Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Staying busy

We've been staying busy around here, but I suppose when you have three kids that's inevitable, and Memorial Day weekend was no different. Tommalamma and I ran errands all day on Friday, to the bank, setting up a meeting with the financial adviser, getting Sexy Flexy inspected, dropping off stuff with Tom, AND buying the kids new shoes. Nordstrom was having a sale in the children's department and since I had a gift card I decided to check out their shoe selection. They happened to have Keens on sale and Anne's always raving about them and our kids tear through shoes in record time, so I decided to give them a chance. I got both girls a pair to wear now (and hopefully they last through the fall) and got Tommy a pair to wear when he's older and walking. I foolishly bought Stasa's pair in her current size and they were a tad too tight so we went back to the mall that evening to exchange them for a larger size. The girls love going to the Nordstrom kids shoe section because there are free balloons there. Of course once we were at the mall we let the girls have some play time at the play place and watched Stasa and Lexi play their version of hide and seek.

After the mall we decided to eat out and on a whim chose Benihana. Tom wasn't sure it would be kid friendly, but I figured the girls would enjoy watching the "show" and I was right. The chef flipped food around and made an onion volcano and generally just entertained the kids at the table. I was slightly surprised at what the girls ate. Stasa was really adept with her chopsticks and even managed to grasp the tiny slices of scallion in her soup. She ate most of her soup, including the scallions and mushrooms, all of the shrimp appetizer, some of her chicken, and a ton of rice. She tried the veggies, but wasn't a huge fan. Lexi played with her soup - shocker - and ate all of her rice and none of her chicken, but she did eat most of her shrimp appetizer. Both girls enjoyed the rainbow sherbet that was included with their meal.



We spent Saturday at dance class and hanging out at home. It was way too cold for the pool and pretty windy so Tom took the girls out to play and fly their kites. Stasa did a pretty good job getting the kite up on her own and both kids had fun playing outside with Tom and I enjoyed some "quiet" time with Tommalamma and the vacuum.


Sunday was spent running all over the place. I made our meal plan for the week and then a shopping list for Target, Costco, and Safeway. We did the usual Merkel family trip to Costco and the girls had a blast sampling all of the food. I'm always amazed at the variety they're willing to eat when it's served on a toothpick. Before we went to the store I gave Stasa one of our old digital cameras and she was snap happy at Costco. So much so that I had to clear the camera's memory a couple of times during our trip so she could continue to take pictures of boxes and food and strangers.


She's quite happy with herself and her photo taking abilities. As soon as I find the cord for that camera I'll share her many artistic shots.

The pool was actually open on Monday, but it was still too cold and I knew the girls wouldn't get in the water so we hung out at home and thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and both of our pantries. The girls were pretty patient and entertained themselves for the most part. After their nap we took them out to the playground and let them run around for a bit before dinner. Lexi is still apprehensive of the swings and prefers to just sit on the big kid swings and avoids the kiddie swings. Well, of course there was a long wait to use the big kid swings as is usual on a nice day so we tried to convince Lexi to use the kiddie swings since she wanted to swing and we didn't have all day to wait. Stasa, being the good big sister that she is, hopped off of her big kid swing and ran over to the kiddie swings to get Lexi to join her. With Stasa by her side Lexi actually enjoyed the swings and even cracked a smile.



I love watching the girls at the playground. They have so much energy, especially Stasa, and it's nice to watch them run all over the place and climb and swing and slide. It's even better to watch them start to run out of steam because that means they'll sleep soundly and get a good night's rest.

All the busyness makes for one tired mama during the week. Well, that and the little man who insists on waking up for every possible feeding available to him, which means I'm up about every 2-3 hours at night and then listening to him grunt from 5:00 am until our alarms go off. So Tommy spends nearly every morning and afternoon napping and then takes cat naps on me the rest of the day. He's the first of our kids to really nap in the bouncer and I'm so grateful because it allows me to have two hands so I can make dinner and eat my lunch and shower. And he's just so adorable when he's sleeping.


