Gift even seems to know day and night, and figured it out early. Now, this does not mean I'm sleeping at night - he still LOVES to eat, and eat....and eat. But, it is so strange to not have to walk the house at night with a confused baby. Strange...but awesome! No complaints here. In fact, I feel sheepish sharing when I have "down" moments because things are going so well. Parenting wise, I feel really relaxed - I think being relaxed helps your baby feel relaxed? Or maybe the more kids one has, the easier babyhood gets? I've never felt more blessed either. I love our growing family...we all seem to be here for a reason. In fact, if we simply had a bigger car and could afford the bigger car now, I might be tempted to try and have another baby sooner....our family is really gel-ing (gelling?). But I know an easy newborn helps those feelings exist...otherwise I could be more stressed and pulling my hair out. Plus, I just love the newborn phase. I could just keep having newborns to just snuggle with and love on and breathe their baby smells....hehe!!
There IS a flipside to being in love...I'm getting tired of the progesterone plummet. I am feeling EVERY thing 2000% more, and each baby makes me forget how sensitive I get postpartum until they arrive and the hormones hit for a time. Then, talking about it makes me feel like I'm making a big deal out of nothing. I'm not horribly depressed, or even really down - it's still those anxieties and worries. It's just those baby blues. The pesky blues. If friends come over to visit, or I talk - I'm not down. I get a real boost. Close friends may even wonder if I'm really blue-sy since I'm happy to see them and talk lol. It just the timing. I actually went about 3 days feeling great, and I was hoping the hormone balance was back - but today they hit again...so BOO! Most of it seems to come when I think too hard about being fully present for our older kids. Lovely really does not like it when I doze off, or take naps, and Valiant really likes when I can do things with her - but as a healing, nursing, "not getting 5-8 hours sleep anymore" mom - it is difficult to be fully "with it" 2 weeks after the baby is here. I feel like I'm letting them down, missing great moments, etc. But...hubby came to the rescue, and we decided to get out and about to help all of us. We went to the mall to walk, people watch, fountain watch (Lovely LOVES to watch the big fountain lol), go to the book store, and practice packing our small family car with 3 kids in it LOL!
We'll have to be creative until we can get a van. We talked to our pediatrician and got some tips for how to fit Lovely in our car while keeping her safe, yet her weight/height/age being legal enough to not need a booster if we can belt her in appropriately. That way there is more room for the other car seats. If we don't like what we're doing now, we'll try some carseats meant for triplets hehe. I'm just a carseat snob so figuring out what to do with out 6 1/2 year old and doing it SAFELY is my biggest worry. It is VERY hard to for me to let her not be in some sort of seat...but apparently there are safe options out there her doctor approves of, that firemen mention, etc. Mommy just needs to trust them..ha. ha. ha.
It was SO NICE to get out. Here are some funny pics from our "Clown Car" - where we arrive somewhere and we keep piling out of a tiny care, hehe!
Hubby packing a double stroller in!
Our Back Seat O' Kids...
It was a good day. Now, I need to sneak back to bed....baby is back to sleep! I need to take advantage. My "me" moments come at weird times now, hehe! Still working on the birth story....that takes more time and thought it seems....
Sweet dreams!
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I'm a car set nut. I'm not sure what booster you used for Lovely, but I figured I'd spare you some future aggravation and let you know that the Britax Parkway SG is much wider than a Graco turbobooster despite Britax's claim that it's a narrow seat. I had the pleasure of reviewing it for Amazon several months ago and wasn't impressed. I hope you can find a solution to your car seat issue.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that Gift continues to be an easy-going addition, and the blues seems to be easing if not gone. Good luck finding a carseat solution everyone feels good about.
ReplyDelete(from another carseat nut ;) What a sweet big sis! I'm sure she doesn't mind that at all :) It does look pretty narrow, and I imagine one of the only ways you could make it work is by switching Val to a narrower seat like a Sonshine Kids Radian. But I'm a big Britax fan myself and I know how pricey they are, so I can understand your need to work with what you've got! You're doing a wonderful job. Enjoy that sweet babyboy!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of car is that? We bought two Radian65's awhile ago when I began nannying in order to fit 3 in a row in our Civic. Our Marathon fits FF for the 3rd seat but is too big to be RF and our Roundabout (which does fit RF) just expired. I ended up buying a friend's newer Roundabout and will probably just use that from day 1 instead of a bucket seat unless a friend loans me hers (and it fits). I was hoping to get a Mazda5 by the time the baby comes, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new little boy! I'm a carseat nut too. I remember taking a tape measure to the stores to find the narrowest booster seat I could find. We had 3 in a row too. I think ours are Graco's.
ReplyDeleteI know it's hard to not give your other kids the time they want. Just remember that that will continue to get better every day. I think patience is the key. Do what you can when you can. And don't fret it when you can't. I've never had PPD for more than one week and I thank God for that. But I do remember that week in particular with one of my brood. It was terrible and I felt desperate and almost out of bodyish. God allowed me just enough so I could have a little more compassion for women that go through it(for way more than my week!) Take it easy and enjoy your kids. They're more resilient than we give them credit for and in another few weeks it will be much easier.
Yes, socializing with friends and family is a temporary salve, so I know what you mean. You're fine as long as you're with them, but about 20 minutes after, the blues hit again. It doesn't really make sense, but that's just how it can be some times.
ReplyDeleteI second RealMom4Life's suggestion to take a tape measure with you. The product info isn't always accurate. Val's carseat looks pretty wide, with a different one, maybe Radiant could get a bit more room. Then by the time Gift needs the next step carseat, maybe you'll have a car with more room and he can use the one Val is in now.