Getting Antsy

This is my second week on my own with just Samantha and Joshua during the day - all day. All 10 hours of the day. All very long 10 hours of the day with the 2 of them. Last week was a lot of feeling it all out and trying to get my act together. OK, maybe not getting my act together but at least learning what that "act" is all about. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I did get out of the house once last week, just once. I put Samantha in the Moby wrap, Josh in his stroller and headed out the door. I made it to the mailbox and halfway around the block. The wrap was just not working that well and it made it difficult to really walk around. At least I got out of the house.

Over the weekend, we finally put the double stroller together. So, today I decided to venture out with the stroller - to the grocery store. It is a 5 minute walk, and there is a Starbucks in there. Oh heaven! Getting the two of them into the stroller and walking to the grocery store was not that bad. When I got to the grocery store, I had both kids complaining. Oh joy. Finally they settled down, I picked up a few items from the store and bought my Starbucks (grande soy decaf caramel macchiato). It was then time for lunch for Joshua, so I needed to leave the store. As I left the store, it started lightly drizzling. OK, I can handle this. As I continue to walk home, the rain comes harder and then turns to HAIL! Yes, hail. So, I start running. The baby was pretty covered as the stroller lies back to almost flat. But, poor Joshy! I'm sure he got pelted by the hail. At least the grocery store is pretty close. So much for getting out of the house with no issues. This 2 kid thing is really challenging!

Samantha - One Month

Samantha at one month is your typical newborn. She eats, sleeps, and poops. Not too many exciting tricks at this point, but she is a joy to have around. She definitely sleeps a lot so that is helpful at this point with trying to manage two. It has only been one week since I have really been on my own with two, so we shall see as the time passes. I would say that Samantha is relatively an easy baby just like her brother was as a newborn. Yet, Samantha seems a little more needy. She likes to be held and doesn't like to be put down very much. I also think I saw her smile. I know it may be a little on the early side, but I don't think it was gas.

Samantha hd her one month doctor's appointment today, and she is doing really well. She already weighs 8 1/2 lbs. I don't think Joshua weighed that much at this point. All in all, it has been a great month, and I look forward to many more great months and years ahead.

Preschool?

Joshua is now 2. Since he was born and I went back to work when he was 4 months old, we had a nanny to take care of him during the work day. I knew that some day I would have to send Joshua to preschool. As his birthday is September, he misses the school deadline which is August 31. Therefore, he will be one of the older kids in his class. For a boy, I think that is probably a good thing. (Regardless of how smart I think my Son is really). For kids in Josh's situation, they have a transitional 2s program which has the parent go to school with the child for 1 or 2 days per week. Then, the following September, the kid starts preschool on their own in the 2s class. Knowing that I was having a baby in the fall, I didn't think this option would be feasible and didn't really consider it. Therefore, I knew that I would just send Joshua to preschool next fall in the 2s program. What I didn't realize is that you are supposed to register your child for school in December/January. Of course, I started freaking out. I was so consumed with the newborn that preschool didn't even enter my mind. Why in the world do I need to register for preschool 9 months prior to starting? I have no clue where to send Joshua either. So, very quickly, I had to do research on preschool programs.

Being clueless about preschool, I did a little research and plan on visiting some open houses. What am I supposed to look for in a preschool? Who has the nicest toys? Are the kids not crying? Decisions decisions. I am sure it will all work out.

On My Own

Yesterday was the first day that I was truly on my own with both kids. Samantha is just about a month old but prior to this week, I had help from the visit from my parents, and the nanny was here with Joshua. The nanny's last day was Friday, so now it is just me and the two kiddies during the day. I was lucky when it was just me and Samantha during the day, because she slept a lot, so it was easier. (2 years ago when Joshua was a one month newborn, I remember thinking how hard it was. Now, it seems easier. I guess it is due to more experience). Starting now, I am up at 6:30am when Joshua wakes up, and my day begins. Well actually, maybe my day begins at 3am or 4am when Samantha wakes up. When oh when am I going to get more than 3 hours of sleep in one clip?

To keep your sanity, it is ideal to get out of the house at least once a day. Even if it is just walking around the block, it is important to do something. So, my do something yesterday was a walk with Joshua and Samantha. I hadn't put the double stroller together, so I put Joshua in his stroller and put Samantha in the Moby Wrap. Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten the hang of the Moby Wrap so the nice walk with Samantha and Joshua turned into a walk to the mailbox and a walk half way around the block. I still need to work on the whole wrap thing, because it just didn't feel exactly right. Today, my "getting out" was a trip to Starbucks. Well, it was a drive-thru so I never got out of the car. Yet, I did get out. I had to load both kids in the car, and that was an event in and of itself. Hopefully, it will get easier each time.