When he's not sleeping or eating or pooping, and believe me those three things fill up the majority of our days - when he's not doing any of those things he's hanging around staring at me. And I kinda love when he does that because he's got beautiful eyes, eyes that I'm pretty sure will be blue like Tom's. And when he smiles his gas smiles he has the most adorable dimple forming on his left cheek.


Monday, May 20, 2013

3 Weeks Old



How did three weeks already fly by? Was it really just three weeks ago that we went to the hospital to meet our little man? Tommy is still such a relaxed baby and we're so grateful for that. We went to an engagement party on Saturday and he was passed around like candy and just slept in everyone's arms. Then Sunday he and I went to a friend's baby shower and he was nice and quiet the whole day AND he didn't spit up all over his adorable Ralph Lauren polo onesie.

He's still sleeping pretty well, but wakes up every hour and a half to two hours to eat, although Saturday night he gave me two three hour stretches of sleep which felt amazing. He's also so much more alert now and will spend a lot of time just gazing around and will happily lay on the floor of the playroom listening to the girls chatter and play.


The girls really love being around him and often argue over whose brother he is. It's just another version of their "that's MY mommy" argument. Always a fun one to listen to. I suppose that's better than the alternative. I remember my mom telling the story of when she brought my brother home from the hospital and I looked at him and told her to send him back because I didn't want a baby brother. These girls don't care at all about the sex of their baby sibling, they just love having a real live baby to play with.


And they'll give anyone holding him the evil eye. At the engagement party Lexi would walk by someone holding Tommy, give them the side eye and proclaim "that's MY brother Tommy." Just in case they weren't aware. Stasa loves getting down on the floor with him and gets so excited when he looks at her or grabs her finger or touches her face. She's fascinated with how small he is and loves caressing his head and kissing his hands.


Tommy is a lucky little boy to have such loving big sisters. Now he may not be as lucky when they realize they can dress him up and make him be one of their royal subjects.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

A new thing to fight about

The new kid likes to soil himself, but really what baby doesn't? After I fed him yesterday morning he spit up a RIVER of mess. All over him and all over me. As I was cleaning him up he spit up even more and then peed all over both of us. I gave him a quick wash down, got him dressed and covered in burp cloths and then took off to visit with Tom at work.

We're still getting the hang of changing diapers on the boy. It really feels like the clock's ticking the whole time and we're playing with fire with each second we leave him exposed. It was even harder when we were still putting vaseline for his circumcision and dealing with the umbilical stump. While it's gotten easier since those two have healed, it's still hit or miss with pee getting everywhere. All of that to say, the kid needs to be bathed frequently so he doesn't smell like urine or curdled milk.

We started off bathing him in the sink, but the girls wanted so badly to help us and the sink is too high for them to really see or help. So we moved him to the big tub and decided to let the girls take turns bathing with him. I'm still deciding if this was one of the worst ideas I've had because now the girls argue constantly about whose turn it is to bathe Tommy. The way they carry on about it you'd think they were arguing over who gets the crown jewels. And it's not like they get to do a whole hell of a lot. We put Tommy in his bath seat, have one of the girls hop in the tub with him, and "shower" them both. We let the girls wash his feet, legs, and belly and then have them focus on cleaning their own body. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes.


I guess I should be grateful that they're fighting over who gets to care for their baby brother instead of fighting just to fight. They both love him so much and want to help with everything, sometimes they're overly helpful, like when Tommy's dead asleep and they're trying to stuff his pacifier in his mouth because "he NEEDS it." It does give me hope that they'll be even more helpful when we have our next. Yeah, I know, we're just a little nuts, but we've always wanted a large family.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

My favorite baby items

I did a "best buys" post after Stasa was born with things we loved then. Here's what I'm still loving and some new things I've discovered along the way.

Swing: We have two Graco swings, like this one, and keep one in our living room and one in the nursery. I try to have a safe place to put the baby on each level and the swing has always been a God-send for us. Each of our babies have loved the swing and have napped well in it.

