Life with 2 Girls

I was so intimidated at the thought of handling day to day life with two children, turns out, it's do-able (so far, at least)!  My biggest challenge is finding ways to keep Abby busy while I care for Lexy.  Abby has found her own creative ways of spending her "free" time, she's redecorated our front room by coloring on EVERYTHING (couch, coffee table, floor, walls, door, pretty much every object in the room), she's climbed on top of the changing table and lotioned up her baby doll using Lexi's baby lotion.  Everyday brings new excitement.  

Something that I was somewhat prepared for, but am still finding very frustrating, is that she seems to have regressed a bit in potty training.  I know that most of her accidents are done in an attempt to get our attention, so I think we will have to come up with a creative way to solve this problem.  It's absurd, how quickly Abby's laundry basket fills with dirty clothes.  It feels like the washer and dryer and running constantly!

But she has done a few less destructive activities, but equally messy, like "making dinner".  Which consists of her getting out her play food and dishes and covering the kitchen table in food and toys. It's super cute, but we have a rule of no toys in the kitchen, and I think that a table COVERED in toys would be considered breaking the rules.    I do think that, for the time being, Abby gets away with stuff she would normally get in trouble for.  Cam and I are just too tired and distracted sometimes to care.  However, I am quite certain that this "freedom" won't last long, and we will have to start cracking the whip once again.

Lexi, on the other hand, hasn't been up to too much.  Pretty much, eating and sleeping.  Unfortunately, both are still challenging.  She is very fussy while eating, and we've yet to figure the source of the problem.  But we are slowly eliminating possible causes.  Sleeping, has also been difficult, because she is quite congested. We have the humidifier going, and are using the saline drops, and hopefully it will work itself out.  All that said, Lexi really is a good, happy baby.  I do get nervous, however, anytime she is a little difficult, that she will be a colicky baby, or develop reflux.  I think having a difficult time during the first 6 months with Abby makes me a little on edge, and never quite confident that Lexi will be easy (or easier than Abby, anyway).  I do think that I am really starting to see the truth in the fact that every kid is very different and the "tricks" that worked for one baby, doesn't necessarily mean it will work for another.

Here are some pics of the two girls, doing what they do!

Abby has gotten quite opinionated about what she wears, this was a day where she picked out her clothes.  Looking back at the picture, the outfit doesn't look too bad, but on that day I thought she looked a little odd.  I also made some flash card of the letters (spread all over the floor), because she loves to learn what each letter is.

I asked Abby to go potty, then get her shoes and socks so we could go to Wal-Mart.  This was what she was wearing when she came back to me.  I'm not sure if she actually thought that was an appropriate outfit, or if she forgot to put her pants back on.

 

Abby loves Seseme Street, and so she really enjoys playing with her Elmo and Abby dolls.  Here she is teaching them some letters.

Here's a picture of Lexi doing her thing.  Sleeping.

Teething...the End is in Sight!

I have been waiting for FOREVER for Abby's molars to come in.  I beleive they are called "two year molars" for a reason, and have been watching since before her birthday to see if they are coming in.  I keep hoping on those horrible, tantrum filled days that the reason she is acting that way is because of those molars coming in.  However, everytime I look in her mouth, nothing.  UNTIL YESTERDAY!  She was goofing around, and for some reason opened her mouth real wide and that's when I saw it, a molar.  I'm hoping that this will explain her horrible sleep patterns, and grumpyness (probably not likely, but a mom can wish right?).  But, good job Abby, you've handled it like a champ!

3 Weeks, Already!

Wow! I can't believe Lexi is three weeks old already.  The last few weeks have been a blur.  With blood tests almost daily, and pretty much just focusing on getting past the jaundice, time has flown by.  Last Thursday, we finally started to get some good news, when I took her back to the doctor for her weight check, she had gained enough weight that it was no longer a concern.  Then on Friday, her bilirubin check showed her levels had dropped from 16 to 10, which was great news because up until then, the lowest they had ever gotten was 15.  Then on Saturday, her bilirubin check was even lower, so the doctor said we were finally finished.  When we first arrived home from the hospital and Lexi was on light therapy, I NEVER imagined it would take over two weeks for the jaundice to go away.

I have realized, however, that I haven't really shared much about Lexi, other than that she was jaundiced.  I have said so many times in the last weeks how suprised I am at how different Lexi is from Abby.  And not just in appearance.  Lexi is SO easy going.  She is content most of the time, easily goes to sleep, and all in all is just a happy baby.  Abby, on the other hand, was none of those things.  I can only hope that Lexi remains an "easy" baby!  The only difficulty so far is that we are having a hard time finding the right bottle, with the right nipple, that doesn't make her spit up.  We have discovered that if the formula comes out too fast, she pretty much throws up the entire amount she had eaten.  So, once we get that under control, hopefully the spitting up resolves it self.

Now that Lexi isn't yellow, and is no longer on lights, I finally got to take some decent pictures of her with the help of my friend Jolynne.

