Life with Emery
It has been almost 2 months since we welcomed our little Emery into the world! It feels like we've had her forever (and Im not sure if that feeling is good or bad! haha!)
Transitioning from one child to two is definitely as hard as everyone says it is. Annie had a tricky time in the beginning - but she has gotten much better. We often hear these things from her, "Mama, put baby down," or "NO BIG BABY!" or "Emery's crying..it's ok baby" or my favorite, "baby's pretty loud?" The jealousy has died down and it's sweet to see Annie try to share her toys (a rare moment) with Emery or kiss her on the head...or even tickle her piggies. These things don't happen often, so I absolutely cherish them when they do. One day they'll be best friends...
We've figured out around week 2 that Emery has a dairy sensitivity and that beef does not agree with her stomach. So for now, I'm cow-free...sigh... I love milk. I love cheese. Beef i can do without, but eating at a restaurant can be tricky sometimes.
Our little honey bun started sleeping through the night (5-6 hour stretches) around 5 weeks old, which was nothing but grace from the Lord. As many of you know, Steven works nights, so I'm on my own during the day and through the night. He steps in from about 7-10am and then 5-8pm. So - I was stupid tired, but not AS tired as I was when I had Annie, though Im getting (or was getting) way less sleep with Emery...
I can't remember when this developed (my weeks mush together) - but Emery started having "breakdowns" as we call them around here from 9-11:30pm every. single. night. And if you read my previous paragraph, that's the time of night that I'm on my own...and also when Annie goes to bed. It's really difficult for a 2 year old (who already doesnt want to go to bed) to go to sleep when there's a screaming baby in the house... so we struggled for a while during these hours. Finally, my angel of a neighbor came over during that time of night to hold and help soothe Em so i could get Annie down. Now she even takes her over to her house so that it's quiet around here. I can say that these episodes are passing - and we are seeing less and less breakdowns from her. Again, grace of God because I was about to have a breakdown myself.
At week 6 Annie had a few days of fever and a cold. Her last two molars were also coming through - so we weren't sure what was causing her illness... if it was a cold, the teeth, or what. She went a few days with a tiny appetite (the kid constantly wants snacks) - and she even had a few coughing fits that resulted in her barfing everywhere *yum*. A few days after her fevers stopped, Emery started coughing. Great. Sisters are already sharing everything... 2 days after Emery's cough started, I started noticing that her breathing was very labored (the same kind of way I remembered Annie breathing when she was in the NICU), so I called her pediatrician. After doing an over-the phone assessment, they had us take her to urgent care at Children's Mercy. She was hooked up to all kinds of monitors, given a high power snot-suction treatment (which really made her mad), an IV with a bag of fluids (she hadn't been nursing super well), and diagnosed with RSV. Thankfully they didn't hospitalize her, though they were REALLY close to doing so. Because she wasn't nursing super efficiently, I got mastitis on top of her being almost-hospital-sick sick...and Annie being sick..oh...and Steven too. That was one of the hardest weeks I've experienced as a mom...so hard that we had to call in the grandparents for help. Everyone was sick and no one was sleeping... Steven's parents came and stayed the weekend with us to help. Grace.
So now everyone is better and we are dealing with Emery's hip situation. When she was born the pediatrician at the hospital said that her hip was dislocated and so we've had to double diaper her (when we use disposables) since then. We had an ultrasound done on her hip 2 weeks ago and it showed that her right one is showing signs of displasia. Today we went to the orthopedic clinic at Children's Mercy and thankfully the doctor said her hip feels stable. However, the ultrasound showed that it was out of whack...but it could just be a bad picture. SO we will go back in 2 weeks to get another ultrasound (tiny babies cant have x-rays) to see what it looks like and we'll go from there...
So that's kind of where we are with everything. We are still trying to figure out how to do life with two kids...but we're getting closer. We've just about got Emery all figured out and are a little less stressed out. She's smiling and has the cutest little dimple on her little chubby right cheek. She loves being talked to and enjoys tummy time (which Annie HATED). She hates taking baths and cries through every one of them (Annie LOVED baths). Emery has lots of rolls in her thighs, a big round belly, and a hairy lower back (Annie did too...it went away...). her big blue eyes make me melt and I cant get enough of her hairy little head. She has finally figured out (after 8 weeks) how a pacifier works, though she has trouble keep it in her mouth. She is finally liking her swing and has a love-hate relationship with the swaddle blanket. Her poops are explosive and she pees more than any person I know. She looked just like Annie when she was born and is finally starting to develop her own little look.