Babyhawk Mei Tei carrier: I have three carriers, the ultimate baby wrap, which is similar to the Moby, a Baby Bjorn, and the Babyhawk. The Babyhawk is hands down my favorite carrier. It's super comfortable and distributes the baby's weight evenly on my shoulders and hips. I can wear the baby in this carrier for hours without feeling exhausted or in pain. The wrap is good for infants or lighter babies and I usually use that around the house. I use the Bjorn for quick trips in and out of a store. I prefer not to carry the baby in the Bjorn for long periods of time because my back will start to kill since all of the weight is put on my shoulders and upper back.

Bebe Au Lait hooter hider: I have two nursing covers, one I keep in the diaper bag and one I keep around the house when I'm on maternity leave and then move to my pump bag when I return to work. I like the Bebe Au Lait covers because the material is a thicker cotton yet light enough to use in the summer. And I really like the pattern choices.

Boppy nursing pillow: I know some people prefer the Breast Friend nursing pillow, but I've always loved the Boppy. I have two and like the swing I keep one downstairs and one upstairs. I use the Boppy primarily for nursing, but have also used it to prop the baby up after a feeding (while I'm sitting next to her/him), and to assist with sitting up when baby is first learning.

Muslin swaddle blankets: We have a plethora of baby blankets, but the Aden and Anais blankets are by far a favorite. They're HUGE and lightweight muslin so they're perfect for swaddling, especially in the warmer months. They're great to use as a clean place for baby to lay when we're out and about and as a stroller or car seat cover. I've also bought undyed natural muslin from the fabric store and use that as a swaddle blanket. That muslin is less stretchy than the a + a blankets so it's harder for baby to kick its way out of the swaddle.

Cloth diapers: These suckers have so many uses. I have a stack of Gerber brand cloth diapers and use them as burp cloths. They're so absorbent (as they should be - after all they're diapers!) and really help me protect my own clothes when I'm burping the baby. Stasa and Tommy have been the queen and king of spit up in our house, so we go through bibs like crazy. These diapers have helped catch a lot of the spit up. I bought our batch of diapers back when I had Stasa and they've gone through the wash multiple times over several years and have help up well.

Coconut oil: Thank God Anne told me about this stuff. I've replaced my beloved lanolin with it and have used it to heal cracked nipples, as a lube on my pump flanges, as a hand lotion, to help rid Tommy of cradle cap, as a hair mask for Lexi to help her dry scalp, and as a replacement for butter when cooking and baking. LOOOOOOVE this stuff.

Ultimate crib sheet: I still love this sheet more than any other crib sheet. It's a waterproof pad, mattress pad and sheet all in one. We have two of these and don't have a need for more. We keep a cute regular crib sheet on the mattress and then put the ultimate crib sheet over that. The snaps make it really easy to change, especially in the middle of the night and when the mattress is lowered.

Baby Connect app: I got this app before I had Lexi and love it. I use it for all three kids and track their stats and vaccinations and allergies. When Lexi was a baby and now with Tommy I've been using it to track diapers and feedings. Sooooooo much easier to be able to tell the doctor how often the baby's eating and how many diapers he's gone through in a day. I've also used it to track fevers and illnesses with the girls, which has been handy because I can accurately share that information with the nurse or doctor when they ask. I have it downloaded to both my phone and iPad and wish Tom and I were on the same iTunes account so he could have it on his phone and iPad, too.

Strollers: We've gone through six different strollers since Stasa was born. Go ahead, give me the side-eye. I know it sounds crazy and if I knew then what I know now we would have only ever bought two maybe three strollers. We started out with the Graco travel system stroller which was bulky and heavy and not great for outdoors. I traded that in and got a single Baby Trend jogger and loved it. We put many many miles on that sucker, but then realized we'd need a double stroller once Lexi was born. So I went out and tried multiple doubles and really really wanted the Phil and Teds double stroller, but Tom didn't want to pay the price for it so we ended up with a Baby Trend double jogger. It was HUGE and HEAVY and awkward and barely fit through our front door. Forget fitting it in the trunk of the car. Before Lexi was born we bought two other strollers: a Chicco umbrella stroller and a Snap n Go. When she was born we had four strollers. I listed both joggers on Craigslist in the hopes of selling those and using that money towards a new double. I was so happy to see both of those strollers go and even happier that I found a used Phil and Teds double stroller on Craigslist for only a couple of hundred dollars (much much less than what it costs new). Once I was pregnant with Tommy I bought the car seat adapter for the P&T so we could use it for him, too. We primarily use the P&T stroller when we go out, but kept the Snap n Go and Chicco umbrella stroller for when we take a singleton out with us.

