Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Change, Change, Change!

Jude is three weeks old today! Where has the time gone? I have no idea. One minutes it was summer and I was pregnant and the next it is starting to smell a lot like fall and I have a three week old son and an almost two year old daughter. I'll try not to think about the fact that I'll be turning 30 in just 4 months.

Jude has been waking up every 1 1/2 - 2 hours at night. We haven't been swaddling him because-well-I was waiting to see if he had a temperament that would benefit from swaddling. It seems as we approach week three that Jude will most likely spend quite a bit of time in a swaddle blanket just like his sister. I broke out my copy of Happiest Baby on the Block to review soothing techniques. He is much happier when he is swaddled and sleeps better during the day- at least. At night we use one of the Velcro swaddles and he is still waking a lot. I am thinking of buying a Miracle Blanket because I have heard really great things about them. I am hoping his nighttime sleep will change over the next few weeks so i can get at least one longer stretch of sleep myself. A mom can dream right?

I can't believe Eliza is going to be two years old in ten days. I have been very sad lately that I haven't been able to spend as much one-on-one time with her. I keep replaying the last kiss I gave her right before I left for the hospital. As I bent down to kiss her while she slept, I knew that things would never be the same for us-but I guess I didn't quite GET how that would make me feel. I have spent day and night with Eliza for the past year. I ate with her, played with her, napped with her and slept with her at night. Although she is a daddy's girl and doesn't seem to mind much that I am busy with Jude, I still think longingly of the Mommy and Eliza show quite often.

8 comments:

Meredith said...

do you think a miracle blanket would work on an 8 month old???
It has been going fast, it feels to me like you were still pregnant yesterday!!

Sheri said...

That brought tears to my eyes. I know how yoy are feeling. I felt tremendous guilt and sadness for Grace after Noah was born. The lack of sleep brings on all kinds of emotions. LOL

It does get better. You will get to spend one on one time with her soon. You are doing such a great job!!

Lori said...

you will figure it all out and as Jude gets a bit older and on a schedule you will find more time to carve out for just you and E.

PletcherFamily said...

I remember feeling the same way. Within the first week I actually cried to my husband that I didn't want to have two children - I missed my old life. Of course, I didn't mean it, but I was so sad of the loss of spending so much time with just Arlington. She was 3 1/2 when Finley was born, so she had been my only for a long time.

It is completely normal to be sad. Sad for you, sad for your girl. As Jude gets bigger and they start to play together, you will thank the heavens they have each other. I would have missed making Arlington the best big sister in the world.

Christy said...

Swaddling is definitely a good thing. I swaddled Izzy until he was 8 months old (I probably would have done it longer, but my husband started to complain).

Marcy said...

Hmmm 3 weeks... so right on time for a growth spurt? Perhaps that's why he's waking up so often right now? My mantras in those early days were "the only constant is change" and "This, too, shall pass." It may feel like forever right now, but EVENTUALLY it'll all change, and EVENTUALLY you'll get some sleep. We'll all cross our fingers that that happens sooner rather than later for you...

I can imagine how tough it is to miss that one-on-one time. It's one of the reasons I want to hold off on having another, to get more time with just Donovan (though of course there's all sorts of pros and cons to having them close/far in age). At least when Jude's a little older and maybe taking bottles or at least going longer between feedings, and can work out times to be with just Jude and just Eliza to get a bit of that same one-on-one feel.

Jennifer Ashdown said...

Hi,

Two kids is definitely harder than one but so worth it. I know through experience. We have a great soothing techinque called Lullaby Exercises it is available on Amazon. We are currently looking for baby wearers who blog to write a review for International Baby Wearing Week and we'd love to send you a copy. Both your children will love it. My older daughter loved to dance along.

More about us:

Chicks-n-chickens, Lullaby Exercises is a fun, new exercise DVD/CD Set for moms with babies 6 weeks to pre-walking. A series of effective, low-intensity, easy-to-learn movements that you perform while baby wearing. It’s designed for new moms to share moments with their baby, put a little one to sleep, and to feel good emotionally and physically. Groove to soothe….mind, body, and baby.

Our complete schedule of events for International Baby Wearing Week is below. I hope you will help us make this a wonderful week of celebration for baby wearers everywhere.

Best,

Jennifer Ashdown, Vice Chick
Chicks-n-chickens, Inc.

Chicks-n-Chickens Celebrates International Baby Wearing Week 9/21-9/25

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9/25: Chicks-n-chickens on www.iwearyourshirt.com
9/25: Free class at DayOne, Walnut Creek, CA September 25th, at noon

Coming in October:


**10/15: Pregnancy.org Radio 11 a.m.

greenkiddo said...

Sam is 10 days old today and I am feeling a lot of the same things as you.... the transition from 2-3 is a little overwhelming! ANyway, all that to say I bought a pack of the aden and anais swaddleblankets from target. They are made of muslin and are super big and stretchy and you can swaddle really tight with them and they have seemed to help us! Sam is sleeping about 2 1/2 hours at night, really getting needy of a longer stretch!