Valentine’s Day cards for me and mom

Week 126 motherhood: 

• Feb 14:  We gave the baby a bath yesterday and she seemed to really enjoy baths.  She didn’t cry at all.  I love seeing her multiple folds and new chunks.  I love seeing her small tiny toes too!  Such a rare sight when she is in onesies all the time during the winter (a con to having a baby during the winter months although I’m sure some people keep their homes warm enough to allow short sleeves and bare feet indoors).
• We went on another stroll yesterday, all five of us, to the park.
• The previous day, I took a walk myself for 40 minutes outdoors.  It was the first time since giving birth that I took a leisurely walk by myself and it was great.  Need to see the doctor because I realize my legs are not the same length and I am having trouble walking without slight pain.. more back story about this actually.  But for now, I’m glad to learn that this is a common issue and about 70% of the population has this issue too.  No wonder there is an entire field of orthotics out there.
• The baby finally had a bowel movement after 5 days of just pees.  It was once again all mushy mustard yellow with no seeds.  My guess is that the poop was in her for so long that her body reabsorbed all the fatty contents and thus no seeds.
• To prevent the baby from choking on my letdowns, I’ve let her drink from the right breast more often even if it is not its “turn” yet.  This has helped a lot.  Otherwise, she would “complain” when she can’t swallow the milk fast enough.
• The “witching hour” right before bedtime continue.  By this, I mean she isn’t satisfied with just one side and needs both sides or more of milk before she finally settles and falls asleep.  No rocking or slushing helps (to DH’s attempts at helping).  In a way, this is “easy” to resolve because I know eventually she will fall asleep.  It just takes a little bit of time and patience for me to switch sides and keep feeding her while tolerating her cries.
• The baby wears the inside-out vest that the toddler wore when she was already 7 or 8 months old.  She wears it as an extra layer on top of her two onesies.
• Usually her hands are cold right before a feed.  Does this mean she has poor circulation?  I don’t remember the toddler having cold hands as an infant.
• After a feed, if she doesn’t fall asleep right away and she fusses, I hold her up and ask her to burp.  “Ert gor fung jai, ert gor fung jai.  Ert gor fung fung jaiii”.  I make it into a song.  She does usually burp right after.  I can tell when she makes the attempt to burp.  Her burps are always loud, deep, and so satisfying to hear.  Sometimes she has two burps in a row.
• We’ve been continuing the nighttime routine where she cries, DH goes to get her (because I’m such a deep sleeper that I cannot hear her at all), changes her diaper if it is full, and then DH goes to help me out of the bed.  I can get out of the bed myself with no pelvic pain if I slowly swing my legs to the side and push myself up sideways using my arms.  Otherwise, it’s a big help when DH literally gives me a hand to rise up.  Then I’ll use the toilet to empty my bladder before settling into the rocking chair to feed the baby.  Once baby is fed (I’ll scroll on my phone usually) and she’s asleep, I make sure 20 minutes minimum has passed before DH puts her into the bassinet next to my side of the bed.  DH scrolls on his phone or passes out before this, but as of last night, I was able to put her into the bassinet myself.  Then it’s lights out until the next feed.  The first stretch is always 4 to 5 hours long and then becomes 3 hours or 2 hours until the morning.
• Her eyelashes are so long now!  She definitely will have long eyelashes just like her older sister.
• We had DH’s siblings come to the house for the first time to visit the baby.  Surprisingly, the baby tolerated being in other people’s arms very well and didn’t cry at all.  The toddler clung to DH and preferred to observe her older cousin play with the magnetic tiles rather than join in herself.
• The toddler is very clingy during dinnertime and always like to climb into DH’s lap after she is done eating.  However, her being done eating doesn’t mean the rest of us are yet so usually DH has to resort to eating the rest of his dinner at a later time.  She is stuck to him and they’ll go to play in the living or family room.
• It’s hard to have a chance to eat next to DH for this reason.  Someone is always interrupting us and I miss the conversations we can have at dinnertime.  We are together every day, but the baby care and parenting is always there and prevents full conversations from happening.