Diaper Dude diaper bag: I registered for this diaper bag back when I was pregnant with Stasa and am so glad I did. It's not huge which means it's also never too heavy. I've never had a problem with being able to fit everything we need for a day out for all three kids (and that's with two in diapers). It's also something that Tom doesn't mind carrying and doesn't look girly at all. I usually fit about 10 diapers (5 for each kid), a change of clothes for Tommy and Lexi, a sippy cup for Lexi, container of wipes, diaper cream, pacifiers, changing pad, tylenol and allergy meds, breast pads, nursing cover, burp cloths, a light blanket, and bottles (when needed).

Milkies: I am so glad I discovered this product this time around. I've always had a strong letdown when nursing and would soak my breast pad on the non-nursing side at each feeding. It was such a waste of milk. With the Milkies I've been able to catch anywhere from an ounce or two of milk just from letdown at each feeding. I end up with about a bottle or a bottle and a half each day from letdown milk. It's so easy to use and was definitely worth the $20+.

Monday, May 13, 2013

2 Weeks Post-Partum

Technically two weeks and two days. I wanted to document all of this at exactly two weeks, but the day got away from me on Saturday and I barely managed to take Tommy's weekly picture. Let's start with pictures.


My stomach is still going down and I think most of the fluid and pregnancy "stuff" is gone, so it's going to be all diet and exercise to get my pre-pregnancy body back. I rejoined Weight Watchers on Saturday and started tracking points yesterday. I weighed in at 173 pounds yesterday and set my first goal for 164 pounds. I think I need to lose about 15-20 pounds to get back into my size 8 pants, which is my goal for my return to work date. I have 10 weeks to lose the weight and tone up. I already packed away my maternity clothes, but can really only fit in to one or two pairs of my jeans, both a size 10. I'd love to just throw on a dress some days, but I kind of forgot how difficult it can be to breastfeed while wearing a dress, so I'm sticking to pants and nursing friendly shirts.

This past weekend my bleeding finally subsided and I haven't had any more painful contractions, thank the good Lord because those suckers KILLED. My heartburn has been gone since little Tommy came out. It always amazes me how quickly it just disappears. This time I got the worst heartburn during labor and ended up taking meds to get rid of it so I was thrilled when it was gone after birth.

Breastfeeding is going really well and I've been using coconut oil instead of lanolin and it's really helped heal my cracked skin. Tommy has a great latch and strong suck which took some getting used to - it's like having a snapping turtle latch on. I call him the snapdragon when he latches. But I'm thankful for another baby who nurses so easily because I wouldn't want to repeat Stasa's initial breastfeeding experience. He was cluster feeding in the evening and then giving me some good stretches of sleep, like three sometimes four hours at night, but now he's taken a leaf out of Lexi's baby book and seems to not want to miss a single meal. This past weekend he ate just about every hour and a half. Of course the two week growth spurt is probably also to blame for the increased demand, but I thought the same thing when Lexi was a baby and that girl never missed a feeding and didn't sleep through the night until she was about 10 months old. But I won't mind if the little man is that way. He's so relaxed and goes into a milk coma after eating and once I move him to his own room I'm sure I'll sleep better.

Yes, he's still in our room. Yes, I've eaten my words from four or five years ago. I said I wouldn't have the kids sleep in our room, but after having kids and then having a slight choking scare with Stasa while we were in the hospital I ate my words and Stas moved into our room for the first few weeks. Well, really we slept on the couch with her on us for the first two weeks, then moved her into our room for another week. Lexi stayed in our room for the first two weeks and then we moved her to the crib. I think I'll probably keep Tommy in the bassinet in our room for another couple of weeks. While he does go into a milk coma he also tends to spit up long after eating (even with lots of burping) and we're both a bit paranoid that he'll choke so I feel better having him right next to me. And because he's right next to me I wake up at the slightest noise and like all new babies he makes a ton of little noises and grunts "eh eh eh" in his sleep. At least I'm able to nap during the day and that helps me feel a little more human.

