Claire McKenna: 1-2 Months Update

I completely missed acknowledging Claire’s one-month birthday until it hit me a few days after, whoops!  I finally got around to taking her 1 month picture a week after the fact but I made up for it and was spot on with taking her 2-month picture yesterday.  I have a feeling poor Claire is always going to have the “second child syndrome” when it comes to things like this.  BUT what I can say, is she is definitely getting a little more of an improved version of a mom than Annie did.  Some things with Annie we learned thru ‘baptism by fire’ where with Claire we are a little more versed in this whole baby thing so she gets the benefit of more experienced parenting.  That’s a pretty fair trade-off, right?!

One Month Old Picture

So how is Claire?  She is pretty special.  For the first month she slept, a lot.  As most babies do.  Around 3 weeks she started to become more alert and actually gave Aaron and I a little scare as she cried for several weeks nonstop making us wonder how in the world did we end up with another colicky baby.  Luckily… around 6 weeks it started to ease up and although she still cries a bit, its nothing like Annie’s colic and I actually think we may be thru the worst of it (fingers crossed?!)  Either that or we are just handling it way better this time around.  Annie had terrible acid reflux where she didn’t just spit up, she literally threw up her bottles.  Luckily Claire does not have that issue, she hardly spits up and her digestive system seems to be far better than Annie’s was at this age. 

2 Months old - weighing in at 11 lbs, 10 oz and 22 inches long

Most of our days are spent at home, between the rain and the heat, we haven’t gotten out as much as I would have liked to.  She does like being in the stroller and the car so far (Annie hated the car until she was about 1.5 yrs old!  I don’t think I can handle a round 2 of another kid hating car rides).  Between her day time naps that stretch 2ish hours, we spend most of the time on her tummy time mat or being held.  She loves being held which is a nice change from Annie who cried all the time whether held or not and wasn’t a very happy baby until nearly 6 months old.  Claire is a much more content baby although her fussiness is usually worst at night, between 8 and when she goes to sleep which is anywhere between 9:30 and 10.  That is usually a very tiring few hours as she is extra fidgety and fussy then.  I’m already looking forward to when she starts going down at 8 pm which if I recall we are only a month or two away from when babies typically make that shift in their schedule.  Usually by the time we get Annie down and then have Claire’s fussiest hours, we basically have spent our entire night being hands on with kids and we literally fall into our bed at night completely wiped out.

We’ve lucked out with another amazing sleeper.  Annie was an awesome sleeper, she usually only woke up once and she was super quick to eat and get back down, if I recall sometimes I could do it in 20 minutes.  Claire is similar although that first month she really took her time eating and we’d usually be up for a full hour.  In the second month, we now have it down to 30 minutes and she’s pretty on the dot when it comes to waking up at 2 am and then again somewhere between 5:30/6 am.  Not bad, I’ll take it!  So all in all, I have lucked out with 2 babies that like their sleep, just like their Mama, thankfully! 

Best part of the last two months… Claire has started to give genuine smiles, which are so heart melting!  And when she smiles she tends to be very animated about it, usually starts with a full mouth open smile and then melts into a grin, I could watch her smile 100 times over.  She has rolled from tummy to back a handful of times, more so out of anger because she hates being on her tummy.  So her neck/head strength is still a work in progress, not as strong as Annie was at her age but has pretty good head control when she does hold it up.  

There's that 2 month wide mouthed smile!  She also scrunches her nose up when she smiles which is pretty cute!

When I hold her, I have a lot of thoughts in my mind.  One is always gratitude.  I thank God every single day {multiple times} for her perfect health.  I doubt a day will go by that I won’t say that little prayer for her and Annie.  The second thought that I have often is having a flash back of Annie’s 1^st year and how excited I am for all of Claire’s firsts.  And then I usually start to laugh to myself when I think of some of the things Annie did {or has put us thru} and I just can’t envision what that will be like with Claire exactly and it’s hard to even think of her crawling, walking, talking or any of that but it’s something that I’m really looking forward to now that I’ve experienced it Annie, it makes our future that much sweeter to look forward to.  Not that I want to rush along her growing up, but honestly I kinda think every month as Annie has gotten older I seem to like each new month more than the last so I feel like it only gets better and better from here with Claire and that’s exciting to me.

So here we have it, month 1-2 update.  Maybe I’ll post a 3, 6, 9 and 12-month update rather than monthly (there’s that 2^nd child syndrome again!).  We’ll see how well I do! Good news is I finally got around to filling out her baby book and photo album and I’ve working to make sure I take lots of pictures of her so she won’t have a lack of memories documented that’s for sure! 

