Thursday, September 30, 2010

Not Much

Not much new is going on around here.  Just trying to get enough sleep and get into a new routine.

My mom has been helping me out a lot, coming over a few times a week.  Since I am not supposed to be lifting Jacob, she has been a huge help around the house and in helping me get out as well.  Thanks Mom!

Devin and I went on a date last night.  Just us, no babies (Thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting).  We went to a movie, Wall Street: Money never sleeps.  It was pretty good, but more than that it was great to get out and spend some time with my husband.

Jacob was sick last week.  I am pretty sure he had roseola.  He had a fever for 2 days and then a rash for 2 days.  The rash is now gone and he is pretty much back to his usual self.

I made it to MOPS Tuesday by myself with my babies, getting out for the first time with both babies.  Getting there and being there was great.  Getting back was another story.  Jacob missed his morning nap and was melting down as I picked him up.  Crying the whole way out to the car and having to walk the whole way as I was wearing Evie and am not supposed to pick him up.  Getting Evie into the car seat, she had a blowout.  At home, I had to get lunch for Jacob, while Evie stayed in her seat in the blowout still, and then trying to change Evie while Jacob is still melting down.  But we got through it, Jacob and Evie went down for a nap and I was able to lay down for 30 min.

Evie is still the dream baby.  She is sleeping pretty well at night.  Last night she slept a 6 hour stretch (I had my alarm set for 5 hours but then fell back asleep) and even then I woke her up to feed her.  She also sleeps during the day!  She rarely cries or fusses either.  And she is cute as a button!  It’s hard not to just sit around all day and look at her beautiful face.

We have been so blessed by our church family who has been providing us with meals for the last 2 weeks.  I think we are getting spoiled by all the great meals.  It’s been so nice not to have to worry about feeding Evie, feeding Jacob and then feeding Devin and I all at the same time.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Evie, 2 Weeks Old

Evie had a doctors appointment last Friday.  She weighed in at 6 lbs., 7 oz., almost back to her birth weight in 10 days.  She has a touch of an eye infection and the doctor prescribed some antibiotic drops which are already helping.  Other than that things are still going pretty good.  She sleeps most of the day and usually most of the night.  At night we let her go two 4-4.5 hour stretches and even then we are waking her up to feed her.  She has had some fussy nights but I think most of that is related to her needing to  spit-up/burp.  I am afraid that she is going to be a spitter like Jacob.  I guess we just make spitters. 

Here are some long awaited pictures from the last week or so…

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Monday, September 20, 2010

Thursday, September 16, 2010

All is Quiet

All is quiet in the Jenson house right now. Ahhh! 2 babies sleeping and 1 husband off to home depot.

We are all doing quite well.

Evie is the perfect baby. So quiet, calm and content. She is eating great, about every 2-3 hours during the day and 4-5 hours at night. If we time the last feeding right we only have to get up once in the middle of the night to feed. Usually we have to wake her to eat, but she is so much easier to wake than Jacob was. And she only nurses for about 10-15 min, which means a lot more time in between feedings for me. We had a postpartum follow up appointment on Monday and Evie had gained 3 ounces. They weighed her before and after nursing and figured she took 52mls of milk (almost 2 ounces) in just over 10 min on one side. The nurse was quite impressed as she kept stressing 15-20min per side and stating babies need 1-2 ounces per feeding. Plus I think overall I am much more relaxed about her nursing than I was with Jacob. She has another doctor's appointment tomorrow, so we'll get to see how much she weighs again.

Jacob hasn't got a clue about what changed. He has just started to look at her if we are putting her in the car seat or sometimes holding her, but other than that he just goes about his business. He is still doing very well at playing independently which makes it so much easier for me to nurse. And he can go up and down the stairs like a pro so he pretty much just has full reign of the house, and he just goes from room to room playing and wandering around. He is still taking 2 naps a day, which I hope continues for a long time.

Devin and I are managing OK. We are tired but not as tired as most new parents. Devin has taken 2 weeks off from work with this being his last week. This has been a huge help since I am restricted to no heavy lifting, nothing heavier than the baby, which means no lifting Jacob. No getting him in or out of the crib, no getting him in or out of the highchair, no getting him in or out of the car, no picking him up to comfort, no picking him up to my lap to read a book. This has been the hardest for me by far! Not being able to do the simple things for my son and relying on others to do this for me. And this is for 6 weeks! (Don't tell the doctor but I do cheat a little). My parents have also been a huge blessing at helping out with Jacob and meals and babysitting for appointments. My incision is healing well as far as I know. I got the staples removed Tuesday and steri strips put on for 2 weeks. My pain is pretty minimal and I am weaning down on the pain medication.

All in all, pretty good. And it's still quiet in the Jenson house!

(more pictures as soon as I take them)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

Look-A-Likes

Here is a newborn picture of Jacob and one of Evie. 

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Little Miracle

Our little wonder is here! Evie Arleene Jenson, born Sept 7th at 7:56am via c-section at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, WA. She was 6lbs 8oz and 18.5 inches long.