Oddly enough this pregnancy and recovery has been the easiest so far. I was definitely more tired this time around, but that's only to be expected when you're pregnant and running after two young kids. Tom and I agreed that having to keep the girls on their schedule after Tommy was born has really helped us keep a normal schedule. When Stasa was born we were sleeping during the day, up at night and it was really hard to transition back to our regular schedule. We were better when Lexi was born, but this time has been the best schedule-wise. Routine has been one of the keys to success for us with the girls. And it's probably also why I feel like my normal, although somewhat sleep-deprived, self.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Is it wrong to wish yourself a happy Mother's Day? Maybe, but I don't even care. I feel absolutely blessed to have the three sweetest babies call me mommy. They all woke up happy this morning and are miraculously all napping at the same time for the first time ever (KNOCKING ON ALL SORTS OF WOOD). These kids bring a smile to my face every day. It makes my heart swell to see them love on each other.



Thursday, May 9, 2013

2 Week Well Visit



We took Tommy in for his two week well visit this morning. We stripped him down to his diaper only to find that he needed to be changed and then he peed all over the place. Good thing there were two of us - we quickly cleaned up the mess and got him into a dry diaper and ready to get weighed. Here are his two week stats:
Weight: 8 lbs 2 oz (33rd percentile)
Height: 21.25" (73rd percentile)
Head: 14.25" (32nd percentile)

So he's back up to his birth weight, although I really thought he'd be a little heavier since he literally eats around the clock. He's been nursing about every hour and a half lately and then ups it to every hour from 4:00 to 9:00 pm and then gives me a good stretch of sleep and usually wakes up around midnight or 1:00 am. Sometimes he eats twice at that hour, but either way he sleeps until about 4:00 or 5:00 am and then gets up again around 6:30 am. Obviously a lot of nursing is going on which also means there's also a lot of pooping going on.

The past two weeks have flown by and I can't believe that Tom will be going back to work on Monday. I've been trying to let him sleep during the night since I have to be up to feed Tommy anyway. Plus that way he can run interference with the girls when they're home and I can relax with the baby. I'm planning on getting in to a routine with Tommy once we're on our own. Ideally I'd like to fit in a decent walk every day especially if the weather is nice. I think I might try to keep the girls home for one-on-one time every now and then, too. Tom and I kept Stasa home today and she's having a lot of fun just hanging out in the playroom and having all of the toys to herself. We'll be keeping Lexi home tomorrow and having some one-on-one time with her.



We've also been doing tummy time with Tommy to work on strengthening his muscles and head control. He doesn't seem to mind tummy time too much and sometimes gets bored and falls asleep in the middle of it. But he's been able to lift his head and turn it before he gets too annoyed. And he's able to really lift his head and move around when he's laying on one of us.

We've also been taking bets on what color his eyes will end up being. Tom goes back and forth on the color, but I think he might end up with blue eyes. We'll just have to see if they keep getting lighter or if they take a turn towards brown.




Saturday, May 4, 2013

Tommy's other mommies

Back when I was pregnant with Lexi people would ask me "what does Stasa think about having a new baby?" and I would always answer that she really didn't "get" it. We would talk about it with her and explain that there was a baby in my belly, but she just figured that everyone, including her, had a baby in their belly. It wasn't until we brought Lexi home that she realized this thing was here to stay. And even then she wasn't all that involved in caring for Lexi. She would hold Lexi, but lost interest after a few seconds and really just wanted to play. It wasn't until Lexi was old enough to play with her that she really became interested in having a little sister. And now the two of them are thick as thieves. They play together all of the time and for the most part they get along. Stasa is the typical big sister and bosses Lexi around when they play and Lexi usually just goes along with whatever Stasa says. Of course they also fight like any siblings, but we've been letting them resolve their issues on their own.

