Ack…I don’t know what it is…I’m sucked in!  I think I’ve watched another 3 more episodes.  I can’t turn it off!  It’s like an addiction…I can’t wait to see what challenge Paris will put her faux-friends through next, what humiliation they will endure (seriously- being called her “pet” is a priviledge?  WTF?) all for the publicity stunt of being called her BFF (best friend forever).  Forever, in celebrity land?  That’s what, like a week and a half?  Guaranteed the winning chick (I’m rooting for Brittany or Vanessa) will be dumped long before casting begins for the next season.  Anyhoo…

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Anyone want to hear more baby stuff?  Our first week home from the hospital was stressful.  In addition to the usual stress of bringing home a newborn, not sleeping, barely eating and also having a toddler to care for and a house to run, we had feeding issues.  I’d never entertained the idea of NOT breastfeeding Henri and when it didn’t work well in the hospital I figured it was just because I’d spent so long in recovery.  I’d had similar problems with Jakob, but once he regained his birth weight he bfed successfully until I weaned him at 7.5 months (due to a family trip, otherwise I’d have continued until at least I returned to work).

In Henri’s case, he never lost weight outside of the normal realms, but his latched just sucked.  (Or didn’t- pardon the pun!)  By the time we’d left the hospital the few times I’d managed to get him to feed were behind us, and he didn’t latch again.  I had to pump and feed him with bottles, and supplement with formula when I didn’t have enough pumped milk.  It was rough!  Let me tell you- any woman who pumps exclusively to feed has my utmost respect, because it is tiring!  The animosity I feel towards my pump right now…

The CLSC nurse came to the house 2 days after we got home to take out my staples.  My surgical site wasn’t healed as well as she would have liked, so she only took out every 2nd staple, and said she’d come back 2 more days later to remove the rest.  After the feeding issues I wasn’t thrilled to have something else become an issue, but I didn’t have a choice.  The nurse tried to help us with the bfeeding, but it didn’t work.  The best she was able to do for us was to give me some feeding tubes so I could finger-feed him to avoid some bottles.  The hectic around-the-clock struggles of feeding and caring for the cut area were added to that evening.  My mom and I were home alone with the kids while Yannick was at bowling and I’d left her with a sleeping Henri (Jakob was already in bed) while I went to lie down for a little bit. 

Next thing you know she hears Jakob through the baby monitors coughing and then he threw up.  She put Henri in his crib and went to care for Jakob, when Henri started screaming.  That’s what woke me up.  What a rough night- I was caring for Henri while my mom was cleaning up Jakob and his crib, and he was crying and then started retching again and she was holding him over the toilet while I was pacing the hallway, bawling my eyes out because I couldn’t take care of my first baby.  It’s a really hard thing to be there but not be able to help because that’s MY child and I wanted to take care of him.  At that point Yannick got home and helped us with the linens and stuff, and soon enough Jakob was back into his crib and fell asleep instantly. 

The next day (Wed) Yannick checked out the cut area and said it was still bleeding and some spots were oozing.  Great!  My mom brought me to the CLSC and they took out the remaining staples and cleaned everything up.  They didn’t seem alarmed, and said to have the nurse take a look at it the next day when she came over.  Jakob had been fine the rest of the previous night and was perfect this morning, so we’d sent him to school.  He’d had a great day and had a good evening, although we were careful with what we gave him to eat because we didn’t want to irritate his stomach.  All seemed well until about 11:00pm when we started hearing Jakob through the monitor again.  It was like a repeat of the night before- a few coughs and then he threw up.  Yannick ran upstairs and I followed with Henri.  This time the cleanup wasn’t as bad- Jakob had the foresight to stand up and throw up over the edge of his crib, so it was only the floor and opposite wall to clean up.  But he started retching again and Yannick brought him to the bathroom, and again I couldn’t help.  I felt horrible, but I knew that I’d at least be able to be with him the next day as he was going to be staying home from school since Thursday was a special day.  I didn’t know what I’d do if he was sick, but once he was back in bed he was asleep instantly, just like the previous night.