As for me, I'm exhausted and I just want to sleep. One day .... one day....
Transitioning from one child to two is definitely as hard as everyone says it is. Annie had a tricky time in the beginning - but she has gotten much better. We often hear these things from her, "Mama, put baby down," or "NO BIG BABY!" or "Emery's crying..it's ok baby" or my favorite, "baby's pretty loud?" The jealousy has died down and it's sweet to see Annie try to share her toys (a rare moment) with Emery or kiss her on the head...or even tickle her piggies. These things don't happen often, so I absolutely cherish them when they do. One day they'll be best friends...
We've figured out around week 2 that Emery has a dairy sensitivity and that beef does not agree with her stomach. So for now, I'm cow-free...sigh... I love milk. I love cheese. Beef i can do without, but eating at a restaurant can be tricky sometimes.
Our little honey bun started sleeping through the night (5-6 hour stretches) around 5 weeks old, which was nothing but grace from the Lord. As many of you know, Steven works nights, so I'm on my own during the day and through the night. He steps in from about 7-10am and then 5-8pm. So - I was stupid tired, but not AS tired as I was when I had Annie, though Im getting (or was getting) way less sleep with Emery...
I can't remember when this developed (my weeks mush together) - but Emery started having "breakdowns" as we call them around here from 9-11:30pm every. single. night. And if you read my previous paragraph, that's the time of night that I'm on my own...and also when Annie goes to bed. It's really difficult for a 2 year old (who already doesnt want to go to bed) to go to sleep when there's a screaming baby in the house... so we struggled for a while during these hours. Finally, my angel of a neighbor came over during that time of night to hold and help soothe Em so i could get Annie down. Now she even takes her over to her house so that it's quiet around here. I can say that these episodes are passing - and we are seeing less and less breakdowns from her. Again, grace of God because I was about to have a breakdown myself.
At week 6 Annie had a few days of fever and a cold. Her last two molars were also coming through - so we weren't sure what was causing her illness... if it was a cold, the teeth, or what. She went a few days with a tiny appetite (the kid constantly wants snacks) - and she even had a few coughing fits that resulted in her barfing everywhere *yum*. A few days after her fevers stopped, Emery started coughing. Great. Sisters are already sharing everything... 2 days after Emery's cough started, I started noticing that her breathing was very labored (the same kind of way I remembered Annie breathing when she was in the NICU), so I called her pediatrician. After doing an over-the phone assessment, they had us take her to urgent care at Children's Mercy. She was hooked up to all kinds of monitors, given a high power snot-suction treatment (which really made her mad), an IV with a bag of fluids (she hadn't been nursing super well), and diagnosed with RSV. Thankfully they didn't hospitalize her, though they were REALLY close to doing so. Because she wasn't nursing super efficiently, I got mastitis on top of her being almost-hospital-sick sick...and Annie being sick..oh...and Steven too. That was one of the hardest weeks I've experienced as a mom...so hard that we had to call in the grandparents for help. Everyone was sick and no one was sleeping... Steven's parents came and stayed the weekend with us to help. Grace.
So now everyone is better and we are dealing with Emery's hip situation. When she was born the pediatrician at the hospital said that her hip was dislocated and so we've had to double diaper her (when we use disposables) since then. We had an ultrasound done on her hip 2 weeks ago and it showed that her right one is showing signs of displasia. Today we went to the orthopedic clinic at Children's Mercy and thankfully the doctor said her hip feels stable. However, the ultrasound showed that it was out of whack...but it could just be a bad picture. SO we will go back in 2 weeks to get another ultrasound (tiny babies cant have x-rays) to see what it looks like and we'll go from there...
So that's kind of where we are with everything. We are still trying to figure out how to do life with two kids...but we're getting closer. We've just about got Emery all figured out and are a little less stressed out. She's smiling and has the cutest little dimple on her little chubby right cheek. She loves being talked to and enjoys tummy time (which Annie HATED). She hates taking baths and cries through every one of them (Annie LOVED baths). Emery has lots of rolls in her thighs, a big round belly, and a hairy lower back (Annie did too...it went away...). her big blue eyes make me melt and I cant get enough of her hairy little head. She has finally figured out (after 8 weeks) how a pacifier works, though she has trouble keep it in her mouth. She is finally liking her swing and has a love-hate relationship with the swaddle blanket. Her poops are explosive and she pees more than any person I know. She looked just like Annie when she was born and is finally starting to develop her own little look.
As for me, I'm exhausted and I just want to sleep. One day .... one day....
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