Halloween 2009

Joshua age 2 as a monkey and Samantha at age 12 days as a pumpkin. In the morning, we took Joshua to a parade in the neighborhood. In the evening, we took Joshua trick-or-treating. He had a lot of fun as we pulled him around in his Radio Flyer Wagon. He liked going up to the houses and saying "trick or treat". Halloween was Joshua's introduction to candy. Of couse, he loves it! At 12 days old, Samantha got dressed in costume as well. No trick-or-treating for her. Just some photo ops for her. Maybe next year.

Big Brother

On October 19th, Joshua's world changed. He became a big brother. We tried to psych him up about being a big brother prior to the arrival of Samantha. Since he was a little under 2, it was more difficult since he didn't really understand. We read "baby on the way" books, "I'm a big brother books". We told Joshua about the baby in mommy's belly, and we introduced Joshua to his sister's room. Joshua liked going into Samantha's bedroom. He would always walk in there so excited and say "sister's room, sister's room". Yet, I don't think he really knew what sister's room meant. Soon he would find out. (One day, he went in there and peed on the floor. Maybe that was his unconscious way of acting out).

Knowing that Joshua's world was going to turn upside upon Samantha's arrival, we wanted to make Joshua feel special about becoming a big brother. Joshua was used to getting all of the attention. Now, Samantha is going to need more attention and Joshua is going to have to share his time. We created a "Big Brother Day" the day I got home from the hospital. (Unfortunately due to the threat of Swine Flu, the hospital changed their visitor policy. Therefore, Joshua was unable to come visit me in the hospital.) Not seeing Joshua while I was in the hospital was hard, but it was better that I didn't have a c-section so that I came home 2 days earlier.

Josh got introduced to candles around his second birthday a month earlier. So, now he really likes candles and blowing them out. When we got home from the hospital we said, "Happy Big Brother Day". We gave him a gift, a cake, and he got to blow out the candles. It was really cute. I don't know if Joshua really understood what was going on, but it was nice for him to get some attention and feel special during a transitional time.

Monday October 19, Samantha Lauren Has Arrived

I had a planned c-section scheduled for Monday 10/19. My arrival time at the hospital was to be around 11:30am and the c-section was scheduled for 1:30pm. (I had a c-section with Joshua and had been debating VBAC for most of the pregnancy. Dear readers, you already know this. But then towards the end, I decided I was going to have the c-section unless "all the stars aligned" for the VBAC. Readers, am I boring you with what you already know? Basically in the end, I went through a long labor with Joshua, pushed for 4 hours and ended up with a c-section. I didn't really want to go through that again. Add in the small VBAC risks, and "voila" - repeat c-section).


I woke up at 7:00am on October 19th with the plan of taking a shower, running a quick errand, and then Keith was going to take us to the hospital at 11:30am. At 7:48am I had a contraction. 10 minutes later, I had another contraction, 10 minutes later, I had one again. They weren't super painful, just felt like a menstrual cramp, but I knew that they were real contractions. I finally called my OB at 10am, and he said to come to the hospital. Worse case scenario, they will move up my c-section time.


I arrived at the hospital around 10:45am, and the contractions had been varying between 5 - 10 minutes, and they still were at the same pain level. The L&D nurses hooked me up to the monitors and checked me out. I was 4-5 cm dilated and 90% effaced! Holy crap! I didn' expect that. I had mentioned to the nurses about a potential VBAC. They said that there is no more ideal VBAC situation than what I was in. I guess "the stars were aligned". Bring on the epidural! The nurses called my OB (who was thrilled by the way), and we went into the official L&D room to move forward with the VBAC.


I received the epidural, and the Anaesthesiologist said I should feel a pain level of a 1 or 2. At first, it was a 1 or 2, but shortly after, the pain turned into a 3 or 4. I could feel contractions not in my lower abdomen anymore, but now I felt them in my bottom. (Very strange and that hurt. If this is what delivery is like, maybe I should have gone through with the c-section). The Anaesthesiologist came back and reduced my pain level back to a 1 or 2. I then quickly dilated to 6 cm and then to 10cm. My water hadn't broken, and I asked the nurse about that. She said that she would be calling the doctor in to break my water. 2 minutes later, my water broke on its own. Then the pushing started which wasn't super terrible with the epidural in high gear. My doctor did have to give me an episiotomy, but I guess that is pretty common anyway. I pushed for a little less than 1 1/2 hours and then Samantha Lauren was born at 3:05pm.


Samantha Lauren born on October 19th at 3:05pm, weight was 6 lbs 10 oz, length was 19 3/4 inches.

In the Beginning

When Joshua was first born, I started a blog to discuss his milestones and what was going on being a first time mom. Sometimes, it was easy to put my thoughts to paper - um, I mean computer. Sometimes, time escaped me and it would be weeks before I got caught up on Joshua's latest adventures (or mine). When I got pregnant with baby #2, I started a blog and blogged weekly on what was happening with the pregnancy this time around. Now that the second baby is here, I am starting a new blog that will discuss "Chaos Times Two". I hope you will enjoy this new adventure my family is embarking on.

Enjoy!