Normal life this time around has, of necessity, resumed rather quickly. Daniel and I were only given ten days (granted, they were ten solid, filled-with-lots-of-help days) before we had to be on our feet and keeping up with the needs of the rest of the family. I'm now on the other end of my first week as a bona fide Mother of Four. Among the tasks that have kept me running, I handled two school pick ups each day, got Caleb to his OT and speech appointments, did laundry twice, registered Caleb for kindergarten, took everyone on a brief outing to the playground, packed away my maternity clothes (!), and took Daniel to his 2-week well check-up.
So real life is in full swing (see photo above), and we've managed. But I am exhausted, running on fumes and relying on autopilot. Which works fine until I do things like mix up Daniel's formula with only half the amount of powder required for the amount of water I used, not realizing I did so until an entire day later.(No wonder he was particularly fussy that day -- he was literally half-starved!) Oops.
Daniel's 2-week appointment was this morning. In the ten days since his first office visit*, when he was five days old, he has gained 11 ounces, which is right on target. Here are his current stats:
Weight: 8 lbs
Length: 21 inches
In the last ten days he also seems to have forgotten how to poop on his own, which has been painful for him and frustrating for me. We've dealt with this problem in all of our other children, and I know that with a little prodding from outside sources, it will resolve itself eventually, but in the meantime, it's made for a very fussy and uncomfortable baby who is really only happy when he's sleeping. While we wait for things to get moving, so to speak, we've found that tight swaddling and white noise seem to help calm him, as does the euphoria that comes after screaming through a warm bath.
Awake and sad
Swaddled, sleeping and happy
At this appointment, we also addressed yet again the issue of tongue tie that he was born with. It's not disrupting his ability to eat (see the above 11 ounce weight gain), which, in addition to the fact that he's still so tiny, is why the doctor is hesitant to do anything about it immediately. But it has the potential to cause other problems down the road, including speech issues, so for now we will be keeping an eye on it. Caleb and Matthew, both of whom were also diagnosed with tongue tie as infants, were tagging along on this visit, and, since we were on the subject, and because it's been a recent concern of mine, I brought up Caleb's articulation issues and resulting need for speech therapy and my fear that Matthew's speech seems to developing the same problems, and asked for his opinion of what our next steps should be. He agreed that it was probably time to clip their frenulums, and we will likely be visiting an ENT this summer to get that taken care of. So stay tuned for some really fun times ahead in this regard.
While I am so, so glad to be at the end of Week 1 and looking at a 3-day weekend ahead, I haven't had to face these last several days alone. In the weeks both before and after Daniel's birth, we have received more help than we probably deserve from our ward family. From meals and help with school pick ups to visits, emails, and texts, we have been so well looked after, it's been a challenge to keep up with the thank you notes. But you know who you are, and if you're reading this, please know that we are eternally grateful for you and the love you've shown us. (Also, you'll get your official thank you note soon, I promise.)
The boys have also been very helpful. Aside from stepping up in his role as biggest brother and caring for his younger siblings, Garrett has often taken it upon himself to help keep our house clean. The other day (after a discussion in school about being a good citizen, which I'm sure helped prompt his actions) I woke up from a unplanned nap to find him dusting the living room and orchestrating other clean-up assignments for his brothers. Caleb is always retrieving Danny's two dollies (an elephant lovey and a little sock monkey) for him to hold when he's upset. And Matthew, who is as addicted as ever to his white cloths, is always making sure that Danny's burp cloths are accessible in case he, too, needs something to clutch when he's anxious. It's been sweet to watch each of them rise to the occasion, and gives me something to think fondly on when they're fighting with each other.
Mesmerized by white noise.
And now, what I intended to be a short update has turned into something more rambling -- a sure sign that I should be taking advantage of Daniel's nap by lying down myself rather than sitting at the computer. Sigh. It's just as well, though: that baby has a habit of waking up as soon as my head hits a pillow. ;)
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*Matthew had his 2-year well check-up at that same visit. He's growing just fine and doing everything a 2-year-old should. Here are his measurements:
Weight: 27 lbs
Height: 33.5 inches
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