The next day (Thurs) was not only 1 week after Henri’s birth- it was also the day of his bris!  In addition to taking care of both boys and me struggling with feeding Henri and making sure we had the clothes and ourselves dressed and everything ready to leave for the synagogue by 11, at 8:30 am the CLSC nurse rang the doorbell.  She couldn’t have picked a worse moment- Jakob, who had been fine and sitting happily in his high chair eating breakfast and babbling away, had just leaned slightly to his left and thrown up over the side of his high chair…directly onto our cat Sam.

*sigh*

What a fun day.  This recap is getting a little long, but suffice it to say that poor Yannick was caring for Jakob and cleaning up his 3rd (and later 4th and 5th) round of vomit, after chasing down the cat and scrubbing him down.  He got Jakob dressed all nicely for the bris and then we covered him with one of those long-sleeved, smock-like bibs to protect his clothes just in case he threw up again.  While Yannick was doing that, I was with the nurse showing her my c-section site, strugging again (unsuccessfully) to get Henri to bfeed, then trying to get both of us dressed for the party and making sure the diaper bag was packed, then packing a bag for Jakob with toys and Pedialyte… and the whole time I’m keeping an eye on Jakob and thinking what kind of mother am I for bringing him out when something’s clearly wrong. 

Luckily Jakob didn’t throw up again, and his mood, while a little cranky, was great.  He was a perfect angel the whole time (we joked with the Moyel that it was a good thing he didn’t remember him from HIS bris!) and hasn’t thrown up again since…so it must have just been something in his system.  Henri was also a real trouper.  He cried a little more than Jakob had, but only briefly, and then slept through the rest of the ceremony and the party.  As soon as it would be polite we got both boys back home, we all changed into pjs and spent the rest of the day just hanging out at home and taking care of our kids.

And THAT was the end of the first week of Henri’s life. 

Mommy with Henri at 1 week old.

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Coming soon…weeks 2 through 6, some knitting, and a finished item!

Whoo boy…trying to remember almost 5 weeks ago with New-Baby Brain.  I don’t promise to remember everything, but I’ll try!

We went to the hospital on the Thursday morning for a scheduled repeat c-section.  Just like Jakob’s birth day, it was on the Thursday exactly a week before the baby’s due date.  I believe that, just like Jakob’s, it was raining or at least crappy weather (but my favorite).  Unlike Jakob’s, we were the second of the day, not the first.  So they put me into a bed, gown and IV and we waited.  And waited.  I knit a little while waiting and Yannick slept in the chair at my side.  Finally they were ready for us, and at 11:29 am Henri was born!

I’ll never forget hearing the doctor say “it’s a boy”.  After going through it, I’m so glad we waited to find out the baby’s sex, especially since the anticipation gave me something to focus on other than my nerves.

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As a side note- I now FULLY believe that everything happens for a reason.  I know I had been very upset when I first thought I’d have a c-section when Henri was temporarily breech.  When he’d turned I was so focused on getting a chance to do a VBAC that I didn’t fully consider the risks involved.  Well, while they were performing the c-section I asked the doctor how my uterus looked, and told her I had been planning a VBAC until they estimated the baby as being too large (don’t forget, it wasn’t my doctor doing the operation, she’d had a family emergency come up).  Her answer was that the uterine wall was so thin that she’d already had to repair it. 

Had I gone through with a VBAC I would most probably have ruptured, and who knows if either Henri or I would be here right now, or in what condition.  AND, after all the hype, Henri was born at only 8 lbs 11 oz- NOT the estimated 9 lbs 8 oz – to – 10 lbs 3 oz that they’d estimated, which was the reason for the surgery after all.  Had they done an accurate ultrasound I would have done a VBAC and who knows what could have happened.  I couldn’t believe that news, and that information will now always be like a touchstone for me- no matter the circumstance, no matter how upsetting an outcome might be…there is ALWAYS a reason and just go with it.  I’ll never forget that.

