First two weeks

Willow is now two weeks and one day old. I’ve been counting down to today, because this is the day I am able to start treating her with Diflucan for thrush. And tomorrow we see the pediatric EMT about her possible short frenulum. I’m hoping that one or both of these things will stop the pain of breastfeeding, which remains intense on the left side.

Willow still sleeps quite well and does not make a peep during the night, except when having her diaper changed. This has been enough of a pattern that I’m hoping we truly did hit the jackpot and have gotten a second easy baby.

I don’t consider myself an attachment parent, but I sure have been one lately. The baby is on me, or within six inches of me, for 21-23 hours a day. While I appreciate having my hands free for a while and look forward to increased periods of time when I can get things done, I’ve quite enjoyed her presence.

While Willow has been calm and easy, River has suddenly become very difficult. He spends more time crying each day than Willow does. Our calm, sweet, gentle boy is suddenly demanding, obstinate and throws frequent tantrums. It’s hard to break down how much of it is the new arrival versus getting spoiled by the grandparents, being sick, being largely abandoned by mom, or just being three. Though he’s definitely more angry these days, he doesn’t take it out on Willow. He often ignores her, but when he does pay attention, as he especially tends to do when they are both in their carseats, he will say things like, “The baby is very pretty,” or “Mom, the baby is crying, go to her.”

I’m starting to get out and about more. I’m taking Willow for walks and we’ve gone to a few stores. I feel like I’m on a short leash though, unless there is a place I can breastfeed enroute. If she suddenly demands food and starts to wail, there is no other way to quiet here. This makes me tend toward visiting places and stores that have a place to sit down, and avoiding those that don’t.

I finally, finally, finished the silly statistics exam. Now I can start using my few spare moments to do the things I wanted to do before she was born, like work on my nesting projects and watch lots of movies.

While the first week was pretty rough physically, I made a lot of progress in healing the second week. I’m pretty functional at this point and think I’m going to be healed a lot quicker this time around compared to last. I enjoyed several days of my weight dropping two pounds per day, regardless of how many cookies I ate. That sadly ended and my weight started to go up. My stomach has largely returned to normal. There is just a small pouch left and the shadow of the linea negra. But my hips, thighs and rear end are huge and probably won’t go away until I make a concerted effort and/or stop breastfeeding.