1 month

I can't believe Marin is already a month old. It feels like she has always been here and yet I feel like I don't know her very well just yet. We are all still trying to figure each other out. Symeon is warming to his baby sister. He calls her Sissy and we have all followed suit so most of the time she is Sissy which is nice because now she has an "S" name like the rest of us. Symeon tries to give her pretzels and cheese and when she is crying he gave her his Cat in the Hat which is pretty nice if you know how attached he is to it. If she is crying and I don't get her he will come over to me crying like her, he can imitate her really well and he will stand there doing her cry until I get her which is usually quick because no one wants to hear two infant cries!

Marin is very sweet and sleeps well at night she is usually only up one time to nurse and she often sleeps in until 8. She loves to be held and often does not want to be put down for more than a couple of minutes unless it is at night which can make the days a bit tough. She smiles easily and often with sweet little dimples. At her one month check up she was 11.2 lbs and 23 inches long which means she gained a little over 3 lbs and grew 4 inches since she was born. I thought she looked bigger but I had no idea.

Here are few pictures of our sweet girl. Oh I forgot to add that she has flipped herself over twice from her belly to her back I am not sure she knows how she does it but she does not like it and we usually have to flip her back over or she gets upset. We are enjoying her and Symeon and we are beginning to settle into a routine of sorts but we must admit some days are fun and relaxing and some days are so stressful you want to pull out your hair but I guess that is true with all of life not just days with children.

I will pee alone again some day.....

I know this is an unusual title for a post but these are a few observations I have made over the last month with two children. I am sure some of you can relate to a few of these.

1. Some day I will pee without a sleeping infant in my arms or without a toddler standing next to me, or without a toddler knocking on the door to be let in and when I do I will probably be lonely.
2. I have never been more aware of my boobs than the first time I wore a bra in 5th grade and I might add I still remember what I was wearing that day a red and black stripped shirt.
3. Most days my kids look really cute and I look like some mom they picked up off the street because they felt bad for her.
4. Taking two kids under the age of 15 months to the grocery store is an adventure not a shopping trip.
5. You can still wear a shirt even if an infant pees on it.
6. I believed having a second child doubled the work but gosh that was just silly thinking and when I mentioned this to friends who have kids they laughed and I asked why they didn't tell me and they said then no one would have a second if they knew.
7. Deep down I am a quiet person and to much screaming from anyone can get to me even when it is the fruit of my loins. Wait do I have loins?
8. The joy they bring is priceless and I can't put into words how much I enjoy being a mother to both of them.
9. There are no sweeter sounds than a brother laughing at his baby sister's hiccups.
10. And finally you know you have two kids under 15 months when your late night tv watching is Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy which begin at 7 pm.

But seriously I would not have it any other way. I read Symeon books tonight kissed him and put him to bed then I nursed Marin and held her for an hour while she slept in my arms. There is no place else in the world I would have been tonight except home with my babies. I look forward to the many other lessons they will teach me in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.


Symeon kissing his sister


Symeon meeting Marin for the first time


Symeon showing Oma his new sister

Marin's Birth Story

I will put the same disclaimer a friend put on her blog if you want to know about Marin's birth read on but if that makes you queasy just to think about then skip this post.

I must say I was truly blessed with Marin's delivery. Although she was 10 days overdue I really enjoyed every minute of waiting for her. I was really comfortable and overall pretty happy waiting except for all the stress tests they made us go through and Marin would constantly fail them and off to the hospital we would go to see how she was doing. She was always fine and finally a doctor who had some sense said I didn't have to have any more because the baby wasn't active during the day which is exactly what I told them. Anyway I digress...

On Sunday May 17th they were going to induce me but with much prayer Marin decided to make her appearance all on her own on Saturday May 16th. I went to bed Friday night without feeling anything, no contractions nothing. I woke up Saturday morning at 6:30 to a really hard contraction and I thought this might be it and it might be really quick. I had contractions all morning pretty regularly but decided I would time them when I couldn't talk through them and that came around 1 pm. At 1:30 I called the mid wife and she said I should come in and get checked. When I arrived at the hospital around 2 pm them put me in this room with a curtain to see if I was really in labor. I told them I was really in labor because when we left our home to go to the hospital I told Shawn we need to leave now before I am not able to walk anymore on my own.

They hooked me up to a monitor and said you are having some strong contractions and they are really lasting quite a long time and I told them their machine was correct. The nurse then checked to see if I was dialaited and I told her I when I came with my son I was 7 cm and I was hoping for the same or better and she said since my contractions hadn't been that hard for long I was probably more like 4 cm but to her surprise I was 7 cm and they decided they should get me to a private room.

I stood up the rest of the time and only laid down when it was time to deliver the baby. I had an amazing nurse who was so supportive and Shawn as usual was steady, calm, loving, and supportive during the whole process. I really worked through this delivery in my mind and came up with a plan that really worked well for me. I used a montra and Shawn and I discussed how I wanted to have him help me with the pain. Overall it went smoothly and I was blessed to progress quickly. When it was time to push Shawn said I had the nurse and midwife scrambling because Marin came out so quickly. I think I pushed about 4 times and Marin was in my arms. Two hours after arriving at the hospital I was holding my beautiful baby girl. I am truly blessed to have had such an "easy" delivery and the gift of a beautiful healthy baby. Marin is named after a place in California that means so much to Shawn and I and her middle name Treva is after my Grandmother who passed away shortly before Symeon was born.