Week 2 post baby

It's been one hell of a week.

Managing 2 kids is quite a challenge. So far we've been coping, despite the amazing lack of sleep every night. The first week was somewhat a honeymoon period- the baby ate, slept, ate and slept. And pooed and peed in between but I didn't have to settle her much. There was the usual engorged boobs, pain from the Csection wound and bleeding but I have to say, it seems less painful and horrible compared to the natural birth the first time round. No wonder female doctors opt for elective C sections!

The second week started off slightly better. At least we didn't have to go to KKH first thing in the morning. Took the baby to the Gardens again, but she was fussing most of the trip unless we carried her. We also made a trip to the Australian embassy to lodge her citizenship application.

The swimming club has been a great place for us as well. Chris took Madison and Elizabeth for a dip in the pool. There's a decent parents' room at the club which is airconditioned as well ( most of the club isn't ) which is a godsend in the current weather.

Annika is starting to have more awake periods. Initially she could stay up for 3o minutes but the past few days it has stretched to an hour. It's quite cool how she can localize a voice and turn towards it. The downside to this is that she is getting harder to settle to sleep. But I guess Madison was the same too at that age. That's the beauty of hindsight. Makes me less stressed about these things second time round.

Madison, on the other hand, was a bit of a green eyed monster this week. I think the novelty of a baby is starting to wear off, and she was acting up quite a bit. She'd start crying out in the middle of the night too. I figured she felt left out since I'd been carrying the baby and not her, so started to carry her this week. I know I'm not supposed to do any heavy lifting, but I don't think she'd be able to understand this for another 3 weeks! Seems to have helped though, she's happier now.

Chris had to go back to work on Wednesday and I was left with the kids for most of the day. I was quite nervous initially, but I DID it! I survived! Dropped Madison off at school, fed the baby, picked Madison up while Warni watched the baby, then fed the baby again while Madison had lunch, waited till Warni put Madison down for her nap then took the baby out to get some lunch. Was doing ok until close to 4 PM when I simply needed to crash, BUT Annika just wouldn't settle! In the end I took her to bed and I fell asleep. I think she did too, eventually.

This week marks the end of Chris' leave. I'm worried about coping on my own, mainly because he's been the main parent to Madison for the past 2 weeks. I'm so tired most of the time that I don't feel the energy or mood to entertain her. I feel bad towards her but the baby needs my time and attention right now. It doesn't help that the active toddler in her feels the need to be shouting, jumping and getting into fights with her cousin Elizabeth most of the time.

But, I know it's all temporary, and before long it'll be in the distant past. I'm trying to treasure the time now that the kids are small and cute. Just would be nice if I could do that AND have sleep at the same time!