This time people would ask Stasa and Lexi if they wanted a baby brother or a baby sister and Stasa would always say that she only wanted sisters. No matter how often we explained that the baby could be a brother or sister, she insisted that she could only have sisters, no brothers. Lexi never really seemed to care, but both girls were really into feeling the baby kick. And every night they would give my belly a kiss goodnight and would talk to the baby. Stasa was also full of questions during this pregnancy and was really interested in how the baby was going to get out of my belly. I explained how the baby would be born and every few days after that she would remind me how the baby would come out.

The day I packed my hospital bag she saw it in my room and had tons of questions about it and what it was for. When I explained that we would take it with us when we went to the hospital, she wanted to pack a bag for herself, too. It took quite a bit of explaining to get her to understand that she wouldn't be going to the hospital with us. Once she knew that Mimi was coming to stay with her, she was fine.

I worried a bit about when I would go into labor and if it would happen while they were at school, home and awake, or in the middle of the night. We talked to Stasa a lot about what would happen when it was time for the baby to come so she would be prepared if she woke up and we weren't at home. Turns out that's exactly what happened and apparently she woke up around 5:00 am looking for us.

After Tommy was born the girls were the first visitors we had - I really wanted them to meet their new brother before anyone else came around. They ran into the room, happy to see us and chomping at the bit to meet their new baby. We told them it was a baby brother and his name was Tommy and I kind of braced myself for the frowns about it being a boy, only to be met with huge smiles. They were beyond thrilled to have a brother and both immediately wanted to hold him and love on him. Stasa was interested in him and happy to hold him, but she was also happy to let Lexi and others take a turn holding him. Lexi, on the other hand, did not want to give him up once she started holding him. I think this picture explains exactly how she felt when she wasn't holding him.


I wasn't expecting Lexi to be all that interested in her new brother and thought she'd behave the way Stasa did when Lexi was born. I couldn't have been more wrong. Lexi is the most caring and attentive big sister this kid could have. Don't get me wrong, Stasa also loves Tommy and always gives him kisses goodnight and goodbye in the morning, but she's also happy to leave him be if he's sleeping or just hanging out. And she occasionally asks to hold him, but if I say no she's okay with that, too. Lexi insists on either holding Tommy or sitting next to him all of the time. When she wakes up in the morning, she runs out of her room and asks "where's Tommy?" and then beelines for our room to see him. No more snuggles with Mommy for her in the morning. She also likes to pick out his clothes every morning and likes to cover him with blankets and gives him the pacifier whether he's crying or not.

Both girls are getting into a new routine when they come home from school every day. They come in, take off their jackets and shoes and run to wash their hands (they're often reminded to do that) so they can love on Tommy. Stasa is fascinated by the way he looks around and how he grips her finger. She's content to sit next to him and look at his eyes. The other night I spent some extra time with her after stories and let her hold him for a bit. She just stared into his eyes and told me that Tommy has dark blue eyes and she and daddy have light blue eyes. She's mostly helpful and hasn't really lashed out like she did when Lexi was born. I think part of that is us working as hard as we can to keep both girls to the routine and schedule they're used to. Both girls have to be reminded more than once to do something, but if we add in that they can hold Tommy if they do X, Y, or Z they sprint to get it done. A little bribery never hurt anyone, did it? ; )

The girls have both surprised me with how loving and caring and gentle they are with Tommy. And both have been so generous with their favorite blankets and will cover him and place their own babies next to him. They're also very interested in how he eats and the other night both came down with their babies and said they needed to feed their babies "booby milk" and asked me to help them. I wanted to make them mini Boppys before the baby was born and never got around to it, but now that I know they're so interested in caring for their babies I think I'll make them sometime in the next week. Tommy is very blessed to have two loving big sisters and I feel more than blessed to have three beautiful and healthy kids.