2 Week Survival List For Newborns & Moms

I am a list freak.  I have lists typed up on my computer for everything, and when I need a list, I just print one and it takes the thinking out of repetitive things so I ensure nothing gets forgotten.  Lists I have on my computer are anything from travel packing lists for each of my family members, a typed list of schedules/routines, regularly grocery item lists for individual stores, lists of restaurants we like to eat at (sounds dumb but how often do you and your spouse sit and think of what sounds good for dinner out and could use a list of local places you often forget about), lists of whom I've sent Christmas cards to in the past, a never ending to-do list, many of lists from my wedding planning days, etc... just to name a few of my many, many lists!

I'd like to now take the time to share a list that I created 2 weeks after Annie was born.  A list in which I went back and pulled before Claire was born and now that Claire is 6 weeks old, I still find the list pertinent to her first few weeks of birth, when things are crazy and you need to be as prepared as possible.  Therefore I'm sharing that list with you today!

2 Week Survival Guide For Newborns and Moms:

This is the all-encompassing list I’ve used for the first 2 weeks for both of my babies.  It might be more than what most folks need but these are all the things I’ve used so far and it has made my life so much easier than not having these items.  May this help future mamas out there.

For BABY:

• 6-8 Newborn Onsies (size 0-3 months are too big for both Annie & Claire, at 6 weeks old Claire is still wearing newborn sizes), forget cute clothes right now, they won’t fit into them (take that into consideration when taking newborn pics, chances are they will not fit into those cute clothes you’ve bought them.  Best for newborn pics: diaper covers, hats, swaddle blankets, headbands, etc.  Etsy is a great online source for newborn accessories.)

·       3-4 Swaddle Sacks (newborn size)

·       1-2 Swaddling blankets

·       1-2 warm baby size blankets

·       3-4 pairs of warm socks

·       Boppy

·       2 Boppy Covers

·       8-10 burp clothes

·       2-3 pacifiers 

·       Formula (the premade 2 oz bottles are great but powdered formula works too)

·       160 diapers will get you thru 2 weeks, we like Pampers Sensitive Swaddlers because they give an indication line if they need changed which takes the guess work out of if they need a diaper change or not (Note, I used slightly more than 160 diapers in 2 weeks with Claire).

·        2 economy size packs of wipes will get you thru the first 2 weeks, we like Pampers Sensitive

·       Vaseline and butt paste.  Vaseline for around her inner thighs where the diaper rubs and rash cream to stay on top of preventing rashes (Note we only used Vasaline with Claire, we have yet to use rash cream on her.)

·       Diaper changing pad

·       2 Changing pad covers

·       4 Changing pad cover savers

·       Diaper Genie

·       1-2 Diaper Genie refills

·       2-3 hooded bath towels (could use any soft towel though really)

·        2-3 soft wash clothes

·       Baby soap

·       Small Space heater (super helpful to keep her warm and happy while changing and bathing, also great to keep them happy during newborn photos)

·       Baby moisturizer

·       Small bristle brush for cleaning hair and helping with cradle cap

·       Baby oil, have been using this in her hair to help with dry spots

·       1-2 hats, I generally only have been using these after baths to keep her extra warm and a warmer hat for when we leave the house

·       Bundle Me for the car seat (if cold out)

·       Car Seat and 2 bases (base for Daddy’s car, base for Mommy’s car)

·       Sound Machine (we have used both one that plugs into the wall and a travel size one to tote in the car seat)

·       Crib

·       2-3 crib sheets

·       Waterproof crib mattress saver

·       Crib mattress

·       Rock N Play for naps or to keep bedside

·       Pack N Play  

·       Swing for naps

·       Tummy Time Mat

·       Vitamin D Drops

·       Gripe Water (we have not had to use this yet but there were a couple of times we probably could have)

·       Mylicon Gas Drops (we never used these with Annie but finding it much more effective than gripe water for Claire, highly recommend Mylicon).

·       Microwave bottle sanitizer

·       2 small tubs (don’t wash your bottles in your kitchen sink, use a tub within your sink to keep things sanitary)

·       Bottle drying rack (not a super necessity, can just dry on a towel if you don’t have one)

·       Video baby monitor (I think the Motorola video with night vision has made my life at night sooo much easier!  Peace of mind to check on her in bed and see that her breathing ways are not obstructed.)

·       Dreft laundry detergent

·       Dreft stain spray

·       Non-toxic furniture/toy wipes or spray (I like Dapple brand).

·       Dapple bottle soap

For MOM:

·       Diaper Bag

·       Lanolin Cream (I carried mine around everywhere)

·       Nursing Pads (100 for first 2 weeks)

·       2 packs of feminine pads (sorry I know… but it’s a necessity so I gotta list it)

·       Ask for a week’s worth of the hospital throw away underwear before you leave… trust me.

