six days in...

three days old

We're closing in on a week here as a family of four, and life is good. Things have been so so so different than the first time around with Hendrik, and I couldn't be more thankful; I'm talking eating and sleeping. And pooping. We know now that newborn Hendrik, the poor gaffer, wasn't getting any food from me (despite hour-long feeding sessions - ugh) and in turn didn't turn to sleep for any comfort... he was hungry! Alana, on the other hand, is getting lots to eat; at her first doctor's appointment on Thursday morning we found that she'd already surpassed her birth weight, something that doesn't often happen until the two-week (ish) mark - !! I feel more confident feeding her, and am experiencing less uncomfortableness... another blessing! She's waking up twice, maybe three times a night, and has been pretty good about going back to sleep post-meal. She isn't fussy, and doesn't cry much... so my fingers are crossed that this goodness continues. Crossed crossed crossed...

A huge part of this success is the presence of Grandma and Grandpa B - something my mom did for us with Hendrik; they're cooking, helping with Hendrik and mucho mucho more... how do we do this without them? Come Monday we'll see. At least Steve has quite a bit (full?) flexibility with training right now - if I feel mired in kiddy he'll stay home. Or, really, I think I can make it through a three-hour training stretch with both of them. Like I said, Alana is a dream... it's just those terrible two things that Hendrik pulls out every now and then (daily) that will prove to be a challenge.

Anyways! I'm feeling good and recovering well from what felt like the craziest delivery ever (blog on that to come). I survived a walk around the block with both kidlets (so did they), thanks to the Ergo carrier and a mostly obedient boy. There was one point when he was under my arm kicking and flailing as I ported him home because he refused to listen - something he's practicing on a regular basis. Taxing, it was. And we made it out to the park yesterday - with Grandma - and had a blast (Alana slept). There was another mom there with a six-week old who feeds every one and a half hours (!! - her baby was a little tank) - I really really reallllly hope that Alana continues on this vein, feeding every 3-4 hours, and too, that I can keep up with her.

We've had so many well wishes, and it's been great to hear from so many people - via facebook, email, snail mail etc. One of the first questions is how Hendrik is reacting to a new focus of attention in the house, and the answer is fairly well. He's not jealous really, just indifferent. Every now and then he'll go and give her a kiss or pay her some attention, but questions or comments about his baby sister (directed to him) are just blown over and/or often ignored. So ? Grandma and Grandpa are the real hit - I'm wondering if he'll try and sneak in the car and go home with them... They've been to the park, the grocery store (he loves sitting in the cart, especially if it's a FIRE truck cart), and have been reading, doing jobs and playing around here... fun fun. Sooo yeah! I'm hoping I can get around to writing about the whole labour and delivery thing soon, before I forget. Because I had forgotten how horrible that part was - at one point I asked the nurse if nurses that don't have kids decide against having children after seeing crazy labours and hearing/seeing scream and screeches of pain, and she said that personally, it made her want kids even more. Sure, the painful horrible part that they see (if their patient, like me, decides for whatever crazy reason to pass on the epidural) isn't all that pleasant or encouraging, but the part afterwards, when baby is here and with mom and dad, is so special that the previous is (almost) erased. Sigh... life is beautiful!