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Unlike last time, they didn’t weigh the baby in the operating room.  They did give him to Yannick to hold and I got to give him a few kisses, but then they took him away to the nursery to clean, weigh and measure and such.  Yannick stayed with me for a little bit and then went to follow Henri and find my family. 

Once I was all stitched up they sent me off to recovery.  I thought I was smart and had remembered how last time I had a strong allergic reaction to the morphine they’d given me, so this time there were allergy warnings all over my file.  Unfortunately whatever they were able to give me wasn’t strong enough and every 20 minutes or so the pain killers would wear off and I was in agony!  Instead of a quick 2 hour stay in recovery I was there until just after 6pm!!  It wasn’t until they found a pain killer that worked that they would let me leave, even though I’d been able to move my legs for hours.  By the time I made it to my room my parents had left because they’d had to go pick Jakob up from daycare but I was able to see Yannick’s parents for a few minutes, and one of my brothers.  And finally able to properly see and hold Henri.

I was in the hospital until Sunday afternoon.  Yannick came every day and went home each night to be there for Jakob and bring him to school in the mornings.  A bunch of family and friends came by to visit, and the best part was when Jakob came by to meet his brother.

My mom brought him by Saturday morning and then again that afternoon after his nap, and he stayed through until his bedtime.  He was so incredible with Henri- on his own he’d just walk up and kiss him, then go off and play with a toy, seemingly uncaring that his Mommy was holding another baby or couldn’t pick him up.  That attitude hasn’t changed since we’ve been home, and if anything he is even more loving with his brother.  When Henri cries in the play pen Jakob runs over, tries to rock the play pen and calls out “shhh shhh”, and when he’s in my lap Jakob pulls on Henri’s clothes trying to get him into HIS lap so he can hold him.  He is insanely good with his brother, and we are extremely relieved and thrilled.

After we left the hospital we came home and tried to get back into a routine here, hard as it is when one of us is mostly incapacitated.  We’ve had to rely on family and friends to help us out on a daily basis, because I can’t drive or lift Jakob (or Henri in his bucket, or even my too-heavy diaper bag) until 6 weeks after the surgery.  I know sometimes if you feel up to it people only wait 4 weeks or so, but because of the uterine repair I am going to wait until I’ve seen my doctor to make sure the lifting, etc is ok.

What this means is that every day my mom or sister or my friend Debbie (hi Debbie!) has to go pick up Jakob from daycare since they close at 6pm and Yannick has been replacing me at work and the store only closes at 6pm (and 8pm on Thursdays).  Each night someone has to stay here with me until Yannick gets home from work (or bowling) because I can’t take care of Jakob on my own.  It’s been tough, and we’ve been very lucky for all the help we’ve recieved because we wouldn’t have been able to do this on our own.  For Jakob’s sake I’m just glad to get a few minutes each evening to play with him one-on-one, or color, or whatever, and have him see that I’m not ALWAYS with Henri, so having other family around to hold Henri during that time helps out as well.

It’s been tough (especially for my poor family who has been stuck here every night!) but it’s temporary as I see my doctor next week for the postpartum checkup.  Assuming everything looks good then I will be able to take care of the nights on my own.  Hmm…shlepping Henri to the daycare to pick Jakob up, getting both kids home, fed, into bed by the time Yannick gets back…do I really want my family to leave?  🙂

In any case, there’s more coming, we had Henri’s bris and other experiences over the last 5 weeks.  But this is his birth story, and I’ll get to the rest soon enough.  And of course, one more photo…

Until next time…

Hey look- a few minutes where there’s nobody in my arms!  I’ll get to Henri’s birth story soon, but let’s face it- most of you are here for photos, right? 

Around here we’ve been joking that my body is a photocopier and when I got pregnant a second time something internal just hit “repeat” and sent out a Jakob clone.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re not identical, but they look more alike than just brothers.  It’s hard for people to believe that my pale, blond little Jakob was born so dark, but he really was!  Check these out: