The week we brought Xander home was fantastic, although a bit of a blur. I was so sleep deprived and bogged down by my pain pills that I don't remember many details. Luckily Branden was home for the first two weeks after Xander was born so he did all the cleaning, cooking, caring for Makayla, and catering to my needs. I found it SO hard to sit back and let someone else do everything for me. (And admittedly I didn't do so well "taking it easy" like I was supposed to).
Me
My recovery from my C-section has been rough to say the least. I have had so many complications and have had to see my doctor every stinking week. One week after Xander was born my incision was really swollen and painful on one side. Turns out I had a hematoma underneath the incision. My doctor opened a portion of the incision and drained the hematoma. I then had to stick a Q-tip in that hole every day for a week to keep it open and draining. The next week I pulled a uterine ligament after instinctually running to Makayla and picking her up after she fell down and smacked her face on the pavement. It hurt so bad to walk and I wanted to cry any time I moved my left leg. After a week of practically bed rest the pain went away, thank goodness. The next week I noticed a small blister-like formation over the portion of the incision that had been open to drain the hematoma. It was very sensitive and put out a LOT of drainage. My doctor thought it was excess granulation tissue (the capillary rich tissue that eventually turns to scar tissue.) He thought my body was just over producing it. So he cauterized the area with silver nitrate. A few days later it still hadn't scabbed over and the area had actually gotten larger, so I cauterized it again with a silver nitrate stick he had sent home with me....man that hurt! A few days later the blister-looking tissue was even larger, taking up about an inch of my incision. I went in to see my doctor and he opened it up and found a pocket of fluid that had formed underneath my incision which had not allowed the incision to heal from the inside out. So he removed all the dead, unhealthy tissue and packed the inch-deep wound with gauze. I have been having to change that gauze twice a day since. I am really hoping that it will heal up quickly and I won't have any other issues with it.
Because of all of those complications, the adjustment to life with two kids has been harder than it should have been. Thankfully I have had a ton of help from my family....I'm not sure how I would have survived it all without them! I'd also like to say a big THANK YOU to all the friends that brought dinner over to us! We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family!
Makayla
I'd say Makayla adjusted pretty well to the Xander coming home and being part of the family. Since the day we brought him home she frequently asks to hold him ("I hold it, mom") and seems to always be up in his face kissing him or poking him (she likes to point out his nose, eyes, mouth, cheeks, ears, hair, etc). When she wakes up every morning she searches for him and when she finds him she says "oooo brother so cuuute" and gives him a big kiss! She likes to help take care of him and is particularly helpful with keeping track of his binky and putting it in his mouth. She doesn't simply call him Xander, it is always "Xander Man" or "Brother."
It wasn't until Branden went back to work that she started acting out. She started hitting me, biting me, and pulling my hair to get my attention. I cried every night for a week because I thought I was being a bad mom and that she didn't like me any more. Looking back now I am just grateful she didn't take her frustrations out on Xander. She has always been so loving and accepting of him!
We have noticed a huge difference in her just in the past month. She's no longer the baby anymore so it's like she was forced to grow up :(. She has become much more independent. She no longer has mom carry her places (thank goodness). However, she is a fast little critter so keeping up with her is a job in and of itself! She tries to dress/undress herself. She is a great helper... I can give her instructions to go get something for me, being very specific, and she will go get it with no problem (which is super convenient for me!).
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| such pretty curls |
She is just like her daddy in getting what she wants. I will give her a piece of candy. She will ask for more and I will say no. In a very serious and adorable way she will look at me, lift up her finger, and say "one more candy." She almost always gets it when she does that because it is so funny. Branden did it back to her the other day when he was trying to get her to eat more of her dinner...she didn't think it was very funny!