·       Breast Pump and all pumping accessories (bottles, pump pieces, slow flow nipples, etc)

·       Pumping Freezing Bags (don’t need a lot for first few weeks)

·       Prenatal vitamins (yes you still have to continue taking these if nursing)

·       Fenugreek pills (supposedly helps your milk supply if you take these, unsure if I think it does or not)

·       3-4+ nursing bras

·       A no-hands pumping bra

·       A robe for your own comfort when it’s the middle of the night

·       Stool Softner pills for a full 2 weeks (another one of those TMI’s but you WILL want it folks)

·       Makeup removing face wipes – especially helpful in hospital when you don’t want to get out of bed

·       A good camera for all those precious moments

·       If your spouse can’t help for the first week, I highly recommend help for the first few days at the very minimum; I needed my husband for a lot of help as well as my own emotional support as things were crazy for a few days! 

·       The book and DVD The Happiest Baby on the Block.  It’s truly worth your time to read and watch, the technique really does work!

·       The book The Sleep Lady, highly recommend studying this before baby is born, I have found it very helpful and both of my babies sleep well when I apply the book’s methods.

TO-Do’s once Baby is BORN:

·       Make all changes to your insurance plans/flex spending accounts

·       Set up Daycare start dates

·       Schedule newborn pictures, 6 week postpardum check up, and baby's first few doctor appointments

·       Do not allow more than 1 or 2 guest visits a day, it will throw off all sleeping/feeding schedules

·       Set up Baptism with church

·       Birth Announcements

·       Thank You Notes for gifts and a good supply of forever stamps

·       Create a Memory Book and jot those memories down while they are fresh!

Diaper Bag Necessities:

·       5 diapers (our outings haven’t been more than 2 hours at a time and 5 diapers is more than enough) 

·       Wipes

·       2 sleeper onsies and an extra shirt for mom

·       Plastic bag for soiled clothes

·       Burp cloths

·       Changing pad

·       2 pacifiers

·       Rash cream

·       Small Noise machine

·       Baby face & body wipes (Johnson & Johnson makes some travel size ones) 

·       Extra socks

·       Extra hat

·       Swaddle blanket

·       Formula/milk in a small packable soft cooler with ice packs

·       Nursing cover 

Perspective In The Tough Times

A few weekends ago, we had what I referred to as a rather brutal weekend.  We were (and still are!) adjusting to life with 2 kids, I believe it was our 2^nd full weekend at home with Claire.  At noon on Saturday, Annie was acting unusually crankier before her nap.  Her forehead felt really warm to the touch and her temp was 103F+.  At first, I thought maybe she was teething as she has had some of her last back molars starting to pop thru so I gave her ibuprofen and put her down for her nap.  She napped well but woke up again with a fever.  We kept dosing her with ibuprofen and Saturday night was a bit rough.  Annie was super clingy since she wasn’t feeling good and Claire still needed tended to twice in the middle of the night.  I ended up sleeping in Annie’s bed for the latter half of the night while Aaron cared for Claire’s second feeding since I had pumped milk.

 

I had stopped nursing Claire and started pumping shortly after we came home from the hospital (which is a whole other story) and had been pumping in the middle of the nights.  Because I was up a lot Saturday night between the 2 kids, I choose not to pump at all Saturday night and sleep when I could.  Since I didn’t pump for 6+ hours that Saturday, I woke up with some major clogged ducts.  It literally felt like I had golf ball rocks the lumps were so big and so on top of Annie being super sick still into Sunday morning, tending to a newborn and all the other weekend chores that were needed yet, I had to pump every 1.5 to 2 hours to avoid getting metastasis.  By afternoon that day, Annie started vomiting.  Aaron and I were wearing down and heading into our second evening of what was looking like little sleep.  Annie couldn’t keep any food down, refused dinner, couldn’t even keep water down.  She got sick in our bed, which I only own one set of king size sheets so Aaron and I had to figure out new sleeping arrangements and I had quite a pile of soiled towels and clothes piling up already.  We were doing our best efforts at keeping Claire as far away from Annie as possible to keep Annie’s exposure limited but it was hard as Aaron and I would need to trade-off between each kid or Aaron would have to double up with both of them while I was hooked up to the pump totally miserable myself with my bad case of clogged ducts. 

I was really worried about Annie, she had never been that sick before and she was very sluggish.  We ended up setting her up on the floor of our bedroom and I slept next to her, Aaron slept on the couch and Claire in the Pack N Play.  During the night, I awoke to Annie getting sick.  I got up with Claire and fed her.  I then had to set my alarm not only to pump but also another alarm to get up and redose Annie with meds.  Sleeping on the floor plus waking up every 45 minutes… not the best night but by 5 am Annie’s fever broke and she kept her breakfast down.  Just in time for Aaron to catch his afternoon flight to Vegas and drop Annie off at the Grandparents for a few days.  When everyone left Monday morning, I deep cleaned the house and did the piles of soiled laundry.  Totally exhausted by the brutal weekend and feeling totally worn down, I thought is this what life with 2 is like?!  UGH, I don’t know if I can do this!

