Anyhow, it's been wonderful being a mommy of two. Especially two little boys! Grayson's first outing was to Ryan's Kindermusik class when he was nine days old. Although he slept though it, I am pretty sure he enjoyed it :) We had family in town for the first three weeks after Grayson was born which was such a huge help especially since we were moving! Having my family and Kevin's mom around I think really helped Ryan with this huge transition. He was still able to get a lot of one on one attention and stay very busy so this "new" little guy hasn't been cramping his style! Now that we are three weeks in I have somewhat found my groove so getting out and about with both of them isn't too bad. It requires a lot of planning ahead...but I am a planner so it's no big deal! Anyhow, when I do get out I tend to get a lot of the same questions so I thought I would answer them here:
1. How is it going? Honestly things are pretty great. I don't want to sound like one of those moms that are so darn positive and you kinda just want to slap them but that's kind of how I feel (at least for now :)). Things are good, I feel lucky and genuinely happy.
In the beginning I was a little sad because I wasn't able to spend much time with Ryan. It's crazy when you go from spending basically all day every day with your little one to seeing him a couple hours a day (while I was in the hospital). When I returned home it was easier for Kevin to take him to his activities so I missed doing that as well. My mom stayed in town for two weeks after Grayson was born - she was so helpful with everything - taking care of Ryan, cleaning, moving, watching Grayson...really anything that I needed she was right there to help. It was so nice because I am not sure how I would have gotten through those first two weeks without her. Kevin's mom also came in town for a week which was wonderful because she scheduled her trip to be here once my mom was gone. Ryan loved getting some one on one Grandma time! We also had my brothers and dad in town which was awesome. We don't get to see them that much (my dad/parents lives in Indonesia and my brother Nick is in Florida). Ryan really loved having out with all of them. I think having so much entertainment around also really helped Ryan with this transition. He was so busy and having so much fun he didn't realize how much time I was having to spend with Grayson.
In addition to our family helping us out in so many ways we are also so grateful for our wonderful friends who have been bringing us dinner! It was so incredibly helpful especially with the move! I haven't cooked a meal in the last three weeks and we have been eating such yummy food!
Are you getting any sleep?: I was dreading the first night home from the hospital. (Actually, to be honest I was kinda dreading the whole first two months - solely due to the sleepless nights!) With Ryan that first night home was when Kevin and I questioned what on earth we had done...we were so sleep deprived and Ryan was starving (my milk hadn't come in and he still didn't know how to latch). That night and probably the first couple weeks were probably the most difficult times we had ever gone through as a couple. We weren't having martial issues or anything...just the cluelessness of being new parents, being sleep deprived, ect...Obviously we got the hang of it and things were fine, but looking back on it - it wasn't something we were looking forward to again. In fact, I was so worried about it that I even had a night nanny lined up to help us with baby #2!
ANYHOW, I am happy to report that this time has been so different. I have often heard that second babies are "easier" and now I can attest to that. I realize that we are only (almost) three weeks in and things could change but overall Grayson has been a dream. He usually cluster feeds in the evenings and then I put him down around 8/9pm. He has been sleeping for a 4 or 5 hour stretch (since basically 5 days old - no, this is not normal, and no, I did not wake him to feed because he eats almost every two hours during the day) Anyhow, I feed him, which takes about 30 minutes (which is AMAZING because it took an hour and a half with Ryan) and then the little man goes back to sleep. Typically for another 3 hours, then he wakes, feeds, goes back to sleep then it's morning time. We get up around 7am, feed him then I pump. Now, not every night has been this great and I tell myself every day that this isn't typically and I shouldn't get use to it but so far so good. I know there will be rough nights...but I am prepared for them :) So the long answer to the question is yes, I am getting sleep. More sleep than I ever got with Ryan at this age...but yet I am still up during the night so it does catch up with me!
When he came to the hospital to meet him he didn't think much about him - honestly he was much more interested in the toys that I had bought for him. Once we got home Ryan was a little unsure as to why Grayson was always around - almost like he was waiting for someone to come and take him. I am pretty sure every time friends came over to bring us dinner he was thinking "oh good, they are here to take that baby away".
As I mentioned, in the beginning he really didn't pay any attention to Grayson - just kept on with his own life and things were hunky-dory. Each day he seems to acknowledge him more and more. He will randomly talk about "baby" and all of the sudden be very interested in him - wanting to check out his toes and fingers and eyes. And some days he has no interest. He was very interested and worried about Grayson's umbilical cord - I think he was happy when it fell off, I think it may have scared him a little bit.
Ryan holding little baby Grayson. He holds him, says cheese then decides he is done and basically tries to toss him back to you.
Giving little G a hug
Testing out all of Grayson's baby things...
How was your move? Goodness, the move. As I tell everyone, I don't recommend it. Although we had movers it still was quite challenging. The last time we "moved" was in to our Miller house and we really didn't have that much "stuff"....my goodness that has changed! The most difficult part has been trying to unpack and put stuff away. Although our rental is larger than our Miller house I am not as familiar with it and haven't been able to get myself organzied. We have finally gotten most things to a livable state but I still feel a little chaotic because I am not as organized as I would like to be. The space is perfect for now but I am oh so excited to start construction on our new house...and MOVE again...I actually look forward to that move :)
Our extended family has all left and it's been great settling into our new little life of a family of four - life is good :)
Looking great mama! Grayson is adorable :) love the name! We need to have play dates in Houston.
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