Some other funny things she says: She thinks the tails on her stuffed animals are poopies and points to it and says "eeewwww poopy!" She is obsessed with the potty--if someone leaves the room she automatically assumes that they went potty and she says it over and over again ("so-and-so gotta go go potty"). As I'm typing this, she is playing with her little people princesses and she is setting them on her potty's seat (don't worry-it's clean) and saying "princess gotta go pee." lol In the midst of fits I will ask her if she wants something specific and she will say "no thanks!" She asks you several times a day if you are happy, if brother is happy, if George is happy (etc.) but when you ask if she is happy she will say "NO!" When she falls down or something surprises her she says "Whoa, man!" She loves to have dance parties, even without music. She will start skipping around the room and will try to get everyone involved. She has three moves: "Dance" (skipping around), "turn" (twirling), and "down" (dropping to the floor into a yoga pose) and she begs you to do the moves with her. When she is sad and needs some loves she will come up to me and say "mommy, I hold you me."
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| Dance party with dad! |
She has a best friend, named Cece, who lives across the street. Whenever we go outside she will ask if Cece is home and say "I go say hi to Cece, OK?" She has, with our supervision of course, walked across the street by herself and knocked on Cece's door to see if she was home to play. They are so cute when they do play together (or should I say, next to each other).
She is such a smart kid! She knows some of her colors--green, blue, purple, red, and pink. Her favorite games are to point to the body parts we say and make the animal sounds that we ask about.
All in all we are loving her silly, sweet self at this fun age!
Xander
Well, what can I say? Xander's a typical baby--he eats (a lot), sleeps (a lot), and poops (a lot)! :) Since he was born he's eaten about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours and that hasn't really slowed down much (and it's done him a lot of good--he weighs just over 8 pounds at one month old!). He has started having longer, more predictable times of wakefulness--for two hours in the morning when we all wake up for the day, in the afternoon during Makayla's nap (bummer--no naps for this mama), for two hours right before bedtime, and then for about a half hour at 3am. When he is asleep at night he is a little grunter. He doesn't cry when he's hungry at night, he grunts. And then for two hours in the early morning (5-7) he grunts nonstop (I assume it's his REM sleep since he doesn't want to eat during that time). If that continues he is going to be in his own room sooner, rather than later ;).
We haven't gotten any real smiles yet, but I can tell he is trying to smile and coo at me at times...so we aren't too far away from it (I can't wait!). His head control is getting stronger and he is able to look up at me when I'm holding him upright in front of me. He is soooo easy going and I have had so many people comment about how chill he is.
He loves bath time, snuggling, having his head rubbed, sleeping on pillow top surfaces (only allowed when mommy is awake and watching), rocking, and having his face tickled. He hates having his arms wrapped in the blankets when swaddled, diaper changes in the middle of the night, tummy time, and being hungry (he doesn't tolerate it for long at all).
We have fallen in love with this little boy and can't imagine our lives without his handsome little self!
Branden
Branden is such a good daddy! He has been so patient and understanding through this whole month. He's brought me flowers twice and gone to the store to get me chocolate or groceries on countless occasions! He's taken Makayla on several outings, just the two of them, and they have developed an adorable relationship! Just a week after we brought Xander home the two of them went truck shopping together a bunch of times. They ended up buying one and bringing it home. For a week afterwards they spent tons of time together outside working on and cleaning the truck. Makayla loves that truck as much as Branden does!
Branden went to work after two weeks of staying home with me, but that didn't affect his helpfulness! When he gets home he still helps out with the kids and often-times makes dinner!
About a week ago someone posted on our local yardsale Facebook page a picture of a litter of coonhound puppies for sale. Knowing that they are Branden's favorite dog I texted him a screenshot of the ad to show how cute they were and jokingly said "want one? lol jk!" He pestered me for a week about really getting one. I finally broke down and told him to just go look at them and use his best judgement about getting one or not, keeping in mind that we have a newborn, a toddler, and a dog that is already a pain sometimes. Weeeellll....he came home with one...and named him Gronk. It's been a rough couple of days to say the least. But he is cute, he makes Branden very happy, and hopefully once he is no longer a puppy he will be a great family dog.
Our 4 year anniversary was this month on the 14th. We spent the morning with the kids, drove up to Strawberry to have lunch with family, and then Branden and I left both kids with his parents and went to The Melting Pot for dinner. It was great to spend some time together without the kids...even if it was only for a couple hours at dinner! I love him as much, if not more, as the day I married him and I'm so grateful for him and everything he does for our family!
Thanks for reading!
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