1 week post partum: New baby, new normal.

It has already been a week since Emilio arrived and I can't believe it has already been that long since we've had Emi at home. 

 

 

Baby Emi at 1 week of age

 

Physically, my recovery has been amazing.  The baby came out so fast, that there was literally no time for any tears or pain really, so I didn't get any stitches and I didn't get exhausted like I did when I had Paulo. I can honestly say that after little over one week I physically felt close to a 100% back to normal.

 

Other than that, the first two or three days with Emi were so easy that I just KNEW things were going to change big time and all this peace and quiet would come back and bite me in the behind. The first day after birth, my mom brought me breakfast in bed, my dad and Rob took Paulo to daycare (he would be done at the end of January) and we spent the rest of the day just watching the baby sleep the day away. It is funny thinking that two years ago this very same event seemed to cause chaos in our lives and this time around it all seemed so... easy. The baby slept all day, didn't really cry much... Even slept most of the night.

The second night was also pretty manageable. I kind of feared this day because when I had Paulo we spent the second night awake all night because he wouldn't stop crying. Then the nurse came the following day and it turned out he had lost a lot of weight and we had to supplement with formula for a week until my milk came in. I felt like a loser feeding my son formula on his second day of life and not only did this make me miserable in a very postpartum depressive way, but I was also convinced that my husband was either going to leave us or die of a heart attack because he spent the day running around all day getting breast pumps,  sterilizing bottles, boiling water or mixing formula while I cried and tried feeding a baby fwith my cracked nipples and empty breasts (I must say that after a week everything worked out and I happily breastfed my son until 11 months of age).

 

Anyway, that was two years ago, but I was affraid the story would repeat itself this time. Thankfully, this time it all worked out great since the beginning and there was no such drama. My baby boy was feeding fine and although  he was cluster feeding tons on the second night, I could tell he was getting milk when he was eating. It did take some time to learn to feed a newborn again and to get my body used to that "abuse" again but I got over it pretty quickly. I am pumped though that my milk came in so quickly this time and I haven't seen a bottle anywhere near me sofar.

 

In sum, the first days were pretty normal and incredibly easy. I knew though, the other shoe would eventually drop. And man did a big, stinking boot ever slam me on the head... As it turns out, even though Paulo was being great with Emi-- kissing him all the time, looking at him with curiosity and giving him lots of attention, he was also starting to notice he didn't have anybody's full and undivided attention anymore... Not good. Soon enough he was in full on pissy mode and being not just a typical two year old, but just being plain rude, said "no" to literally EVERYTHING and just throwing the most terrible temper tantrums I've seen in him. I just didn't recognize him anymore. That behaviour is just so unlike Paulo. Added to that, he got a terrible cough and he got pink eye -- I'm kind of hoping that his feeling crappy is to blame for all that craziness, or maybe the terrible two's finallly hit him hard, but at this point I'm just not sure.  As if that wasn't enough, Rob put his back out and was completely unable to help with childcare.
 

Thankfully my parents were still here to help out lots. But man oh man were we ever tried in those few days. I think I was probably also feeling overly emotional from all the hormones and maybe some postpartum depression, because I found myself just balling every five minutes over the chaos, feeling overwhelmed and the fact that my two year old was resenting all this change and I just couldn't give him all the attention he was used to. I also started getting really stressed thinking that once my parents left I would be on my own  and I just.do.not.know how tI'm going to handle two kids on my own.
 

I have to admit at this point I am still not sure what I will do come mid February when my parents are gone and Rob is back to work in his new job, Paulo is not going to daycare anymore, and I am left to my own devices to deal with both kiddos - including a crazy toddler. But at least at this point Paulo is starting to feel better from his cold, Rob is slowly recovering and I am starting to get my head around some strategies to organize my day with both kids. I know things will work themselves out eventually, but I just really have to keep it together before Rob gets all worried that he can't just go to work and do his best.
 

For now I will just try to take advantage of all the help I have, and do my best to come up with a "survival" plan. I know this is all part of getting used to a new "normal" for ALL of us and we'll probably all feel stressed and angry at each other many times before we can settle in our new life. so wish me luck and if you have any tips on how to make this transition easier send them my way!