One Month Later...

Maya just turned one month old. The time goes by so quickly. Our new life has been difficult to get used to. It’s so hard managing the balancing act between Jayden and Maya when I’m by myself. It’s even hard when my husband is home and believe me; he helps. Jayden takes every bit of energy and patience we‘ve got. He wakes up very early and comes running to get daddy. Esteban is tired because he just got off the late shift and I’m tired from getting up to breast feed and pump. As soon as Esteban wakes, there’s so much to do. He’s still doing the majority of the chores. And Jayden doesn’t seem to care less when we say no or stop. It’s like he does whatever he feels like. Esteban and I end up nit-picking each other about all the mistakes we are making raising Jayden and it’s just not fair to us or to Jayden. We have some work to do in that department.

Here was Maya Isabella at 3 weeks old:

One thing I know for sure though is how much Jayden loves his new sister. Jayden must kiss her about a hundred times a day. He’s quite taken with her. He likes to stay close when I’m nursing her and tries to help the swing along when she’s in it. He tries to climb on the bed when she’s on it and if she cries while she’s in her bassinet, Jayden will come and get on his tippy toes to peek in. If Maya is in the crib, he climbs up on the rails so that he can take a peek and when I’m getting ready to breastfeed, he comes over to try to “latch on” first. What a hoot! This morning, I was taking a shower and Maya was crying. Jayden came running to the bathroom door and called Mama! Such a little terror, but so sweet.

Here's Maya at one month:

On Maya’s one month birthday, we went to EPCOT. I’m not sure if that was the best idea to take such a small baby to a major theme park, but it was my family’s last day together and my mom’s first time at a Disney park and it was worth it to see the look on her face. As an added bonus, the Flower and Garden Festival was going on, which is one of my favorite events at EPCOT besides the Food and Wine Festival. My mom had her picture taken with the characters and was getting their autographs. It was so great to see her. This was our first time to a park in about three to four years and we didn’t do too many rides, but we did take the kids on the boat ride at the Mexico pavilion. We also took the ferry around the World Showcase and saw the 360° film at Canada. We didn’t stay for dinner or the fireworks since it was too late, too hot and we were too tired, but my family did and they really enjoyed it.

Here's my mom with Snow White:

Now, my family is all gone and we are not expecting anyone else anytime soon. Here's Grandma and Jayden with his fancy new haircut: Here's our last picture together: I am hoping that we can get to some sort of normalcy and that we can get some bit of control over things. Heck, I’d be happy if we could get Jayden to acknowledge that we’ve just spoken. All I end up doing is raising my voice and losing my patience and Esteban is tired of trying to correct Jayden and at times just gives up. It’s hard to remember that he’s a two year old and still just a toddler. When I try not to spend so much time losing my patience, I really believe it makes a difference. I try to keep in mind that Jayden doesn’t have very many words and that perhaps he gets frustrated with us, just as we get frustrated with him. Others think we are making excuses. I just pray we can get through the terrible two’s.

New Baby Girl & Adjusting Little Boy

Having a little girl is a lot different for me than having a boy. There are so many different things to enjoy. First of all, I’m having lots of fun dressing Maya. Half of my fun is picking out her outfits in the morning and her pajamas at night. I also enjoy her bath times as much I did Jayden’s but even more so since I get to massage her and lotion her up. I really had a lot of fun picking out a great variety of pretty smelling lotions. I didn’t do that as much with Jayden, him being a boy and all. Nowadays, I’m finding that Jayden loves lotion more than I ever imagined. And sometimes, when I have a hard time getting him to take a nap, I use lotion to massage him and it helps soothe and relax him.

Maya is growing nicely and her jaundice is almost all gone. This makes me really happy because I know she’s getting all she needs from my milk to grow and get better. I didn’t get a chance to nurse Jayden so I’m grateful to have this opportunity with Maya. I share tons of great moments with her through breastfeeding. There were times in the beginning where I thought I would give up but I’m so happy I didn’t. It’s a special time for us. Today she was dressed in a set of pink long johns that were just too cute. She latched on with her eyes still closed. She grabbed onto my breast with both hands and was actually gulping the milk down. Then she curled her little body so she could get on her side and somehow get closer to me. Her little leg was stretched out and pointed straight out. She makes the best little faces when she nurses. She’s just precious.

Even though it gets challenging at times, breastfeeding is such a neat experience. My most trying time is in the evening when it seems that Maya is latched on for what seems like hours. Then I feel like all I’m doing is bouncing back and forth between Jayden and Maya and when I get one settled the other starts up. Thankfully, tomorrow I’ll be getting my hands on a breast pump. Maya tends to feed less throughout the night so I can pump and use my milk between 7 - 10 pm when Maya most wants to eat. This will help to free me up to put Jayden down for the night without feeling like I’m losing my mind. That’s what I’m hoping for anyway.

For the past couple of days, we have been company free so I’ve been able to get a pretty good idea of what things will be like when I’m on my own. Thankfully, Jayden is easier to manage when we are by ourselves. He’s still a two year old, but at least it doesn’t feel like a losing battle. He really seems to love Maya and takes any opportunity to kiss her. He also likes to lay next to her to have his drink. He’s completely intrigued by breastfeeding and watches intently. Today, he “helped” me remove my bra and grabbed my nipple. I did not stop him as I’m curious myself to see what he’s going to do, but all he did was give me a couple of quick pecks, smile at his daddy and move on. I am having lots of fun with Maya and Jayden and no doubt life is harder with two kids, but I wouldn’t go back.

