the epidural was in. I could finally relax and breathe (I felt really lightheaded breathing through the constant contractions).

At 3:15am, the resident came back to check on me and broke my water and as it was bulging out and couldn't tell how dilated I was. I was 10cm! She said that his head wasn't all the way down so she thought she'd give me some time for the baby to get lower so I had less pushing to do. I sat up straight to help move things along (which hurt in my bum during the contractions) but it was so gravity could help move the baby down.

By 4am I was feeling a ton of pressure in my bum and felt like I couldn't hold it anymore. Like I needed to push. Like NOW. The nurse ran to get one of the residents but they all happened to be in deliveries at the time so they called the actual Dr to come in (he's just used in emergencies or c-sections or if assistance is required). I was ready to push when he got there and after 5 minutes of pushing and a total of 3 pushes later, Hayden was born. I just couldn't believe how fast he came! I was expecting it would be a bit longer and I remember D and I talking right before 4, guessing whether or not he would be born before sunrise.

He was 7lbs, 12 oz and 20 inches long. He is doing great other than being a bit jaundiced but it's not something to worry about. I'm also doing great. I only needed 3 stitches and am feeling MUCH less sore than last time. My recovery is going much better and I think after a couple days I'll be back to normal. I did have quite a few clots after delivery and hemmorraged a bit but all seems to be fine now and no one seems to be really concerned about it.

Hudson wasn't sure what to think about Hayden. He came and visited us in the hospital and I don't think he really knew what was going on. Now that we're all home, he tries to find out where his limits are but does get moments where he's interested in Hayden and what he is and what he's doing. Especially when he cries.

I can't wait to watch them grow up together. My 2 precious little guys.