We are all doing great; perhaps a little tired. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 Tuesday morning, which means we got up at 3:30am. Yikes. When we arrived an IV was started and assessments were done. At 7:30am I walked to the OR and layed down on the table. The experience was quite a bit different than last time. The procedure went well and quick. I did end up getting sick and vomited during the c-section due to low blood pressure and whatnot. The doctors were great and notified Devin when she was coming out so he could have the camera ready *graphic pictures at the end*. It was interesting and amazing and a bit gross to see her coming out of my stomach. The baby doctor took her to get cleaned up and said she had great reflexes. Her apgar's were 8 and then 9, which is great. She is breathing great too, no problems. She is also a champion breastfeeder and latched right on the first time. She is a bit sleepy so it's hard to get her awake enough to feed but when she is awake she really goes for it.


So far, Evie is the perfect baby. She is very quiet -- she rarely cries or makes a peep. She is peeing and pooping and eating. Everything a new born is supposed to do.


We had some family come visit yesterday and Jacob got to meet his baby sister, although he didn't have any clue about what was going on.


I am doing well. I got the IV and other tubes removed this morning and am free to be up and about, which makes me feel like a human again. Additionally I am fairly pain free for at least the moment.


We have been comparing Jacob and Evie's pictures and they look very similar. More to come on that another day.





**WARNING** Graphic pictures of Evie being pulled out below...














Monday, September 6, 2010

Friday, September 3, 2010

Cloth Diapers After a Year

After a year of using cloth diapers, how do I feel about them you’ve ask?  (ok so you haven’t asked but I am going to tell you anyway!  It’s my blog, I do what I want!)
 
Great. I love them, well maybe not "love" (it still is a diaper after all) but strongly like.  Washing them is really not as gross as I thought it would be.  Sometimes dumping the poo is pretty gross.  But now that we have already made the investment we get to use them again for Evie with no additional cost.
 
Do we use cloth 100% of the time?  Nope. I only use during the day. I have tried using them at night but it gives Jacob a diaper rash on his tummy. So for overnights we use disposables. We also use disposables if we go on a trip and usually if we are going out I don't pack the cloth. So I'd say we use the cloth about 75% of the time.  I think we average probably 10-12 disposables per week.  I try to wash the diapers when I have 3 left, to leave enough time to wash and dry and get them stuffed for used before the 3 are used up, but that rarely happens. 
 
I think we've ended up buying just 4 Costco boxes of diapers for the year (not including newborn diapers).  One box of 1’s, two boxes of 2’s and 1 box of 3’s which we are currently using and almost out of. So that was about $200. And I think I spent about $250 on 40 cloth diapers.  I bought most of the diapers used off cragislist and just a handful new.  Even if you had to buy 1 box a month ($50/mo; 6 diapers per day) that would be $600.  So I have already saved $150.  And if we count the next year of spending $400 on disposables $200 for each kid), I’ve saved $800.  (I’ve never actually done the math, looking at that savings makes me excited and eager to continue using them!)  Ok so there is also the extra cost of water/energy and whatnot to wash them, but it’s not that significant.
 
We are using the Bumgenius one size diapers that snap into 3 different sizes.  I have the 2.0 version and the newer 3.0 version diapers.  (The 2.0’s I got for really cheap, about ~$2 per diaper).  I have figured out that if I use the newer inserts, the ones that came with the 3.0’s with the 2.0 diapers and the older inserts with the newer diapers I don’t have as many leaks.  I have also tried using the newborn inserts with the old regular inserts for less leaks too but it adds more bulk to the diaper.
 
So far I the only problems I have had is that the velcro tabs, especially the laundry tabs don’t really stick any more.  I even got some replacements but it didn’t seem to help much.  This doesn’t affect the use of the diaper any just makes them all come out of the drier in a chain and creates pilling on the diapers.  I had some problems with leaks on the 2.0 diapers but that was because I was putting the liner all the way to the top and I read on the website that it needs to be 1inch down.  I still get some leaks but not nearly as much at the top of the diaper.  Occasionally have some leg leaks but this is usually my fault when I have left him in the diaper too long.  I have found the cloth need to be changed about every 3-4 hours to prevent leaks.  And one very great thing – I’ve never had a poopy blowout with the cloth.  Not once, although Jacob was never one to really blowout.  But still…
 
Another thing we are doing is using cloth wipes (most of the time).  It actually is so easy cause you can just throw them into the same bin as the diapers and wash together.  I just fill an empty wipe container with some water and just dunk the cloth in for a wipe.  So simple and better for little bottoms (no chemicals).  Though if there is a lot of poo, then I often opt for a disposable wipe.  We do have a diaper pail and a cloth diaper pail in the room.  And sad to say the room often doesn’t smell that great.  I need to work on finding a solution for this.
 
Overall, I am really happy with our decision to use cloth diapers.  I am happy that I have stuck with it.