Life with Two

Well I have been on my own for two days and one word comes to mind...surviving! It has not been too bad but there is definitely more chaos in the house...or at least in my head. I feel like there is constant motion here. Baby fussing, Ayda running to the potty, toys everywhere, lunches needing to be made, laundry piling up, and the list goes on. But there are those few times where the house is quiet, like right now. Ayda and Hadley are napping and I have time to take a deep breath and enjoy the silence. I must say Hadley is doing great at night which definitely gets me through the days. And Ayda is handling the adjustment of having a baby sister and not getting mommy's undivided attention anymore beautifully. I was actually worried about how I would feel not having all that time for Ayda. But it has been fine. Hadley has just fallen right in with us and I wouldn't change a thing. Going to the store is exhausting...going anywhere is exhausting but we'll get it soon. So all that to say life is crazy and I definitely look forward to 6:15 when I see Kevin come through the door, but it is wonderful having two little girls to spend my day with. They are precious!!! I'm so in love with my family of four to say the least!

So thankful! Part 2

So I wanted to add a part 2! I like blogging because it is a good way for me to go back and read things from a year ago...or more. Once upon a day I scrapbooked all the time. And now I can't imagine sitting down for all those hours to complete a book. So blogging has become that. I am not even sure if people read my posts but I love having our life documented nonetheless.

I have thought so many times about my labor with Hadley. When I prepared for labor when I was pregnant with Ayda I had things pictured the way I wanted them. Since we would be at home I had all kinds of freedom to do as I pleased. I wanted the room dim, candles lit, music playing, the air warm. I wanted Kevin to catch her. I wanted certain people there with us to welcome her into the world. And when I look back at my labor with her all those things came to be. I got exactly what I wanted and some and was so pleased! So naturally when I was pregnant with Hadley I started making my plans again. I wanted the same things. I pictured a very similar scene but with a few different people and I wanted to have her in water. I had every thing planned and ready to go...

Then labor started and I was holding on for dear life. I feel like we jumped on a roller coaster! My amazing coach, Kevin (duh), was totally caught off guard with how fast and strong the contractions were coming so early. He was still an awesome coach...just took a few contractions for him to snap into go mode! And he was so great to try to get the candles lit and music playing between my contractions. And to be honest I don't think I even saw the candles and I heard maybe two songs on my playlist that I carefully put together. He was by my side though. When I stood in the shower and about flooded the bathroom...he stood there with me, water pouring on his clothes and in his face, so he could rub my back and encourage me. He ran to let people in, made phone calls for me, etc. I feel like as I was focusing on each contraction and time was going in 2 minute increments he was thrown into a whirlwind of chaos! But as always he handled it perfectly and brought me comfort along the way. I'm so thankful for my amazing coach. He has coached me through a nice long, calm labor and a nice fast labor.

I'm also thankful for our awesome midwives. I feel like midwives just don't get credit for what they do. So many people put so much trust in Doctors but discredit the midwife. My midwife in ATL who delivered Ayda will always have a special place in my heart. Debbie helped me through my fears and concerns in pregnancy and in labor. She was reassuring me all the time.

And Robyn and her student Becky are who delivered Hadley and they too have a special place in my heart. My pregnancy was pretty easy with Hadley, unlike Ayda, but when I got PUPPPs they were encouraging and helpful. And when I was clearly missing the fact that I was in transition and Robyn walked in I felt comforted immediately when she calmly said "you're fine. just take one contraction at a time". To have Robyn and Becky next to me and Kevin, cheering me on, as I was pushing is a picture I'll never forget. I'm so thankful for them and their excitement for us and all they are doing to make natural births what they are...amazing!

And my doula, Emily, was with us for Hadley's birth. She too was willing to answer all my random questions (if you can't tell I get a little hyper when pregnant and have lots of questions. All nursing knowledge seems to go out the window!). She got to our house before anyone was awake or the midwives arrived. She supported me if Kevin had to step away for any reason. She too was encouraging and helped me stay focused on one contraction at a time. We joked saying I didn't give her enough time to pull out her tricks for relaxing and such! By the time she got there I was only wanting to stand and the contractions were intense. But she brought me comfort and that is what is important. And she has been checking in on me since Hadley was born to make sure things are going well. So glad we asked her to be a part of this special day!!

It was so nice to have these people be a part of Hadley's birth! I'm thankful for the time they have invested in me and for the love they have given our family. Going back to the birth center on Thursday for my 2 week follow up was like going to see family and show off our baby.

So even though Hadley's birth was quite different than I expected, I would not change a second of it. And since I didn't get to enjoy my playlist during labor, Hadley and I enjoy it everyday as I sit in her nursery with the songs playing softly and feed her. Even Ayda joins us and entertains me with her dancing and twirling to different songs. And the candles sit on Hadley's dresser. They are barely melted (and my mom didn't blow them out till well after Hadley was born).

Before I hit publish I must add...thank you to everyone who was praying for us. I felt the prayers and am so grateful for those prayers! Thank you!!!

So Thankful!

So maybe I am speaking too soon but I really feel this time around having a baby has been so much easier. Kevin and I are both tired but we feel like overall it's been easier this time. We are definitely calmer and more confident. Helps Hadley is a very laid back baby too. K and I learned a lot after having Ayda for sure. Our expectations were quickly adjusted to reality, we learned to work as a team better and fast, we fumbled our way through issues (mostly breastfeeding), and we slowly grew more confident. So this time around I think we immediately jumped back into newborn mode...work as a team, trust the mother's instinct, and just relax and have fun.

