1) Every single morning, the four older kids say things like this to Baby Xander:
~He grew so much last night!
~I don't know why, but he is the cutest baby ever!
~Can I hold him?
~Where is the baby? (if he's still sleeping)
One only needs to witness a child with their new sibling to realize that a brother or sister is the best gift you can offer your child.
2) For you runners out there....when can you safely start running after having a baby? I tried to run a mile yesterday and I thought my body was going to fall apart bone by bone. Walking is fine, but when can I up the pace?
3) One awesome thing about having more children is that my recovery after each baby has been shorter and less painful than the one before. Gosh, after that first baby, I thought a truck had run me over. After the fifth? I felt pretty much back to normal after a week. Seriously, it's been great.
4) We are still trying to figure out childcare for when I go back to work. Please pray for us because I don't want to have to put Xander in a daycare, but it looks like it may end up that way. There's a family that I see at daily Mass that has two small children, and I keep wanting to ask the mom if she'll watch Xander for me...but I don't even know her name. Is that weird? Or is it the Holy Spirit prompting me?
5) How much is a tummy tuck and where can I sign up? This is not for vanity (I never wore a bikini and I never will) but I would like to fit in my pants again one day without having to buy the next size up just to tuck my belly in. You moms know what I'm talking about!
6) Do you all go to your 6 week check-ups? I haven't made mine yet, and I'm thinking I might just skip it. I'm not due for any yearly exams, and I didn't have any tearing/stitches/hemorrhoids, so can I just trust my own judgement that everything is fine in the netherworld?
7) I am so excited that Phil is taking a few days off from work next week (he's been working maintenance all summer). So he'll have a few days of summer before he starts teaching again a week from Monday. Where did August go? And June and July, for that matter? I just don't want this summer to end....
Aren't little brothers/sisters wonderful? While Jonah doesn't often respond a whole lot to Gianna,Lily sure does. Jonah most often can be heard with 'oh, Gianna's down here (not in the crib?' or 'I almost stepped on Gianna. I didn't even know she was there (on the floor).' Quite often he's in his own world!
ReplyDeleteThen there's Lily in the morning 'well hello, little lady (both she and I call Gianna that name), how are you?' or 'look how cute you are...yes you are..yes your are' It's endless! It has revealed to me though how weird I sound when I talk to Gianna because I hear how Lily repeats things. lol.
Hmm...not a runner, but I was able to get back to full exercising within a couple weeks because I was going nuts feeling sluggish and looking at that mommy belly. For my sanity (and Reed's) the doc. urged me to get back to it!
I remember my recovery from Lily being awful too. These last two, hardly nothing. No meds., no nothing. Bounced back quickly and loved it!
Ah, the beloved belly. I'm with you. Although I've never had a bikini or ever will, the below the navel area pooch brought me to tears on more than several occasions since Gianna. I don't know that it will ever be 'rock hard abs' (umhum, like it ever was to begin with!!!), but I guess right now I don't have to really worry about that. Might as well stretch it out again and then worry about fixing it later. lol.
However, if you do find a resolution and it does not involve a size bigger pant or surgery, hook this sister up!!! :)
Don't want summer to end here either...I feel as though it's hardly begun!
could be the holy spirit on number four... you never know! all they can do is say no, and then you may have made a new friend!!!!
ReplyDelete... hope you are all doing fantastic!!!
Re:
ReplyDelete#1: Yes, they are the best gifts to one another.
#2: I solve this problem by NOT running. ;) heehee
#3: I have noticed the same thing about my recoveries, and I wonder if part of it is that I know what to expect afterwards now. That first time was like I had a ton of bricks dropped on me, but I really had no frame of reference for that kind of pain.
#4: Ask her over for a playdate or something and see how it goes. The worst that can happen is that you'd be in the same situation you are currently in, right?
#5: Just tuck until you are done with the kids, honey. There's no point in ruining good surgery with another stretchy belly. ;) (but I think about it, too, my friend!)