As things calmed down and I started to get rested back up and my house started to feel less chaotic, I found some great words of affirmation from of course no other than my 2 best of friends that give the greatest advice as usual…

“I do think it gets a bit easier! Or maybe mama's just grow stronger...and we lower our standards - for sleep, for cleanliness, for behavior expectations, pretty much for everything! ;) I think you have to be in one of the most exhausting seasons of motherhood right now. The lack of sleep makes everything else harder. Hang in there! You are an awesome Mama!! …”

Gosh I know how true that advice really is.  But somehow I still am having a hard time accepting that I need to lower my standards for that never-ending list of items that feels like a burden at times.  This is a work in progress for me, to ignore the messes in the house, ignore jumping to the social media notifications on my phone, learn to pick my battles with Annie on minor issues, to know that the list of ‘to do’s’ for the weekend may have items that need to wait until the next weekend…  I know that I need to lower my standards because it’s only at my family’s expense that suffers for my means of wanting perfection.

 And that second chunk of advice from my other friend…

Some days are easy, some days are hard. it ebbs and flows in my opinion. In the darkest of days you will find a smeared hand print on your mirror, or scribbled note in your planner, and smile . Those are the moments that blur the hard ones. And sleep deprivation never helps......for the whole house. Hang in there! Praying for you all! 

Again, I felt compelled by the truth in this advice.  Just the other day I was sitting on the floor while Claire was on her tummy time mat and I looked over to see one of Annie’s toys sitting on the floor, it was just the lid to a container in which the lid has shape cut outs.  Who knows where the container was amongst the mess around me but the lid was on the floor and all the shapes for the lid were nested right where they belonged in each cut out.  It made me smile and realize how darn smart Annie is.  I then looked over to see her toy stroller with her stuffed dinosaur in it, it was perfectly strapped in.  It made me feel like I was doing something right as a Mom… my daughter had buckled her dino in using the safety straps.  Even at night, when I say “Annie let’s say our prayers”, she instantly folds her hands knowing what we do when we pray.  It really is those moments that blur the harder ones.  It’s those rewards that makes this parenting thing all worth it when times get tough.

I also stumbled across a few things on social media that really brought this all home for me.  I came across a Facebook page that a friend liked called ‘Love for Indy.’  I normally don’t click on random pages but for some reason I did on this one.  What caught my eye is that it’s profile picture was of an ultrasound.   I was brought to tears when I read the page’s backstory:

At their 20 week ultrasound Kevin and Amy Thurm learned their baby girl Indy has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome - her left ventricle is very underdeveloped and not working, and her left atria is also smaller than what it should be. The left side of your heart is responsible for pumping blood to the entire body, except the lungs. This is the most severe congenital heart defect a baby can have, the most difficult to survive, and not curable. At this time Kevin and Amy have decided to celebrate Indy for as long as she is with them. Amy is due in June and after Indy is born they will know more as to how long she will be with them, a few days to possibly a few weeks. At this time we ask for thoughts and prayers to the family. A bank account has been set up at Denver Savings Bank under the account name "Love for Indy" for those who wish to donate monetarily. More info to come as to what we can do as a community to bring comfort to this family in their time of need.

How quickly it seems I forget at times how lucky we are that Claire’s 20-week news was not life threatening and we only had the potential of a life altering situation but thru answered prayers, she was born perfectly healthy.  It’s stories like these that makes me think why did I just have a pity party for myself after a rough weekend?  My ‘brutal’ weekend pales in comparison to what this family endures week after week as they know what challenges lie ahead for them.  Thank you God that I am not facing news of only being with my babies for only a short time.  Each day with them is a gift.

And then literally the very next day… I had been following another girl recently on Facebook.  And I had been actually surfing her website the prior days checking out some of her posts (which I’m loving her blog by the way!).  And in doing so, I came across an older blog post of hers that had me in complete sobs.  Try reading this without completely losing it.  It really put things in perspective for me.  (Click link/or copy): 

http://www.kristinnicoleblog.com/sophias-birth-story-a-story-of-hope

I know more brutal weekends lie ahead for us.  And I think it is okay for me to call them what they are… tough, brutal, challenging, defeating at times… things certainly aren’t all rosy and happy in our house 24/7, but I also need to remind myself to have perspective.  Perspective that our challenges are usually pretty surface level and we are very blessed with each day and to remind myself of this in those moments, even when my 2 year-old covers me in vomit and my newborn is crying hysterically.  Those hard days are only temporary and for that I am grateful.