April 20, 2016

The End of the 4th Trimester

Month 3
March 19th - April 19th 
Genevieve at 3 months and Adelaide at 3 months
Adelaide at three months: 
  • Weighs 14 pounds! (75th percentile)
  • She is either smiling at everyone or screaming her head off.
  • She is still pretty fussy all day despite me going off dairy.
  • Her neck strength is so much stronger and she loves to "stand".
  • Her big sister is constantly in her face giving her kisses and Adelaide loves watching Genevieve play.
  • And she had her first ER experience. 
What a crazy month it has been. I think I say that every month though ;) 
This month my nephew was born (details and pictures below). And on that same day Adelaide fell and hit her head. Luckily/unluckily, it happened at the hospital on the L&D floor in front of 10 nurses so we were immediately sent to the children's ER. I had been up for two days straight at Lauren's labor and was completely exhausted. We then had to stay in the ER for 18 hours while Adelaide got CT scans, x-rays, and was observed. So that made 3 nights in a row of no sleep. I WAS WIPED OUT! She did have a skull fracture but it was minor and required no care. She will be totally healed by the time she is walking, but goodness gracious, what an awful experience. She was so brave though and very sweet.
Unfortunately, the fussiness has not died down this month. I thought maybe I would get a chill second baby, but that is not case...she cries (more like screams) half the day. Her daytime naps are maybe 10 minutes long and she has to be held and bounced when she's awake, which is all day. We had her tongue and lip tie revised, she goes to the chiropractor, we've been doing probiotics, gas drops, and gripe water, she's had a craniosacral massage, we've seen lactation experts, and I've gone off dairy for a month, and we are still not seeing a huge improvement. 

Thankfully, she sleeps great at night. By 'great' I mean she wakes maybe 2-3 times to nurse but because we co-sleep that just means I roll over to nurse her half awake and then we both go back to sleep. So this is actually great sleep for me! Running a company from home, playing with a toddler, and flipping an Airbnb space about every other day is quite exhausting. Some days I feel jealous that my husband gets to work at a desk uninterrupted by little ones constantly, but I am also trying to savor these early years with them at home. I am so glad my life wasn't this chaotic when I had my first. I don't think I would have emotionally been able to handle it. 

What gets me through the day, and what I remind so many new mamas, is that this will pass! I am already 3 months in! In the next couple of months things should improve. I know we are hitting a wonder week and we are at the peak of colicky behavior, but it will get better. That is my saving grace and has made the all-day fussiness not too bad. 

Genevieve Update
We did it! We made it through 3 months of a rough transition but I can officially say Genevieve is back to being our happy, joyful toddler! She no longer cries when Adelaide cries and she's just overall less whiny. Don't get me wrong, she is still very stubborn and picky, and she whines to get our attention, but it feels a lot more manageable now that we also see glimpses of her happy self coming back. I've also worked really hard this month to have one-on-one time with her. We pitched the tent in the living room, played at every park, and danced in so many bubbles. Adelaide is becoming more challenging but at least Genevieve is getting easier. Whew, these early years are not for the faint of heart!!


Olsen Forrest is here!
Lauren and I have crazy labors. Our early labor is super long, like days long, with hard contractions and then BAM, we hit active labor and have babies quickly after that. This birth was no exception. Lauren was a ROCK STAR and labored for 3 long days. She was only 2-4cm for a majority of it but had strong contractions. Without warning, she hit 6cm and within 2 contractions was fully dilated. A few minutes later Olsen was born (April 7th at 10:06am). Lauren was so powerful and had her natural, homebirth VBAC and I am incredibly proud of her!

She did have to go into the hospital for some repairs after such a quick delivery so I stayed back with Olsen and held him skin-to-skin util Lauren was ready for us to bring him to her. I will always cherish those moments where I could cuddle Olsen and tell him how much his mama loves him. And I am so glad he wasn't away from his mama for very long! He is a sweet boy!
Left: The weekend before I had Genevieve and Lauren pregnant with Nora.
Right: The weekend before I had Adelaide and Lauren pregnant with Olsen

Family Time:
This month we also celebrated Easter and lots of birthdays. It's a busy time for birthdays on both sides of the family and with a holiday this month, we had lots of family time. I LOVE it. I made the realization last Saturday that Genevieve went from one party where she saw all of her cousins/aunts/uncles/Omi/Abi on the Durham side and then straight to another party where she saw all of her family on the Goodwin side. That's crazy to me! Maybe it's because I grew up overseas and almost never saw my extended family but in one day Genevieve saw ALL of her extended family. What a gift. I absolutely love living near family. I know this season won't be forever so I am just soaking it all up now. 

Enjoy all of this month's pictures!
My dear Adelaide,
What a brave girl you are. This month you gave your mama quite the scare! And going through that experience made my heart grow even bigger. I love how you smile for everyone and your coos are developing into little 'conversations' with me in the rare quiet moments we get. Your mama and dada are pretty exhausted each day, bouncing and rocking you around the clock. But we love holding you close and we know all too well that you won't be our little girl for very long. So you can stay our small baby, maybe just nap a little bit? We love you so much, little one. 
Love, Mama