I'm thankful to have Kevin to do this phase of life with. He is supportive and such an amazing daddy to his girls. It's awesome to watch! He made sure Ayda felt secure when everything was changing and mommy was out of commission. He encourages me constantly as I question myself. He loves cuddling with Hadley any chance he can get but also willingly passes her off to one of the grandparents/friends to allow them time with her. Though I have a hard time waking him up in the middle of the night for help, he is always willing to get up and help me. He has been getting up with Ayda every morning since my mom left and getting her breakfast. I hope to get my ducks in a row soon so that I can start doing that again but I'm thinking this is becoming their special time together. Oh how I could go on! I'm reminded daily of how blessed I am to be married to him and have two precious girls with him.

I am also thankful for our family that has sacrificed time away to be here to help out. My mom came for three weeks to help me make it through the last couple weeks of the pregnancy and then the first week with Hadley. She helped so much with Ayda when I was barely sleeping because I itched the better part of the night...and day. She did laundry, got me out of the house, bathed Ayda to spare my back (hers will never be the same), kept a close eye on me after Hadley to make sure I was not overdoing it, fixed us dinners, etc. The list really could go on and on. We have told her and Jim many times how much we want them to move down here. Now we just hope after the three weeks with us they have not changed their minds!!

Kevin's dad and aunt also came down for Hadley's birth. They arrived 3 days before Hadley made her grand entrance. It was awesome having them here. We joked saying she was waiting for everyone to arrive so no one was left out. His dad played with Ayda as well and kept her quite entertained. It was not uncommon to hear Ayda yell from the other room "C'mon Agong"!!!

Kevin's Aunt is still here helping us out and I'm so thankful. She has fixed us wonderful meals. She lets me throw Hadley at her when I need to tend to Ayda and, again, she has done tons with Ayda. Ayda could care less half the time (correction 90% of the time) whether I am here or not. She and Ivory are two peas in a pod! And to add to my thankfulness Ivory is potty training Ayda. Yes, I handed over the reigns and she is doing great! I tried several times and Ayda flat out refused. But Ivory has a special way with Ayda and Ayda listens to her. So I would say we are well on our way to having a potty trained little girl and I am so excited! Ivory leaves on Monday and I am going to be very sad to see her go!!

And my friend Lauren who came down for the birth as well...can't leave her out! She cleared her schedule so she would have the whole week of my due date off. She was at Ayda's birth and was doing everything she could not to miss Hadley's. She came the week before Hadley was born and I think helped my poor mother more than anything. They were able to team up with Ayda. She was also my walking buddy at night to get Hadley to come on out. We would try to get out before the sunset but sometimes didn't make it. So she was out there with me walking around the tennis court going around and around dozens of times. We had to dodge acorns, sticks and frogs but we had good conversation. She was also a huge comfort after Hadley was born and all my NICU knowledge went out the window (as it did with Ayda) and I could call on her to tell me my baby was perfectly fine. I was still calling her with questions as she drove home. And she is coming back down next week for a few days and I can't wait!

Our small group provided wonderful meals to us which were a huge help. It gave us a break from having to decide what's for dinner. Every other night we were blessed with a warm meal that everyone loved and a friendly face to chat with! And of course it's always fun to show Hadley off!! Next week my MOPS group will be bringing us meals and I know my appreciation will be through the roof as that will be my first week fully on my own! Dinner will likely be the last thing on my mind! haha!!

So when they say it takes a village to raise a child I fully believe it. I could manage both girls I'm sure but the extra set of hands has been so wonderful. The end of my pregnancy was rough so the help on that end was almost just as much needed as the help after Hadley was born. We have just had way more fun since Hadley came along!!

Ayda's New Pool

I bought a kiddie pool thinking I would labor in it and have Hadley there. But since it didn't even get filled with water we have moved it outside and Ayda now gets it. She was super excited when we told her it was Ayda's pool. She LOVES to play in the water. She'll play outside in her pool for a couple hours and usually we have to drag her back inside. This will definitely be a wonderful pass time for us during the summer!

Just Lounging Around!

We have been pretty lazy this week. It's nice to just lounge with our sweet little one!

Kisses from big sister!

It's a rough life!

First Real Bath!

Like all babies, Hadley was not impressed with the sponge bath. But fortunately her cord has already fallen off so we were able to give her a real bath this morning. She enjoyed this much more even though she did still cry through some of it!

She fell back to sleep!

Midwife's Orders

Robyn and Becky came on Sunday to check on Hadley and me. Everything looked great but they said she was starting to look jaundice. The strongly advised some sunbathing for miss Hadley that afternoon. We were headed to the peds office the next morning and they didn't want us to run into bili issues. I knew she was fine but I didn't want them to stick her at the appointment monday to even check it. So we stripped her down and headed outside. It was a really warm day out so there was no risk in her getting cold. Only problem was I couldn't sit out there for more than about a minute before I started itching (the PUPPPs is getting better but still lingering a bit). So Kevin sat with her for a bit and then my mom took over. Hadley didn't seem to mind one bit lounging on the nice warm afternoon! And good news...the pediatrician didn't even mention jaundice at our appointment! Good job Hadley!!