I feel bad for Jayden because he’s having a rough time adjusting to his new schedule, new sister and to constantly having company. For a while, I felt like he was getting more and more out of control as the days went by. I felt like the only conversations I was having with him were heated and consisted of “No Jayden!” or “Stop Jayden!” He just kept finding more and more ways to get into trouble, which is even worse now since he learned how to climb and that opened up a whole new world of trouble and danger. He’s so much better when I’m not constantly yelling and screaming at him or threatening him with my slipper. I’ll be happy when I can focus more time on him. I can’t wait to spend some quality time with my little boy.

Jayden's New Haircut!

Jayden just got his second haircut. He really needed it badly. We would’ve taken him back to the barber where Esteban goes, but we are on a budget and I thought $16 was a bit steep for a child’s haircut. After all, I pay $9 for mine. So we went in search for one of the other barbershops and settled on one that Esteban used to go to when he first came to Clermont. The only problem was it was closed for lunch so we decided to wait at the local park.

At 1pm, we went in and there was only one barber, a female one. Nothing against women, but the whole reason we went to a barbershop was so that we could get a guy to cut Jayden’s hair. Oh well, we decided to let her cut. She sits Jayden up on the booster seat and forces the cape on him. Jayden starts to get upset. At his first haircut, he sat on Daddy’s lap and did not force the cape. I wasn’t sure how I wanted it cut, but I tell her not too short, but too long that it hangs in his eyes.

Clearly, this went in one ear and out the other because she cut it all off. I cried after Jayden’s first haircut but now after his second, I was downright angry. I hate this new cut. Any sign of a curl is all gone now and even though I told her that Jayden has bed head really bad in one particular spot, she cut it in a way that emphasizes how bad it can be. Plus, the front looks like she put a bowl on his head and cut in a straight line. Ok, so it can’t possibly be that bad, but it is to me. Thankfully, his hair grows quickly, but I can’t help to be upset by this idiot woman. That’s our last time going there!

Maya is Two Weeks Old!

Maya is two weeks old. I can barely believe it. Where does the time go? So far, things have been going great. She had her two week check up and she’s still a bit jaundiced, but the doctor said she looks great. She said sometimes breastfed babies could take about a month to rid themselves of the yellow color. Her belly button already fell off, probably due to the phototherapy lights. And she’s back up to her birth weight. Here she is with her pediatrician, Dr. Jill.

She’s so sweet. My baby girl sleeps 6 hours at night. I am so thankful for this. I often wake up to feed her before she wakes up. I also have to pump because I’m usually engorged. Although breast feeding is going well, I’m struggling a bit because she falls asleep on the breast and sometimes it seems that all I can manage to do is nurse her. I don’t feel bad because I am so happy to have the chance to breastfeed, but I am always conscious of Jayden and his needs. I want to make sure that he gets as much from me as Maya does.

Jayden seems to be adjusting and getting back into his old routine. Daddy went back to work and I am working very hard to get him back to his schedule slowly but surely. Jayden is taken by Maya. He kisses her head every time I nurse her and last night, he was waiting patiently by my side and I when I pulled Maya off to burp her, he puckered his lips and came close to my exposed breast. At that moment, I didn’t know what to do and I couldn’t help but laugh, but then I wondered if I should have let him have a taste. Would that be inappropriate?

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was spent at home. It was a quiet, relaxing day for the most part. Both my sisters were here with their kids from NJ. It was a gorgeous day out. Esteban made us breakfast. We took the kids outside where they played and had a wonderful time. We filled up the kiddie pool and they sat there for a little while before having lunch and then going down for a nap. Then Esteban made a nice dinner. We put birthday hats on all the kids and sang happy birthday. Then we cut a cake and that was my day. I was happy to have a relaxing day and happy that Jayden had his cousins here to play with. It made a big difference and freed up some time for daddy and I.

Here's Aiden and Jayden playing outside.

Here's Jayden and Caitlin getting ready for a ride.

Here's Esteban filling up the kiddie pool for Jayden and Caitlin. Caitlin is no stranger to the kiddie pool, but this was Jayden's first time and he didn't like it as much as I thought he would. The water was cold and he got out rather quickly.

Here's a family picture. Our very first!

Maya - One Week Old

Here's my baby girl. As you can see, she was recently released from the hospital and she's still quite jaundiced.

Maya's First Bath!

Maya's Release

Finally, good news. Maya’s bili came back at 16.3. They shut off the lights and clamped her IV. She is being watched to make sure that the jaundice stays down on its own and doesn’t rebound. I am sure they will want to make sure that she continues to urinate without the IV. I am just thrilled that I can breast feed when I want for as long as I want and I can hold her and play with her without jeopardizing her treatment. The good news is that her 4pm blood count came back at 15.5. The doctor didn’t come back to see us until almost 9pm, but she said we can go home and we are thrilled.