The Good... The Bad

What I'm loving:

Having family visiting. Phan's mum and grandma are staying with us for two weeks and we have been loving it... Elizabeth is loving playing with Ba, I'm enjoying having an extra couple of pairs of hands around to help out... normally, I'm pretty self-sufficient and have trouble letting go and having people help me, but I've learnt that it's not a bad thing to have help or to ask for help... Currently, enjoying the fact that I'm not having to worry about cooking dinner in the evenings and Elizabeth is having so much fun having Ba's full attention...

Uneventful appointments. Had my 6 week post-partum appointment last week and Catherine's 6 week check up at the paed's today... all straight-forward... everything is fine for both of us. Catherine weighed in at 4.36kg today... so she's doing really well... she's following the percentile charts ideally and is just below the 50th percentile for weight, height and head circumference.

Peanut shell sling. I have an ergo carrier, which is great for carrying Catherine around when we're out and about at the shops/playgroup/park/walk etc... But I also bought this peanut shell sling to use around the house... love, love this sling... leaves both hands free but makes it easier to do things (like prepare dinner) than with the ergo... it's also very small and compact so it can be rolled up and put in my handbag/nappy bag if think I might need it somewhere (like at swimming lessons, where I need 2 hands free to dress Elizabeth)

Weightloss. I put on 12kg with Catherine. I've already lost 10kg in 6 weeks. The breast-feeding, sleep deprivation + looking after 2 kids, obviously burns a lot of energy! Ideally though, would love to get back to pre-Elizabeth weight, which means I have 7kg to go... but I'm cautious of making sure I'm eating enough to provide decent breastmilk for Catherine.

Smiling. Catherine has started smiling with a bit more intention... she smiles a lot in her sleep but she has started to smile at things and at us a bit more...

My big girl. Elizabeth has just been so lovely and wonderful lately... helpful... no separation anxiety leaving her with the rellies (not that I thought she would, she's really outgrown her separation anxiety).

My hands on husband. Phan's been so wonderful, helpful and supportive... Sharing the night shifts looking after Catherine with me, so at least one of us gets a decent night's sleep. Doing the grocery shopping (even though he does come back with various impulse buys and large quantities of food... eg I list cauliflower and expect 1/2 a cauliflower, he comes back with the biggest whole cauliflower he could find! I list "frozen chips" he comes back with 3 bags! What the? I'm starting to list quantities on the shopping list now!) He does the bed and bath routine with Elizabeth (and she prefers Daddy to Mummy at the moment anyway!) and just all round, he has been fantastic!



What I'm not loving:

Wonder weeks/growth spurts. Grumpy baby in the middle of the night for several hours. Hysterical/Insolable crying that lasts 30-60 minutes. And it's not a cute newborn cry anymore. It's loud. And noisy. And distressing. Not fun. Phan and I have been taking it in turns dealing with what we call "the witching hour"...

Non-sleeping baby. Probably related to the former... but at the moment, Miss Catherine is quite opposed to sleeping in the basinette... she only lasts about 15 minutes at a time before needing to be resettled... which I've been trying to stick it out and do in the mornings, but by afternoon/evening, I'm over it and really can't be bothered patting her/shushing her back to sleep in the basinete repeatedly as it's really time consuming. Thus, why I've developed a love for the peanut shell sling... She lives in it in the afternoons. And at night we've been co-sleeping - she's just been sleeping on my arm (well, when she actually sleeps we co-sleep... there hasn't been a great deal of sleep going on at night!)... ... Hoping this is just a phase and we get through this... They say that 6-8 weeks is a fussy period for babies, so I'm just hoping this all passes really soon...

Dietary Restrictions. I thought I restricted my diet a lot when I was pregnant. Now I'm breastfeeding, I've cut out a heap more things... mostly to help with reflux issues... no dairy, no beef, no soft drink, no citrus, minimal garlic/onion/tomato... I think it's helping, which makes it all worth it...

Colds and Coughs. Phan, Elizabeth and I are all harbouring different types of colds at the moment. I've got a cough, Phan's got a headache and sore throat, Elizabeth has a runny nose. Don't know how we managed to split-up all these cold symptoms between us...

Immunizations. I'm going to have to organise the 2 month injections already!!!

Massive Vomit. We were at the park catching up with some friends this morning. Anyway, Elizabeth got offered a strawberry and was showing it to me and I raised my voice in alarm (due to the strawberry allergy she has). Elizabeth luckily hadn't eaten any, but she got upset that I had raised my voice at her and started crying... and cried so much, so did a massive vomit all over herself, me and Catherine! Talk about a full sweep! Vomit on Elizabeth's cardigan and jeans, vomit on my top and pants and down my bra. Vomit on Catherine's jumpsuit and all over the ergo carrier. She even got vomit on her new toy lion. Seriously... everywhere! Thank goodness for friends (I had 3 friends helping to clean us up) and nappy wipes!

Life is full of good and bad... you just gotta keep it all in perspective ...