31 July 2014

Vaccination Hell

Happy two months to my sweet little monster.  Sadly, we celebrated by getting her first round of vaccinations – a whopping four in total! I’m all for the miracles of modern medicine and believe in vaccinations, but four in one go seems brutal.  Andrew was always a bit touchy on the day of vaccinations, but he was usually right as rain within 24 hours.  As for Maeve…holy hell! I was not prepared for the fussiness that descended upon my typically-happy little camper. Of course, as luck would have it, she started to get a cold on the same day as her shots.

We are now four days post-vaccination and she is still a fussy handful. It’s hard to say whether her crankiness and lack of appetite is due to the cold or the shots now.  I think the combo of both was just a little too rough, poor sweetie.  Of course, because I am the receptacle of all her bodily fluids, guess who also got sick?  I feel like I have been hit by a truck.  You should see the two of us sprawled on the couch, both drippy and cantankerous, it’s not a pretty sight.

So far the boys have managed to escape the bug. I’m not holding out much hope though because these things usually make the rounds.  Parenthood…not for the weak!

18 July 2014

Return to the blogosphere

Yup…I’m still kicking. Try as I might, over the past few years I just haven’t been able to get back into blogging.  Between working and raising an active four-year-old, I could barely string together a coherent sentence by the end of a typical day.  But now that I am home on maternity leave, I’m going to try my darnedest to get back into it.

Yes! You heard correctly. I am now on maternity leave for the next year. We finally had our baby girl after several years of deliberation and then a few losses. I look at her and have to pinch myself sometimes to remind me that this isn’t a dream. I was getting to the point where I was considering throwing in the towel on having our last child, and now here she is. 

Little Maeve came into the world on May 28 via planned C-Section. Everything went like clockwork.  Surgery is certainly easier to endure when you know what to expect and it isn’t an emergency. Thankfully I got that instant maternal bond the moment I set eyes on Maeve. I was worried about post-partum depression again like I had with Andrew, but aside from a few normal hormonal bouts, I seem to be in the clear this time.

Being a Mom for the second time has been far easier. I have less trepidation and I’m more content to just sit, snuggle and cherish the little things. Having gone through this age once, I know how quickly it all passes. Of course, my contentment is also aided by the fact that Maeve really is an easy/ textbook baby.  If she cries, I go through the typical checklist and she is easily settled…not like the uncontrollable crying from colic that her poor brother had.

Life with two kids has had certain challenges but the adjustment hasn’t been as difficult as I imagined thus far. In general, I think the second child just has to be more portable than the first. Andrew has adjusted beautifully and is very sweet with his baby sister. Any small bits of jealousy have been directed at either hubby or I and never at Maeve. If anything, he wants to include her in everything!  We do our best to give them each their own special time with us, but he usually wants Maeve included in whatever we are doing with him.  I think the age gap helps because he is old enough to play independently and keen to help.

So that’s what has been keeping me busy over the past few months - slowly navigating my way through the new “normal”.  I will endeavor to capture the next year at home not because I’m overly interesting, but rather because writing is a good outlet…otherwise I find myself making up songs about the baby to the tune of whatever happens to be playing on the radio…really!  A lack of adult companionship during the days will mess with your head.

Welcome to the world baby girl!