Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Quick catch-up

Many days, I actually manage to get all three kids down and out from around 1pm-3pm. Unfortunately, today, Isaac woke up at 1:30. This woke me up. And even though he went back to sleep, as we all know, once a nap has been jarred awake, it is difficult to go to sleep again. I tried but to no avail. So, I actually have a few free minutes to type a little bit of a blog. Even better, I can type this one with two hands. Man, typing one-handed gets old.

So, how are things going? As well as they could be I think. As I have mentioned previously, I am fortunate enough to nearly always have someone here to help me. JB early in the morning, Veronica until nap time, and JB after he gets off of work. The only small window in which I am flying solo is from post-naps until JB gets home. Veronica is off the clock during this time so this is the most difficult stretch of day for me.

Abigail is eating and sleeping fabulously. The only thing is, her fabulous schedule at night means she eats most of the day. Not that I am complaining. The kid is a fantastic sleeper! 10pm, 4am, and 8am! Don't think you can find a newborn mom who thinks it's okay to complain about that.

The boys are handling Abigail's inclusion in our family pretty flawlessly. Okay, so she has been accidentally hit with a car (twice), a pillow, and a few elbows, but otherwise, they "get" that they have to be gentle with her and that mom is a little tied up while she is feeding her. I couldn't ask for better big brothers.

Scrubs is, as usual, not an issue at all with the new baby. He sniffs her and gives her a lick now and then, but mostly, he is just waiting for his time to go outside and play with his Frisbee. There have been a lot of visitors to the house, and Scrubsy is not a big fan of new people. (You have to come over a few times before you are greeted without a big bad bark.) But overall, he's been a champ as well.

JB and I are exhausted. JB is especially exhausted. He is the lead doctor at the hospital right now AND he is on phone call (which means wake-ups during the night.) He is managing okay but is very excited to have both of these extra jobs removed from him.

Three kiddos three and under and a big dog is a lot. I won't sugar coat that fact. I am really not sure how I would be able to manage without Veronica here and/or JB having the great schedule he does. The hardest thing is that while the boys are quite independent, they still need my help for a lot of things, and I am usually feeding Abigail. But we are getting the hang of things. I have learned how to put on their underwear and shorts one-handed after a trip to the bathroom. I can walk and feed without too much of an issue. We are getting it!

Your continued prayers for our adjustment to this new world are welcome. You can also pray for me. I am doing tremendously better emotionally but am still a little melancholy right now. I am pretty sure that this is mostly due to fatigue and that this will pass very soon.

I also am SOOO excited to be back on our tiny Base. It is so quaint and quiet here in comparison to Germany. There is something very nice about a small-town, and I am glad to be back in mine.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You may have one of these already, but I found I was able to nurse hands-free using the Moby wrap. Any sling would work, really. Just get baby into the sling, latch on, and you're off. It can be very cumbersome to get into, but the small wrestling match is worth being able to do a few things while baby is nursing. I also know if would be difficult for you to buy a sling given your current location, but it would be very easy to fashion a Moby wrap using regular cotton spandex fabric, which I'm guessing wouldn't be hard to find in one of your local fabric stores. I Googled "Moby wrap dimensions" and here's what I found: 16 ft long, 21 inches wide at widest, 4" at the very narrowest end (ends taper down, this isn't necessary).

Anonymous said...

P.S. It sounds like you're doing really well as the mom of 3. I've always heard that 3 kids is 5 more than 2. :)

Wendi Kitsteiner said...

Actually someone else suggested the moby wrap -- i think i need to try it!

denise said...

yes, I have a friend that had twins and used the moby wrap and LOVED it! It takes a bit to learn the folds, but once you get it you got it. My one friend would put it on at home then when they got to where they needed to after their car ride, she would take the baby out and put the baby right in the wrap without having to stand there putting on the wrap. I wish I had known about it when my boys were little!

denise said...

http://www.mobywrap.com/