One week later

Tommy is now a week old. Yesterday was his due date and I still can not believe that he's already been with us for a full week and yet it feels like he's been with us forever. I love having a boy in the house and ::knock on wood:: this kid is so chill. He cries when he's hungry or when he pees, but for the most part he's content to just hang out on us for a nap or lounge in his swing. He tolerates his big sisters mauling him and forcing him to take his pacifier, but that's a whole post on its own.

We took him to the pediatrician on Monday for his initial check up and he weighed in at 7 pounds 7 ounces, down from his discharge weight of 7 pounds 15 ounces. Of course my milk hadn't yet come in at that point so we weren't too concerned about the weight loss since he was nursing around the clock and was still having plenty of meconium poops. Tom was worried about Tommy's color and thought he was a bit yellow, but the doctor said he looked okay and just to keep feeding him and take him out in the sunlight when we could.

We went back in for a weight check on Friday and he gained 6 ounces! Back up to 7 pounds 13.5 ounces and his color was much better and she said there were no jaundice concerns. His circumcision is also healing nicely and as soon as that gross umbilical stump falls off we'll be able to give him a proper bath, which he desperately needs - the sponge bath isn't cutting it.

Maybe it's because this is our third time around or maybe it's just him, ::knock on wood:: but Tommy is a great nurser and sleeper. He eats anywhere from every hour and a half to every three hours and sleeps in between. I feel like I've come such a long way with breastfeeding when I look back on my initial experience with Stasa. I'm so happy that I stuck with it because I learned so much about proper latch and ways to increase my supply. Although even with his good latch my poor breasts are cracked and in pain and the round the clock feeding isn't giving them enough time to heal, BUT I replaced the lanolin I was using with coconut oil and OMG it's made a huge difference. Not only does it smell amazing, it soaks into my skin faster and is helping heal the cracks fast. I also got another new product to help catch the milk from the non-nursing side at each feeding. I have always needed to wear breast pads since my breasts never seem to get the message that both don't need to letdown when the baby is eating. And since I letdown on both sides at each feeding my pads were getting soaked with wasted milk. I happened across this new product, Milkies, and thought what the hell, let's try it. I'm so glad I bought it because I've been catching one to two ounces of milk at each feeding - just from letdown!

I definitely wasn't looking forward to the sleepless nights, but don't feel as exhausted as I thought I would. Of course having Tom take over during part of the night and naps in the middle of the day help me feel more rested. And we haven't yet faced the first growth spurt and I definitely remember how awful it was during the six week spurt. But for now I'll celebrate the sleep I do get.

I'm happy that we came home a little early from the hospital because it let me dive right back into our routine with the girls. I've been pretty active since coming home and have even managed a couple of short outings with the boy and Tom. My bleeding has gone down a lot, but I'm still having sporadic post-partum contractions during feedings and OMG those suckers are PAINFUL this time. The first few days I literally had to breathe through them all lamaze-like just to get through the pain. I finally stopped taking ibuprofen a few days after being home, but those first few days I was counting down the hours until I could get my next dose of meds, even though it seemed to do nothing.

I'm trying to remember my pre-pregnancy weight and I think it was around 155 or something, but I know I weighed in at 163 pounds at my first appointment for this pregnancy. I stepped on the scale today and was 172. Not too terrible for a week out. I've been eating relatively healthy foods, sticking to Greek yogurt and berries and spinach smoothies for breakfast, a lot of salads and fish for lunches and dinners. But I've also had my fair share of unhealthy foods- a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry's, pizza dinner, and Wendy's for lunch. Once my milk supply regulates I'll be rejoining Weight Watchers since I was successful last time using that to lose the baby weight. And after I get the all clear at my six week check up I'll start up with the elliptical and ab ripper again. For now I'm just trying to eat as healthy as I can, but still allowing myself treats and am going to start taking some longer walks with Tom and Tommy next week.

Here's me at one week post-partum. Not too bad, though I still look four or five months pregnant. I did pack away my maternity clothes yesterday because I don't want the temptation to wear oversized clothes and need some motivation to get back into my regular clothes. I'm still wearing yoga pants or leggings every day, but am back in my regular shirts. I'll eventually try squeezing myself into a pair of jeans, but for now I'll stick with my stretchy pants.