Two Weeks

If the last two weeks are what life with two kids was really like, I'd be in heaven. Eric had two weeks of paid paternity leave and it's been wonderful having him around to lend a hand. An even kid-to-parent ratio really helps in those moments where both kids are crying. It's hard to meet two separate sets of needs at the same time! And I feel bad always making Scotty wait just because he's more capable of being patient. Don't want to push my luck too much by making him wait for everything because he really is a sweet kid...  it's also been great to have Eric around just to hang out! Every night feels like date night where we get to talk and play games after the kids are in bed. Of course we've been silly and stayed up until 1am every night instead of getting ahead on sleep, but it's just so nice to be together.


It also helps that Alyssa is a much more manageable baby than Scotty was (at least, so far!). Here is her two week update:

Height: 20.75 inches (apparently she stretched out an extra inch when she finally had room to move)
Weight: somewhere around 7-8 pounds. Is it bad that I never took her back to the pediatrician just to make sure she was over birth weight? I guess I'm a super relaxed parent but with the way this girl eats, well, input=output. She's getting plenty.
Nicknames: Lyssabear, Lizard Lady (she does weird tongue things), baby bird, chipmunk (she squeaks in her sleep)
Favorite activity: eating
Second favorite activity: trying to eat. She'll root for anything. If she's awake, she thinks she needs to be eating. Today's activity is teaching her to suck on a pacifier.
Third favorite activity: watching and listening to the Scotty Show. He's quite entertaining.
She also likes Nana's singing, Daddy's snoring, and interesting noises. She's not even phased by Timbre's crazy barking.
Funniest features: the hair on the back of her head has decided to stick straight up like Alfalfa. It's 2 inches long and curls backward like a peacock. Also, we laugh whenever she gets startled because she makes crazy faces, like this one:

Her umbilical cord finally fell off last night and she's starting to learn that night time is for sleeping. She usually does a 4 or 5 hour stretch at night, sometimes two. She doesn't spit up at all, which is very different from Scotty so it looks like she doesn't have the reflux problems that he did. Her only fussy time tends to be the early evening, where she thinks she needs to eat every hour and the constant snacking keeps her from really falling asleep. Here's hoping the pacifier helps mama get some dinner time rest!

P.S. I don't have many pictures of this sweet girl because my mom has been snapping photos like crazy on her VERY nice camera. Here's hoping I get a cd of those pictures soon so I can share them! (hint, hint...)

P.P.S. I'm not posting a picture of me because I look FABULOUS and it's almost not fair that I had a baby only two weeks ago. Hey, I deserve at least ONE break in this whole pregnancy deal, right?

Some traditions (apparently) can't be broken.

I've been posting about how different my two birth experiences were, and I was surprised by how different this pregnancy was from the first time around (overall, much worse, unfortunately!). Still, there are some traditions that apparently can't be broken.

My kids are 3 years and two days apart. After huffing and puffing my way around Provo very pregnant all summer with no air conditioning in our car and a small portable unit in our house, I swore I would never again have an August baby. Then I moved to AZ where the temperatures regularly hit 110 and July-August is a humid monsoon season and did it all over again. Next time (if there is a next time), I'm hoping for May.

And then there was this.

The day after coming home from the hospital with my newborn baby and lots of trauma and bloodloss, the city erected a power pole in our backyard. The power was off all morning at our house and I was forced to retreat to the public library with a three day old infant. I still owe a big thank you to our old neighbors, the Harmons, for letting me take a nap at their house while the cottage cooled back down!


This time there was no power pole, just the realization at 2am on Friday morning that our air conditioning was off. We're pretty sure it must have gone out sometime that evening but at 2am it was 85 degrees inside. Scotty slept through the night without stirring while Eric and I experimented with our evaporative cooler and turned all the ceiling fans on high. Once it was morning we packed the kids up and headed to my mom's house, where I spent the day in coolness while Eric waited for the repair guy. It's always an emergency when your AC breaks in AZ on a day with 109 degree temps, but it's especially difficult when you have a 6 day old infant and a recovering new mama.

I'm glad we got that tradition over with! Except we didn't, apparently. Just as we were headed to bed last night (and Eric was about to jump in the shower), the power went out. With clear skies and a full moon all we had to do was open the blinds to navigate our silent house. No AC is bad, but no fans and no AC is noticeably worse. According to the power company it only affected our square mile block. Fortunately both kids slept through it (after Scotty got upset that his night light had turned off) and after a cold shower the power kicked back on after an hour.

Any other adventures in store?

"I love Alyssa so much, mama!"