#6: I haven't been to a 6 week checkup since Fiver. That's 4 kids ago, and all my equipment still works just fine. I'm like you - no rips, tears, stitches, etc. If I feel fine, I figure it will all get checked whenever my yearly exam comes around.
#7: Yay for the last little bit of summer. Although to be totally honest, I am ready for the summer to end. I've been in survival mode and I need a good whiff of Fall.
LOVE that picture of Xander!!!! He is so darn cute!! And I'm sure all the kids are way more excited about him now that he is here and they can smother him in love :)
ReplyDeleteI agree about recovery - it was non-existent with Elena. I also wasn't surprised about anything so it was easier to just go with it. But I remember my first walk after having both babies as the same - my body was falling apart especially at the hips! Maybe the hormone that makes your joints loosey-goosey are still in your system??
And the only tried and true solution to the belly flap is to fill it out - eat bon bons and drink beer all day and I guarantee it will disappear in no time!!!
I really want to go running too, but am scared to do it too soon. i totally agree about recovering quicker with each kid, isn't it great! i hate my tummy also but it is all for a good cause!
ReplyDeleteI do not know about running after a normal birth, but I think the general rule is 6 weeks. Give yourself some time! The run will always be there for you.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with birth has been the opposite, my last was, by far, the worst! I still have to go to physical therapy due to scar tissue.
I hope that you are able to find child care for the little man! I will pray it all works out.
Thanks for another sweet pic of the babe. I love giving baby's their bath. They smell so sweet!
ReplyDeleteI agree...best gift is a sibling.
I usually don't start running until bleeding has stopped. When I push it, I pay for it.
ReplyDeleteEven once the bleeding's stopped, for the first month or so I get the same weirdo bone feeling you described. I chalk it up to the relaxin levels not having returned to pre-pregnancy levels. I've read somewhere that it takes up to 5 months for those levels to normalize.
Also, I didn't go to the 6 week checkup for the last three babies.
Siblings are great! He is such a cutie pie...I am glad you are feeling well.
ReplyDeleteHoping for the best for a caretaker for the lil guy.
xo
Suz
Wow you actually tried to run? I think I actually felt worse after my 4th than I did after the 1st - or at least, maybe I was trying to do more & had scary clots so I just sat back down. Don't think I even thought about exercise until at least 3 months :)
ReplyDeleteTummy tucks? Around $7k. But if your navel is herniated, insurance may cover some of it (yeah, I've looked into it). Sigh. Nothing but surgery will fix my pooch.
I'd talk to the mom about child care for baby - you never know, it may be just what she needs too :) I have a neighbor who watched one of our local teacher's kids and it worked out great for both of them.
First of all, #1, YES! Totally agree. All of those things that your older chilren say, my older children say. Every.single.morning. It is the sweetest. I cannot imagine my children not having the joy of a sibling {or a few!}.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the running, but I know that when I started trying to do aerobics a few weeks after Taylor was born, it wasn't pretty. Then I got the reminder {from a LOT of people} that I wasn't supposed to be exercising at all until cleared at the post partum check. Whoops! And speaking of, yes, I did just go in for my 8 week check up. But I don't know that I thought it was necessary.
A friend's mom just had a tummy tuck, and I'm pretty sure she's thrilled with it ;) I'm more concerned with my chest area . . . after extended nursing for many years, well, I need some help ;)
I wish we lived closer than across the US from each other :( Oh how I would love to watch little Xander. I think if you're feeling prompted to speak with that woman about childcare, do.
Wow....nice quads in the running shot!!! Your body will tell you when it's okay to run, you'll know. :) I was a c-sec and a baby at that....took me a long time to get back into it. Mostly mental for me I bet...he he.
ReplyDeleteI say ask the mother about daycare. All she can do is say no and you never know what could happen from there....you might have just found a great friend.
Cute pic of little Xander! :)