After a little break from blogging, I have decided to start up again.Mainly because I blogged pretty regularly when Anna was little and I'm trying to stave off that 'neglected second child syndrome' that inevitably leads to having no records of significant milestones for any child other than the first! (And on that note, my goal is to have Levi's birth story done before he is a month old. Leaving me ... 3 days. Better get on that!)
My experience recovering and adjusting this time round has been WORLDS different from those first few weeks after Anna's birth. Physically, in terms of recovering from his delivery (no time for an epidural or episiotomy this time!), but also emotionally. I feel SO much more at ease this time, despite all of my pregnant fretting that I would fall apart with two children. I distinctly remember a point in time when Anna was three months old, when I realised that I did not feel overwhelmed by my life any more (yes - three MONTHS). This time, in Levi's second week of post-birth life when Mark went back to work, I think all three of us were out running errands every day of the week! Of course, not being in nursing school is a pretty significant improvement this time, which I'm sure has a lot to do with how much calmer everything feels.
And probably because I am feeling so much more relaxed, nursing Levi is looking VERY different from my breastfeeding experience with Anna. He regained his birth weight by two weeks (rather than nearly four with Anna), and by the time he turns a month old in a few days I will have four gallons of pumped milk in my deep-freeze! He is usually only getting up once in the night, around 3:00, for which I am very thankful. He has had the occasional bad day or bad night, but on the whole he is a pretty chilled little guy.
Anna is a spectacular big sister. She loves on Levi and calls him "my baby", and says multiple times a day "Aww.... he's so tiny I just want to take him home, Mama!" (To which I reply that we are in fact AT home, a detail that remains lost on her apparently!) She developed a little 'nursing routine' shortly after we got home from the hospital, of bringing me a little pile of books to read to her while I sit on the couch feeding Levi, and has so far seemed to adapt very well to her transition from only child to big sister.
Well, that's going to be it for now. Both kids are napping, and my bed is calling my name too! (Last night was not one of the better nights; he did space his feeding times seven hours apart, but fussed till after midnight - silly boy!)
Silly ... but cute, and we love him :)