Tons of Help, and Visitors

Cameron was able to take a whole week off of work, which was so nice.  On his first day back to work, Cam's sister, Are, and her family came to help me out.  They spent two nights and almost two whole days here helping me out.  They were so awesome!  They cleaned, entertained Abby, held Lexi while on the lights, and kept me company.  I don't think I could have survived that day if they hadn't been there.  On top of just adjusting to the new baby, I had to make a trip to the hospital, the doctors office, and it seemed that every time I turned around, something was going wrong.  That evening, Are and Will took Abby with them to dinner.  Are dressed Abby and Piper in similar outfits, it was so cute.

A couple of days later, my parents and brother Jeff came to visit.

Almost every time my Dad comes to visit, I have a project for him to work on. This time, I asked him to paint the headboard of Abby's bed white. It turned out great, and now all the furniture in her room match. One of the days while they were all here, Lexi was off light therapy, so we took the opportunity to go to Salt Lake to visit my Grandparents and my Uncle Frank. I feel so fortunate that Abby and Lexi are able to get to know their Great Grandparents.

My brother Scott and his family spent Christmas this year in Orem with his wife's family, and so they came to visit too. I was surprised at how quickly Abby and Sam became friends and were playing together.

It was nice that they could come over, since they live in Washington DC we don't see them very often.

My Dad and Jeff only stayed a couple of days, but my Mom is staying with me for almost two weeks! I am so glad, because I know that I would be a total mess if left all by myself right now. With trying to breastfeed, and all the light therapy, I have been a little stressed. I keep hoping that while my Mom is here, Lexi will be done with light therapy, and I will be able to figure out some sort a routine that I can follow once on my own.

I can't believe how many people have offered to help us out. There have been many offers from friends and neighbors, and both of our family's have spent a lot of time helping us. Even though I haven't taken everybody up their offers of help, I'm grateful for their willingness, and I probably will ask for their help in the near future. I'm grateful for all the help, and know I couldn't have survived without it! Thanks everybody!

Christmas...Kind Of

We arrived home from the hospital on Christmas Eve, and since Lexi was on light therapy, and we were struggling with that, the Christmas holiday was kind of an after thought. Christmas morning, we got up, and Abby quickly opened her presents, then we hurried to the hospital to get Lexi's blood drawn. I felt bad, because this was the first year that Abby kind of understood what was going on, and we were so distracted with Lexi, that we weren't able to really celebrate. We were in such a hurry, I didn't really even take any pictures of Abby opening her presents.  But I did manage later in the day to get some of Abby with her new toys.

And one of Lexi celebrating her first Christmas

Even though this wasn't a "traditional" holiday, it was still a wonderful day because we got to spend the day with BOTH our little girls.

Blood Tests and Lights

The day that Lexi and I were discharged from the hospital, her bilirubin level was too high.  So she was put on lights at the hospital until we left, then we were sent home with a bilibed for light therapy that she was to be on all the time.  At the hospital they made it sound so easy for her to sleep on the bed, but we quickly discovered that she hated it.  She screamed and wouldn't sleep at all.  We went back to the hospital the next day to get her tested again, and her level had dropped enough that the doctor said not to really worry about keeping her on the lights.  The next day when she got tested again, the level went way up.  So back on the lights, but this time we got a biliblanket too to help during the times when she just couldn't stand the bed. 

We finally figured out a way for her to be happy while on the bed, we would put the bed on our laps and just wrap our arms around her the best we could.  Almost every day for about two weeks we took her to the hospital in the morning to get blood drawn, and during that time her levels would go down while on light therapy, but as soon as we took away the lights, they would jump back up.  Finally at her two week check, we came to the conclusion that she wasn't getting enough food from me nursing her.  She wasn't gaining weight, and the jaundice wasn't going away.  So, we decided that nursing just wasn't working and started her on formula.  Since then her levels have dropped and hopefully she is gaining weight. 

Welcome Lexi Grace!

Our little Lexi Grace joined our family on Mon, Dec 21st.  She was a healthy 8 lbs 7 oz.  I had decided a while ago to do a c-section, and I am so glad I did because it went so smoothly.  The c-section was scheduled for 7:30 am so we had to be at the hospital at 6:00am.  That meant it was an early morning, I got up at 4:00am to get showered and ready to go.  But once we got there things moved pretty quickly.  Before we knew it she was out and screaming.  She was put on a CPAT for  about an hour because her oxygen level was a little low.  But other than that she was very healthy.  We were both suprised at her dark hair, and her skin even is a little dark.  She pretty much was the opposite of Abby, who was pale and very blonde. 

Abby stayed at Cam's parents while we were in the hospital.  They came to visit every day, and shy little Abby wouldn't talk to me and Cam at first.  I'm sure it was a little weird and she was just trying to digest everything that was going on.  But she quickly fell in love Lexi and wanted to hold her the whole time.  I think that we will have to keep a close eye on Abby when she is around Lexi in case her "love" is too strong!