It’s such a parent-cliche, but it’s true…time goes by so fast with these little ones!

We’ve had sweet Avy Jane with us for one month now, and goodness, it’s hard to believe. She is the dearest little addition to our family, and while of course having two children means double the work and effort and required energy, I would never trade it for anything. It’s amazing how fast a new child can entrench themselves so deeply into your heart and how you can instantly go from not having them to never being able to imagine not having them.

Aveline has been a good and peaceful baby for the most part, and now that I’ve learned to completely eliminate dairy from my diet, she has become even more peaceful and easy to care for. We had a few weeks and nights that were rough-rough-rough with tummy issues and she wouldn’t go to sleep for hours…but now that I’ve taken dairy out completely, she will fall asleep without much fuss and isn’t nearly as restless. I’m not a huge dairy girl to begin with, but I do miss my yogurt and eating things like fajitas or Chipotle bowls without any cheese or sour cream is kind of a bummer, but it’s just not worth it when I know it makes her tummy upset which means less sleep and peace for mama.

She nurses well and have given me a few longer stretches at night, but most nights we are up at least three times to nurse. Most times she will fall right back asleep, although lately she will have more times when she wakes up completely and then will just sit in my arms staring at me with her big eyes for an hour or more until she falls asleep. She’s not fussing, just awake. I just remind myself in those night-time hours to soak in the sweetness of it, because she will grow and change and not need me as much so fast…but sometimes those moments can lose their sweetness when you feel the precious night time sleeps hours slipping by as we just rock and rock on the recliner chair together, hehe. But she does sleep well for the most part, and I have nothing to complain about for sure.

Aveline is too young to really tell what her personality will be like, but it is interesting to already see some differences between the two girls. Ayla came out a typical independent first-born and would be content being on her own or rocking in the Mamaroo. Aveline is a snuggle-bug, and just wants to be held held held. She is able to sleep without being held now, but when she’s awake, she’s all about being in your arms. I do love it, but there are moments when I’m trying to get ready or make dinner or do laundry that I wouldn’t mind if she was a touch more independent. But for now, we just soak up the snuggles, knowing that all too soon, she’ll be off and running around like her big sister.

It’s been so sweet to watch Ayla love on her little sister, and she has done really well with accepting this new addition. She will run to get the paci any time that Avy starts to cry and wants to lay down besides her for diaper changes (yep we’ve still got her in diapers…we’re going through a lot of wipes and diapers these days!) and asks to hold her almost every day. It’s going to be so fun watching these two girlies grow up together.

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We are almost three weeks into being a family of four, and we are slowly getting it figured out, I think.

The first week after Aveline was born was both the best week and the hardest week. We were soaking up the newness of a baby and just planting ourselves in that sweet little bubble that comes after a baby…but it was also the hardest days with Ayla and just trying to balance it all in that first week was a challenge at times. I was not at all prepared for the strange disconnection I would feel with Ayla in that first week, and it broke my heart so many times when I would feel her pull away from me. She would often just look at me with a kind-of-confused look on her face when I would try to talk or engage with her, and would hardly let me hold her or snuggle with her. I was prepared for her to have a hard time accepting the baby, but I just didn’t ever think about how it would affect my relationship with her. She would fuss and whine about anything and everything, and I knew she was just trying to figure it all out. My mom spent the first week with us, and if we hadn’t had her help with Ayla during the days, I’m not sure what we would have done! The first six days were the hardest, but by the seventh day, she suddenly seemed to snap back to normal. And now she is back to her chatty self and has been such a trooper with the transition.

I am so thankful to have an easy recovery from this birth, and honestly could hardly even tell or feel that I had a baby by the next day. Recovery was a world of difference from Ayla’s birth! Aveline had a few really rough nights that first week and I would be up with her until after one o’clock just trying to get her to settle to sleep, but thankfully she has her days and night figured out now. She wakes 2-3 times a night to nurse, but usually is able to settle right back down to sleep after her tummy is full.

This week is the first that I’ve been on my own with the two girls, and we are slowly getting our new routines figured out. Aveline usually wakes up for the day at five or six, which is actually nice because then I am able to get her fed and put down for her first nap by the time Ayla wakes up. And then Ayla and I are able to do our normal morning together with breakfast and Bible reading and Little Baby Bum and brushing teeth and getting dressed while Avy is napping. Ayla has done so well this week and has just been extra patient and kind when I need to take care of her sister. It’s a big adjustment for her for sure, but she’s handling it with a lot of grace.

I am feeling almost back to normal, although my hormones did hit me over the weekend and I was so weepy and emotional about everything. I’m not normally a big cryer, so it feels so odd to just want to cry over everything! But I feel more leveled out now and not as overwhelmed or emotional. I’m so thankful for a midwife who took the time to talk to us about some of the postpartum emotions and feelings, and that they are normal and just to go with them instead of trying to stuff them inside. So I just cried when I needed to cry, even if I didn’t even know why I was crying.

So we are doing good, adjusting, finding new routines and new normals. Being a mama of two is a lot more challenging and stretching than it is with one, but anything that is worthwhile doing has it’s elements of challenge and stretch. So thankful for the two that we have been given to love!

 

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