• A big thing this week is that my HS started returning…  It happened last time after the birth of the firstborn too.  I guess all the processed sugar in the baked goods I’ve been getting from the TGTG surprise bags finally caught up to me.. and possibly the pineapple I recently ate too.  Headed to see my TCM doctor right away and got some infrared light therapy, acupuncture, and herbs.  Also a few of tubs of turtle jelly.  Three days later and the flare seems to have closed.  Time to resume my nightshade-free diet and lay off the sugar again.
• Every time it comes back, I am reminded of my own mortality and it reminds me to be humble.
• The oxytocin letdowns don’t happen anymore.  I wonder why?
• Our green compost bin is always filled to the brim every garbage day due to both kids’ diapers.  Can’t wait until the older one is out of diapers.
• Cluster feeding before bed on either side.
• New HS flare.. it has spread 😦
• Don’t have a sore neck as bad as it was anymore.  Adjusted my posture better.
• Feb 15:  After using the haakaa after every breastfeeding session this time around, I don’t even rinse or wash it.   I just leave it to sit and air dry on the table until the next session.  I washed it and put it upside down every time last time.  It seems to be okay.
• The baby is smiling more this week in response to us. 🙂
• The toddler is starting to interact with the baby more of her own accord now.  She would swing the animals on top of the bouncer for the baby.  The baby loves looking at it, especially the black and white zebra with the red dangling star.
• The toddler “helped” to “milk” me when I was nursing the baby lol… She put her hand on top of my breast and actually squeezed like she was milking an udder 😂😂🤦🏻‍♀️.  So funny.
• Not sure why the toddler’s hands are always ice cold these days.  Same with her feet.  I ask her to put on socks or her indoor shoes with the fox on it, but she complies only sometimes and always on her own terms.
• The toddler would touch the baby’s hands in curiosity and asked why her hands were crumpled in a fist.  Beats me.  I don’t know either lol.
• The toddler is always eager for my extra haakaa breastmilk and is told to wait until I’m done nursing before I can pour it out for her.  She asks why the haakaa cup is “dented” and I tell her that’s how the milk gets suctioned out.  I have to tell her to refrain from touching it less it loses suction and drops to the floor.
• DH told me that the two times when I put the baby down last night, she ended up stirring and waking up up shortly after.  So it seems that only he can put her down better and have her stay asleep.  He’s taller and his hold is larger and likely stabilizes her better.  So much for wanting to get back into the bed to sleep quicker. 🤷🏻‍♀️
• DH made shortbread cookies for Valentine’s Day with a special ingredient — my “love” = breastmilk lol.  I couldn’t taste it (of course not) in the cookies.
• He made two cards for the toddler to gift: one to me and one to grandma.
• The toddler showed an interest in holding her sister last night so we let her (and helped her).
• The toddler shows an interest in using the toilet to pee when she sees me doing it.  I wish she would use the potties though instead of me having to help her up on the toilet using the training seat.
• When I asked her though after the business was done whether she wanted to put her diaper back on or the pull-up underwear, she chose the diaper still..  Sigh.
• I was talking to a friend about potty training and she said most of her friends’ kids who are at this age still aren’t successfully potty trained yet.  They also go through periods of regression.  I’m glad we’re not the only ones experiencing this right now.
• One day this week when DH and I were talking away in the room in the morning, the toddler walked in.  She had woken up, got up, opened her bedroom door, and walked over to our room.  She was so proud of herself.
• The few times that DH has brought the toddler out to Walmart, she always seems to find the same dino toy she likes.  It’s so funny — it’s such a coincidence.
• We had the crib all set up for the baby and tried putting her in it, but she wouldn’t sleep through the night in it.  Thus, back in the bassinet next to my side of the bed for now.
• We’ve gone on two walks with the baby in the car seat in the stroller for now and she’s done okay and slept through the entire walk.
• We stayed on schedule this week and had two baths for the baby.  The toddler loves to watch too.
• The toddler loves helping grandma with cooking prep like washing or trimming vegetables.