Week 15

Whenever I write these notes to myself I try and think about what I would want to be reminded of when I am in the same or similar boat with another baby (if God chooses to bless us with another one). So, please forgive my randomness, but I do have a rhyme and reason to my writings.

My Recovery: I STILL don't fit back into my normal clothes. I'm fighting the bulge around my belly, sides and back. I have started to work out about two days a week on the elliptical trainer for about 30 - 45 mins and doing a little bit of weight lifting too. My appetite is still large, but I'm not craving sweets as much as I used to when I was getting up for feedings in the middle of the night. Oh yeah and I'm losing my hair like CRAZY too! Most days Colin takes the car and we stay home so cabin fever is a problem sometimes. However, I'm not sure we'd go anywhere anyway since Micah is still trying to work through getting his naps established and consistent. Colin has been gracious enough to let me have a Starbucks night to myself every Monday night after the kids go to bed. I've been able to work on my play during that time and it has made me feel like I'm more than just a mom. Not that being just a mom is bad ... I'm sure you moms understand. Anyway, it's been SO nice to have Micah sleeping through the night! I have not needed a nap for the past couple of days and have been able to get some things done while both of the boys are asleep in the afternoon. The only downfall about not having the car and having a child that naps a lot is that I'm finding grocery shopping and meal planning a bit difficult. I'm hoping to work on that in the up coming weeks.

Micah's Progress: After the bronchiolitis cleared up Micah began to sleep through the night 12 hours. There were about two or three nights when he was waking up out of habit between 11pm and 12am and then again at 3am -4am. I let him cry through the first round knowing that he was not hungry and then fed him at 4am until he was not longer taking a full feeding at 7am (his normal first feeding of the day) at which point I knew he could make it 12 hours between feedings. I think I've been a little too flexible with his daytime schedule though going between 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 and sometimes even 4 hour feedings and that may have thrown off his nap schedule. He was back to sleeping between 45 min to an hour max and waking up crying. I decided at the end of the week to put him on a strict 3 hour schedule. The goal is to get him to have an hour and a half of wake time and then an hour and a half nap. That would mean he'd have four naps in a day and five feedings. Yesterday was a disaster, but today has been promising. I also started swaddling him again for naps in case he just needed that little extra snuggle to get him through the transitions in his sleep cycles. We'll see how next week goes.

Jackson's Progress: Jackson came down with a terrible cold this week and there were a couple of nights I spent the night on his bedroom floor so that when he woke up from a coughing fit I could give him a sip of water (the only thing that would sooth his cough). We had to encourage him not to love on Micah too much, but that's SO hard for him and for me ... I want him to be able to love on his brother, but I just wish that didn't involve sharing germs. I'm not certain if Jackson had the same cold as Micah. Jackson had a fever for two days with his cold and Micah did not. I'm hoping that either way we are in the clear and at the end of these terrible colds. I've also found this week that I need to schedule some one on one time with Jackson. We were able to do this Thursday morning and then in the afternoon Jackson took it VERY well when I told him that I needed to get some things done around the house and that he needed to have play time by himself for a little bit. I'm looking forward to the days when the boys will entertain each other, but I also know that means my role will change from playmate to mediator. :)