officially the worst maternity leave

not at all because of my time with Eden--that has been glorious. :)

but because i got my period this week. my hair has started to fall out by the handful. and yes, it has only been 10 weeks. smh. and my breast is sore again. might become mastitis again if i'm not careful. bah. i don't want to go on antibiotics again. poor eden has had enough drugs.

but more than that, my mother is back in the hospital. her brain is swelling causing her to go back and forth between laughing uncontrollably and being unresponsive. she's on steroids, which i'm guessing has quieted her down, but she's not really even able to feed herself anymore. i'm sad. sad doesn't really describe it adequately, but that's what i've got.

also, we got into a car accident last week. our van has been out of commission this week. bah.

so, that's three more things to add to the list that i started at week 6 or so. i'm ready for things to get better already.

the upside is that i decided Moses should go back to daycare for my last two weeks of maternity leave, so i could really regroup and get some rest before going back to work. i miss him terribly, but it was/is a good choice for me. i think it will really help our relationship too, because all this time together has really been tough on both of us, i think.

and beautiful eden, please sleep through the night. please. pretty please?

Size 3 diapers

II was putting off going up another size, but honestly, everytime she pooped, I held the back of her diaper down so that it wouldn't blow out. Even so, we still ruined multiple outfits and pajamas. I was procrastinating because she's not yet 16 pounds (the low end of the weight range of size 3), but now that we've gone up, I see that they fit great, and I have peace of mind that we're protected against pool once again. According to our bathroom scale, she's about 14 pounds, but I guess it's the distribution of weight that must be making a difference. :9 #chubbybaby

her little frown

i think i've mentioned this already, but it bears repeating. Eden is a much easier baby than Moses! already at 8 weeks, she can go down to sleep without crying, with no pacifier and no drama. the only difficult part is that her latch is slightly uncomfortable, and she is not a strong eater (sleeping or losing interest after just five minutes or so). it is probably part of the reason behind my mastitis on both sides and ensuing antibiotics. meh. once we pass through this nursing difficulty, i think we'll be golden. 

anyway, the reason i started this post is that twice i have seen her immediately frown and start to cry when she's heard moses crying! it's the cutest little frown you ever did see. even so, i hate to see it, because her smiles are so much better... but i love to think that she is really compassionate, just like moses is. i love these kids so much, and i really think they're going to love each other well too. 

she sometimes stops nursing to smile at me. moses hardly ever made eye contact with me, like ever (!), and he really never smiled at me either. she is just utterly delightful. ;)

Fresh canvas

Sometimes the quickest way to get a baby to poop is to change her diaper, because everyone likes a fresh canvas. I think of it as part of the process of preparing to put Eden in her car seat. One diaper sacrifice to make sure she poops before we leave the house. It's worth it. :)

huge baby

i sat next to another mom yesterday during church in the mother's room. she had a baby girl too, but she was 4 and a half months old. while it's possible she was a preemie and still catching up, baby Eden was easily about 1/3 larger than this other baby. wow. we did move up to six month clothes (7th week), which i suppose means that she is the size of an average 6 month old. except she's 2 months old. what? it's hard to really wrap my brain around. she's growing too fast. :( 

in other news, if i put this baby down somewhere between 6:30 and 7:05 or so, she doesn't cry, and just goes right to bed. it's been a wonderful discovery. the only drawback is that i have to get her ready for bed during regular dinnertime. 

3 strikes

Just before her 7th week, baby Eden is moving up to size 2 diapers. She's technically still in the size 1 weight range, but she's had 3 diaper blowouts recently. 3 strikes is what tells me, it's time to stop fearing poop on her clothes, my clothes, and furniture everytime she makes her poop-face, and embrace the next size up! :) Baby Girl, you're growing too fast!

at the end of the 6th week

i have to say, these newborn days have been tough. not only because we have a newborn (obviously), but we have had:

• Shane starting a new job
• Moses home from daycare full time (I can't provide the mental, emotional, social, physical activity he gets at daycare, and it simultaneously breaks my heart [because he misses it so much] and makes me crazy everyday [because he misbehaves, acts floppy, and has attention problems at home all day with me]) 
• cockroach infestation treatment (requiring us, i.e. Shane, to pack all our kitchen and bathrooms and move them out of the area and to clean after returning)
• an unexpectedly extended time at Shane's parents' place (1.5-ish weeks), living out of bags and in transition is not really easy for me
• hemorrhoids (just me, not we)
• a UTI (again, me, not we)
• renovations/construction on our apartment (unannounced until they were actually starting to saw into the wall) 
• power tools, saws, sledgehammers, wood splinters, SO MUCH NOISE, Jude peeing on the carpet in the living room, children screaming and crying... it was kind of stressful
• mild mastitis (again, me)
• The ER visit and hospitalization for little E
• Wondering whether money would work out 

Lots of things were on our plate. It has been unusually stressful. I'm sure it'll get better soon...