Elayna - 3 Weeks
We've hit and passed another week and are now in the thick of the new born world - lack of sleep, restricted diet, regression and lots of dirty diapers; which why is it you can buy boxes big enough to ship your 2 year old in, full of diapers for every size other than newborn? They trick you into thinking you'll only be using those for a little while, so you buy one package, maybe two and then you're there buying the same 1, maybe 2 packages every week. I haven't figured that one out yet?!
Sleep? It seems like I have done this each time, I feel so great after the baby comes (being that I am no longer pregnant) that I push and push and go back to what I think my life was - late nights, early mornings, etc. and figure the baby is just there for the ride. And it always hits about 3-4 weeks, that my energy level finally registers what is happening and I realize that I am not sleeping full nights anymore and then I get tired. Very tired, and I start napping, which really hasn't happened since about the 4-6th month of pregnancy. The fatigue hits hard for a few weeks, while I try to catch up as much as I can, and then it seems to just even out. I hope that holds true this time - but it wold be really nice if it would come sooner than later! :)
Restricted diet? Yes, 3 for 3 I have a spitter. It makes no sense scientifically or by any research that is out, but some how my kids don't do well with my brand of milk. I have found that if I eat any dairy at all real or not, pasteurized or not, butter, yogurt, wheat thins or even ritz crackers, my babies while nursing will gush for the next day or so. It doesn't make any sense, especially when they are now coming out with all this research suggesting that as long as it is in moderation, the mothers body breaks all the food down so significantly that the baby is not affected by what she eats. Well apparently I don't understand moderation or my body doesn't break it all down.
But really - moderation might be an issue with me! Last saturday I decided that since I had been so good about staying away from hard dairy (aside from an occasional indulgence - cheese ravioli!) that I would reward my inner-self with an ice cream cone at my nephews birthday party. The ice cream was good - it was really good, and a small cone turned into a large 2 scooper, and that turned into a second cone of similar size. Needless to say, I got no sleep that night, Elayna was spitting up all over the place, and not just liquid but curdled mess, and back to the diaper thing - we went through at least 5 diapers in a 6 hour stretch. We had to get more diapers to make it through the weekend.
I should have learned, or at least been slapped after that. But no - I decided to try my stupidity level once more. I decided that if I couldn't have dairy (real adult of me) I would binge on chocolate. I had been wanting brownies for a while - but that was a very unhealthy choice - especially when I was just getting back into all my clothes. So I resisted as long as I could, then it happened. Walking through Costco - I happened (ha ha, I was secretly in search of brownies) upon a large box of brownie mix. 6 packages of triple chocolate chunk brownies. I figured 1 box would do, so I promptly went home and made them. John, I think thought I made them as treats for Family Home Evening, but I had completely forgotten about that. And when it was all said and done, we had a fast activity and sent the boys to bed. I then treated myself to 2 1/2 large brownies, John had one and a half (I don't think he realized I ate the other half of his second!) And then the next day I proceeded to eat the rest of the pan, basically by myself. They were great - and when you consider how filling they were, having them for breakfast, lunch and snacks - saved me on a lot of other excess calories! :)
Elayna was fine that night, but has never been quite the same since.... I'm still holding to the dairy explanation - but I have resisted making a second pan of brownies. I have to get her back to normal first!
Regression?
Well - Weston has now decided that he needs a lot more cuddle time than before. Which you can hardly resist when he is constantly telling you how much he loves you and that he needs just one more cuddle before he can do his chores. And he is becoming a little clingy, but only with Elayna. He doesn't care if I'm around as long as Elayna is always near by. I dropped of the boys at a friends so I could get my hair cut, I planned to bring Elayna with me until Weston got emotional about not having Elayna with him, so I left her too which was nice for me - but a little odd!
Tyler - I thought had missed the regression stage, but this morning started pulling up my shirt saying milk. I said that baby Layna already ate and she didn't need milk. But Tyler kept trying to get under my shirt, emphatically stating milk over and over. Finally I asked if he needed milk and he gave me a look of 'ya - what do you think I've been saying', and tried one more time on getting my shirt up so he could (my guess) nurse. I explained that only baby Layna got milk from mommy and we had to get milk out of the fridge for big boys. Tyler looked a little put off, but was happy and content as soon as I got up and headed to the kitchen! ( I thought they just regressed back a stage, not back to infancy)
Apparently - according to John - Tyler also thinks that he still has a baby in his tummy. Which I don't care about, as long as there isn't one in mine!
All in all - things are going great though. We love our children and have loved having Elayna in our life for the last 3 weeks. The boys are amazing with her, I have never worried about them with her, but she may have issues later on in her life! They truly love her and seem to have just been waiting for her to come and join us. Weston and Tyler are getting bigger and bigger all the time, and I am loving watching them turn into little children and not just toddlers and little kids anymore. Our life truly has been blessed.