We spent the first few days at home just trying to adjust to life with a newborn again. Molly woke up about every 2 hours to eat, so as all new parents are, we were exhausted. We did a lot of napping throughout the day. Life with a newborn looks a little different though when there is an older sibling around. Thankfully Mary Hyatt is old enough to entertain herself and she's very independent. Poor thing rarely got her hair brushed though and walked around naked a lot of the time. As long as she was happy, we didn't mind. :)
But after a couple of days we started to get the hang of everything. Because tax day was right around the corner, Ben had to go back to work pretty quickly. My mom came and helped me every day. She helped cook, clean, run Mary Hyatt places and love on Molly. Moms are the best. I don't know what I would do without her. Thankfully, Mary Hyatt's school was still in session for 6 weeks so we kept her on her normal routine and sent her to school. She didn't mind a bit. She has always loved school. She did request to hold Molly every single morning though before she left.
We had a lot of visitors the first few days. We were blessed beyond measures by our sunday school class bringing us dinner three days a week for the first couple of months. It's amazing how little mundane tasks such as cooking dinner can seem almost impossible during the first few weeks of having a baby. It was truly amazing to not have to worry about it while we recovered and adjusted.
I've never been one that likes to just sit inside and do nothing. I don't "relax" very well. So after a few days of being cooped up inside, I needed to get out and get some fresh air. We took the girls on a very short and very slow walk down the street. I wasn't even remotely healed yet and didn't want to overdo it, but it sure felt nice to get a little fresh air.
At 2 weeks old, I even attempted to take Molly to watch Chase play in a baseball game. However, we only stayed about 10 minutes. I was a nervous wreck having her out there at the ballfields and it was also very windy and I was afraid it was just too much for a newborn. Nonetheless, it was still our first outing without Daddy (he was still working on the weekends! Tax season!) and it gave us a reason to get showered and dress and out of the house briefly. Mary Hyatt was adorable and wanted to carry her baby "Emily" in her car seat just like me. Such a little mama in training! :)
I spent a large part of my day snuggling with sweet Molly. She is such an easy baby and rarely cries at all. The first month she slept almost all day and night it seemed. During the first few weeks, we did have a few evenings where she would get pretty fussy and it was hard to console her. She required a lot of bouncing and often if we just walked outside, she would totally calm down.
The first week or two my mom often picked Mary Hyatt up from school, and if she couldn't, we had several friends that offered to bring her home which was nice. I started going to pick her up when Molly was roughly 2 weeks old and though Molly often was fine, I will say that was one of the hardest parts about having a second baby compared to just having one. When we had Mary Hyatt, we didn't have any other commitments so we could let her sleep whenever and for as long as she wanted to. With Molly, because Mary Hyatt had to be picked up by a certain time, I often had to wake Molly up to go get her. I always hated waking her up. Not to mention getting her out of the car in her infant seat and carrying that heavy thing in and out of the daycare just to pick MH up wasn't too fun. But we survived!
Friends and family spoiled MH with extra attention during the first few weeks as well. Lovie took her to the mall (MHs request) one day for some one-on-one time. Lovie said MH is quite the shopper! She walked around grabbing things and saying "Oh this is so cute." or "This would look good on you Lovie."
I tried to meet up with Katherine and Kit a few times as well during the first few weeks. Every time we got together, the girls were sleeping so we never got them out of their car sears. I am a firm believer of "Never wake a sleeping baby" if you can help it. It was really fun having a friend to go through this same stage of life with. Katherine and I texted numerous times all throughout the nighttime feedings. It was nice to have someone to ask questions to for reassurance etc. Even though this was our second baby, it had been so long since we had had a newborn that we had forgotten some things!
People have continuously asked us how it is going from one to two children. Overall, Ben and I both agree that it has been WAY easier than we ever expected it to be. Going from zero to one child seemed so much harder to us than going from one to two children. I think it's because when we had Mary Hyatt, our world completely changed and we didn't really have friends that had children. This time we are already in "kid world" or "parent mode" so it really hasn't been much of an adjustment. It probably helps that Molly is an extremely laidback and easy baby and Mary Hyatt is older and more independent. Not to mention, it just seems much easier and we feel confident in knowing what and how to do things.
Mary Hyatt adjusted beautifully the first several weeks as well. We never saw one ounce of jealousy or regression. She took a lot of pride in being the "big sister" and wanted to help with everything. I left Molly on the bed one day for a few minutes and when I came back in the room, I found MH lying up there with her reading a book. I know these girls are going to be the best of friends.
At three or four weeks old, we took Molly to church for the first time. She wore Mary Hyatt's "coming home" dress and looked absolutely precious.
I love being able to coordinate my girls outfits and MH truly is thrilled when they match. She wanted to wear her pink dress just like Molly.
Molly did fabulous in church. She slept the entire time!
And this is Molly another week when we were headed to church.
I love bonnets!
Overall, the first month at home was very easy and enjoyable. We couldn't have asked for anything to go any better, and we sure enjoyed getting to know our newest addition to the family!
No comments:
Post a Comment