The Taynors

The Taynors

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Adjusting to our new life as a family of 4

I went into labor 2 weeks ago, and as expected our lives have changed drastically since then. Here are some of the highlights of the past 2 weeks.

- Ryan is doing really well I think. He is a little extra needy and a little extra emotional (the swings from super hyper and excited to sad and having a melt down happen very quickly). But generally he just wants to play with someone and he is very sweet with Patrick.

- Day time is a tag team effort. Luckily I have a little extra time with Mike home while he waits to start his new job. But I spend time with Ryan while mike gets quality time with Patrick and then we switch.

That phase is about over because Mike is starting to ease his way back into work (training, meetings, studying) and next week he is starting a major renovation project at the house. So it's my turn to figure out how to be a mommy of 2 on my own.

- I have a baby on my boob all the time. Patrick is a frequent nurser and he loves to be held and cuddled... So I spend most of my day with a baby latched on. I'm getting good at being productive with just one hand.

- I'm much more relaxed this time around. I'm not worrying about when he eats and when he sleeps, I just kind of go with the flow of the day. I have also come to accept that I'm not going to get things done. My to-do list is growing longer and I'm only doing the bear minimum each day, but that's okay. This is a short phase so I'm going to enjoy it. The plus side is I'm getting more rest because I am not always worried about trying to be productive. I am either resting or sleeping when Patrick sleeps (a lot of the time with Ryan by my side watching truck videos on the iPad).

-Evening is the hardest time... Like from 5-9pm. It's not actually hard as much as its hectic. This is when Ryan needs dinner, bath, bed and he really needs attention. Plus I'm trying to get something ready for mike and I to eat. And of course this is Patrick's cranky/cluster feeding time. So it's loud and crazy and tiring in these hours, but then we magically hit 9pm and things quiet down!

That being said, it's still much better/easier than when Ryan was first born. I'm much less emotional and stressed, I actually cook dinner, and I feel like I can handle whatever is going on. With Ryan, life was out of control and I was pretty miserable/unable to handle the changes.

- The thing I miss the most is the time to myself (or with mike ) from 8-10pm every night. We had a good routine going on. Ryan was normally settled by 7:30-8 and we went to bed between 10 and 11 every night, so that provided a good chunk of adult time. This is when I cleaned the house, read a book, watched tv, did things on the computer, paid the bills... You get the point. For the time being I don't have this adult break right now. In this time I'm constantly nursing until Patrick finally falls asleep for a good long stretch sometime between 9-10pm. I try to also go to sleep as soon as he does so I can get as long of a stretch as possible before the next feeding. So for right now, there is no such thing as adult time or anytime to do anything for myself. Of all the changes this is the hardest. But I'm not stressing about it because I know it's short lived. Soon enough we will move Patrick into his crib and get him into Bedtime routine. So for now I just have to enjoy the cuddle time with my boy and not stress about my growing to do list!

Now for some random cell phone pictures!















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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