Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Keeping you up to date.

Peach and I are doing surprisingly well. I'm sore and tired, but have been feeling better these past couple of days than I had been feeling for months!

Peach is an awesome eater, and my milk is in real good. I've been stuffing cabbage in my bra to help with the pain, which Armondo finds more than a little amusing. He's a big fan of "b00b salad".

I haven't been getting a lot of sleep, which is expected, but Armondo is so awesome with helping out as much as he can, that there's barely any burden on me.

Cherry, however, isn't doing so well. She seems to be experiencing some sort of night terror on and off. It's seems to have happened about five times in the last month, and it's quite upsetting. She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, and it takes about from an hour to three hours to console her. She had another episode last night. I mentioned it to my midwife today, who mentioned one possible medical reason, so we'll be exploring that, as well as doing some research on toddler night terrors.

Cherry's very interested in the "de de". She loves to come over and look at her and poke at her, but she's extremely rough. I don't think she's TRYING to be mean when she's interacting, but she'll poke Peach, push her around, and today even smacked her in the face. It's not like she's got a mean look on her face, or that she's making any motion that she's trying to hurt her, it's just that she just doesn't know how to be gentle. Sort of makes me wonder if I should have waited a bit longer to have a second child. Cherry's also acting up quite a bit these days. It started before the baby was born, but has sort of escalated these past couple of days. She's quite whiney, and very clingy. She's demanding more attention from us than usual, and if she doesn't get it, she'll throw a tantrum. I've been trying my best to make sure we have some special time together while Peach isn't feeding, but it can be hard, 'cause newborns are literally quite attached to their mothers. Cherry IS, however getting lots of attention from Daddy, which is good, but makes me worry that she might distance herself further away from myself.

Back to Peach. She's so much easier so far than Cherry was. She rarely cries, and when she does, it's either 'cause she needs something, or Cherry has smacked her in the face. She sleeps often, though not for long stretches, and when she's awake, you can just leave her in her bassinette and she'll just quietly look around and coo if someone isn't there right away to pick her up. Cherry screamed for the first two and a half months straight. I know that part of the difference is due to the fact that they are different individuals, but I'd also like to think that with more experience, and more spousal support, that I'm doing a better job this time. (When Cherry was born, Armondo was working 6 days a week, often upwards to 11 hours a day.)

Anyway, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. I'll be calculating the contest entries soon enough, as well as writing out the official Peach "birth story" which will be the next part in my "Love Series". (The love series can be found on the sidebar.) I also have to do some template changes, including updating my "belly" shot on the side, and changing my title graphic to something a little more current.

But to tie you over, here are some more pictures:

When we got home from the hospital, we pulled out Cherry's "big sister" gift.

I think she likes it!


The following pictures were taken today, at 3 days old:

And here's a picture of Peach, looking suspiciously very much like her daddy.


What is it with newborns always having "red eye" in photos? (This one isn't TOO bad, but it was the best out of a series that I took.)


Exhausted after a good feeding.


Thanks to everyone for your kind comments and for all the de-lurking that's been going on. I really appreciate it! Oh! Babe's awake, bye for now!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eh, cool. Thanks for the update. Peach is adorable... and that means a lot coming from me (trust me). Her eyes are really dark! (Or is that just a photoshop thing from the redeye?)

shandelle said...

Peach's eyes are so alert. Usually they aren't that clear and bright that soon. She is sweet. Cherry looked so happy with her kitchen. I am glad things are going well for you. Help is the best medicine after birth, I agree. Keep us updated. Isabella had night terrors too. I was really worried aobut her. But they have ended now. Beautiful children!!!

Anonymous said...

Peach is beautiful! Cherry will adjust, it just takes some time. She has never had to be so gentle with a littler human before, so she will learn. just hang in there!

Anonymous said...

Peach is just beautiful! Some new babies aren't, so that is a real compliment. I'm glad she is an easy baby, and you might as well take some of the credit, since it probably Is at least partly you experienced and confident mothering!
Poor little Cherry. Not really, of course, since she will eventually love having a sister who will be her always-available playmate, but it has to be hard to give up that only child status. I wouldn't worry about her becoming more attached to Armondo and less to you -- my kids have gone back and forth with which parent they are closest to. K. has night terrors too, though she didn't at Cherry's age, and it is probably even more upsetting when she can't explain that the jungle animals or turtles (two we've had lately) start coming at her as soon as the lights go off.
When I first looked at the gift you got for Cherry, I thought it was a child's electric drum set, which seemed like a peculiar gift for a girl with a newborn sister. It is really a kitchen, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

ohhh yes, she looks like her daddy!

Anonymous said...

I think all older siblings go through the clingy and whiney stage with new babies, especially when they are so close in age. I know my sister's daughter did for a little while (she was 10 months when the 2nd was born), but quickly realized that the baby was fun.

Peach is a cutie, such a pretty baby. I'm glad that she is easy so you can get back to normal:o)

andrea said...

A cute newborn! Unheard of! I think it's great that you had them close together. I did, too (by mistake). It's exhausting now but the benefits down the road far outweigh it, especially as they are the same sex.

Anonymous said...

Peach is soooo very cute!!! Well how about an update on the extreamly sexy feet... have they gone back down to regular human proportions??? Just curious because my screen need another good cleaning!!

Erin said...

What a gorgeous baby, she's so pretty and her eyes, like everyone else has said, are very alert and intelligent looking.

CeCe said...

Sarah~I didn't photoshop. They are dark, but there's no telling what colour they really are.

Shandelle~She's very alert. But so was Cherry.

Avalon~Thanks.

Melora~Thanks for sharing K.'s story. Yes, it's a kitchen. She'll get drums eventually, but not quite yet ;)

Candice~Doesn't she?

Kim~At least Cherry is young and won't remember being the only one for too long.

Andrea~I think it WILL be good down the road. I asked a lot of siblings that were close in age how they liked it before I got pregnant. Overall, most liked the closeness in age.

Amy~I'll update you in a bit!

Erin~thanks!

Anonymous said...

So wonderful. Glad you had a healthy baby girl. Congrats!
Now my little toddler is demanding my undivided attention, so I must go. Hugs to you all.

Anonymous said...

Also, I wanted to add that since my Dylan and your Cherry are nearly the same age (Dylan was born on July 7th, 2005) that he is also WAY more clingy and demanding more recently. I just wanted to let you know that it isn't just Cherry going through these changes. Perhaps it is the age. Hang in there.
p.s. Don't you hate the new blogger signin where you have to resign in each time you post to someone's site? How annoying!

Celena said...

DillyWeed~thanks for your input. I do think it probably has to do with the age, but throwing in someone to compete for the attention probably isn't helping either!