The first five weeks

I can't believe our little Liam will be five weeks old tomorrow.  These first weeks have just flown by; and despite Liam sleeping much better than Michael did, they are still a bit of a sleep-deprived blur.

Is it bedtime yet?

The first week went really well.  Alex got a week off from work, and we all got to work on learning to be a family of four together.  Alex's time off went by way too quickly, of course.  I was not a happy camper about him going back to work--as easy of a baby as Liam seemed to be, I was not at all excited about handling two boys sans Daddy all day long, even with the available help of Cici, Papa and Nick.

As usual, the reality wasn't nearly as bad as my anticipation of it.  At least, it would have been just fine except for the fact that after a week of feeling like this second recovery was just wonderful my back suddenly started to hurt.  A lot.  To the point where I could barely walk, let alone pick up a toddler.  Thank God for Alex's mom--I literally didn't pick up Michael or change any of his diapers for a week.  I could still carry around all 8+ pounds of Liam, but that was about it.  Sitting on the couch or recliner was bearable, but that was about it.  Every spare moment between nursing Liam and reading to Michael was spent on the floor stretching or, for a glorious 45 minutes or so several days in a row, in a hot bath.

After three days of this with no improvement I called my doctor to get her recommendation on whether I should see a physical therapist or chiropractor or something, please, anything to allow me to be able to move somewhat normally again.  After explaining that, yes, I realized that back pain was normal after labor but I was pretty sure this needed some extra attention since my right hip was noticeably higher than my left him when I felt like I was standing straight, she recommended a physical therapist.  The bad news: I couldn't get in to see him for a week.  Oh joy.

So after a week of stretching and moving as little as possible, I finally got to my PT appointment.  Turns out my right hip had shifted forward sometime before/during/after labor, but that was pretty normal.  The physical therapist did some adjustments and sent me home with a regimen of stretches and exercises to keep it from happening again.  The difference was amazing!  My back immediately felt about a zillion times better.  It took another week or so to start really feeling normal again and still gets tight and sore pretty easily, but I have a renewed appreciation for the ability to do simple things like get up from a chair without pain.

My parents came out from Lincoln to visit us for Thanksgiving.  We had an amazing week with them, and Michael was absolutely in heaven having Grandma and Grandpa around.  I got pretty darn spoiled myself with my parents there eager to rock Liam when he finished nursing and read Thomas and the Big, Big Bridge over and over (and over and over) again to Michael.

Michael graciously took a break from Thomas to let
Grandma read her favorite book to him: Dr. Seuss' ABCs

I think it gets harder to say goodbye to them every time we have to do so, and I'm already counting down to a tentative January visit from my mom and an Easter trip to Lincoln.

With my parents at Liam's baptism

Thus far Liam is a pretty easy baby; he eats, sleeps, poops, and... well, that's pretty much it.  He doesn't cry a whole lot and is easily soothed when he does.  Last night he slept for 4 1/2 hours straight.  I'm almost afraid to write about how easy he has been so far--partly because I don't want to jinx it, and partly because I think I feel a bit guilty that he's so easy.  It's a weird pride thing.  With Michael being so adamantly anti-sleep we got a fair bit of sympathy and I could look at moms with easy, sleeping babies with envy and think about how much harder I had it.  Now that I'm the mom with the incredibly content baby who sleeps when he's supposed to, I feel guilty for having an easier time than all those other parents out there who are sleeping less and soothing more.  I don't know if it makes sense, but I'll just chalk it up to pride (and the incoherent explanation to the fact that sleeping for two-three hours at a time, while better than 45 minutes, still isn't enough) and just be thankful that Liam is so easy and content.  And I'll enjoy it while it lasts, because goodness knows it might not!

Love love LOVE those milk-drunk smiles :)

But regardless of his temperament and sleep habits, whenever anyone asks if he's a "good baby" my answer will always be "Yes!"  That was also my answer with Michael: "Is he a good baby?"  "Yes, of course!"  "So he's sleeping well?"  "No, not at all..."  What, like I'm going to say "No, actually, he's not a good baby at all.  Somehow I got a bad baby.  Too bad I can't exchange him..." ?  I suppose people are really asking if he's an easy baby, but as long as the question is "Is he good?" then then answer will always be "Yes!"

Michael is being an amazing big brother to Liam (who, incidentally, he still won't call by name, just "Baby").  He has been incredibly patient (for a toddler) with the adjustment and this strange new situation where Mama can't always pick him up or get him milk or read Thomas and the Big, Big Bridge exactly when he asks for it (even when he asks so politely and says "Pees!").  When Liam cries Michael often goes over to him and gently shushes him, and he is very concerned whenever he notices that Liam has spit out his "'fier"--and tries to replace it (unless I catch him first).

Clearly he needs his 'fier.

Much better!

We absolutely love being a family of four now.  Having a toddler and an infant is both harder and easier than I expected.  It's harder because I don't think anything can fully prepare one for the drain of absolutely constant demands on one's attention.  But it's also easier than I expected because even though the things I thought would be so hard really are hard, I'm surviving them much better than I expected.  That is due entirely to the prayers and support of my family and friends!!!

Wait, who stuck me with this crazy family?