Our sweet little girl has the boys wrapped around her tiny finger. Scotty bursts into our room each morning and greets us with "I love Alyssa so much, mama!" He is always asking if he can hold her, kiss her, see her toes, and help change her diaper. This morning he brought a whole stack of books to read to her. Yes, he has his moments and there is a fair share of whining and resisting about everything else (he is 3, after all), but he LOVES being a big brother and tells everyone about his sister. For her part, she will stop crying to look at him or watch him play with toys. I told Eric she probably recognizes Scotty's voice more than his--after all, waist level at our house for the past year has been filled with constant, high volume Scotty chatter.

And then there is Eric. 

 I love seeing this smitten daddy look at his baby daughter!

Of course, dads are different than moms. For instance, Eric got Alyssa dressed today.

In his defense, I interfered with his "system." He first picked out the onesie. Because our house is nice and cool today with all the fans going, I suggested she might need some socks or something on her legs. He couldn't find any pink socks so he pulled out the back ones. And apparently the only pair of leggings or pants we have for her that aren't part of a coordinated outfit are purple and about 3 sizes too big. Oompa loompa circus leg bloomers.

I later swapped the pantaloons for a jean skirt and put a headband with a flower on just because it was still laying out. Much better :o)

Like mother, like daughter?

Ok, time for more pictures. I've yet to upload any pictures from my camera and I'm holding out because my mom has been taking amazing pictures all week. She's been posting tons to facebook so if you need more you can find them there. I'll be sure to post more here when I get the real files.

Overall we think she looks a lot like me! And she's beautiful :o) She has pointed little elf ears and a pointed chin, and a cute little nose that looks fairly similar to Scotty's. Smaller ears, though...

Her hair looks red in every picture but in real life it's the same darkish color that Scotty's started out as.

What do you think? Like mother, like daughter?

P.S. Thanks to my amazing Aunt Melanie for hand smocking this gorgeous dress! I can't get over how beautiful and delicate it is...

The Highpoints

Every day has its ups and downs, its surprises and its awkward moments. 
Here's the breakdown for Alyssa's arrival:


Most encouraging comment: this is a tie between two. First, my fortune cookie at dinner Friday night (as I beginning to go into labor, unbeknownst to all of us) said: "keep up the great work. You will be rewarded by the end of the month." I think I'll save that one. Second was the news that my hard work was paying off and I was at a 9. It was at that moment that I got a burst of confidence that I really could do this.

Most surprising moment: actually feeling the baby come out! You'd think I would have experienced this before but with Scotty they actually had to sit me up before I believed his head was out, as I couldn't feel a thing. As much as birth can be a beautiful thing, this is still an odd sensation. And a RELIEF.

Best comment: from my nurse to my skeptical ob: "don't be fooled by how calm she seems. she's having spectacular contractions!"

Hardest moment: being unprepared for an intense contraction--the reality for me is that labor is pain and sometimes more than your body can handle, which means it responds by going into shock for a second or two

Most awkward moment: Realizing that something was coming out and I couldn't stop it, which led to Eric catching something between my legs while I was standing over a hard tile floor with no nurses in the room (they were both off looking for doctors and came back with a somewhat overwhelmed looking resident!). It was only the amniotic sac but we had no way of knowing whether it had a baby in it or not! Eric gets bonus points for quick reflexes. I think he credits that to nerves of steel and video game reflexes.

Funniest request: "Eric, can you brush your teeth?" Suddenly, after hours of contractions and hard work, something about his middle of the night breath in my ear while supporting me during a contraction was too much. Fortunately mom had tic tacs in her purse :o) Sweet husband was not at all offended or annoyed by my request. He probably would have stood on his head if I told him it would help me.

Most useful tool: moving around a lot. I could handle a few contractions in just about any position as long as I didn't stay there too long. I think moving helped give me something concrete to focus on as well as make the pain change a little between muscle groups. At the end it felt so nice to walk around and let gravity do its thing.


"In your face!" moment: Seeing the ob who had told me at 5am that he was breaking my water in two hours walk into my room 10 minutes after I had delivered and be able to just smile up at him innocently. In the end I was glad my baby came to a wonderfully trained resident who trusted me and my nurses and let me do it my way. I know if my first ob had been on the other end of the delivery table I would have gotten commands I'm pretty sure I would have ignored and I know he would have cut me to just hurry the baby out.


Sweetest moment: holding my beautiful baby girl right after delivery. I wasn't sure I wanted to do that as with Scotty I knew something was wrong and felt horrible realizing that I didn't want to hold my baby. I told Eric to watch out for me and make sure it was what I wanted so I wouldn't feel like a bad mom for turning away my baby. He was very careful of my feelings and I realized that holding my sweet baby girl on my chest was the most amazing moment in the world. After months of waiting and working I felt like the three of us were literally in heaven for a few beautiful minutes.


Would I do it this way again? Ask me in a few months.




I'm pretty sure the answer will be convincingly yes.