My First Week of Parenting 4 children
My first week of being home while Mark returned to work. I wrote this email to my sister describing it.
As for life for me right now...well, I had my first week by myself while Mark went back to work. Monday was by myself (I was tired with the baby going to bed around 11pm. and every 3 hr feedings, Jesse waking up at 645-7am) Tuesday was suppose to be a mid-wife 2 week check up but she called and asked to reschedule - so I scheduled a dr. appt to make sure James' circumcision was healing properly. I had a friend watch Jesse for me(Soooo thankful for friends) I got to the Ped's office and saw a ped that made me feel old cuz he looked the same age as me. : ( And found out it was a pointless trip, his skin is healing well, but is sticking a bit, however they don't mess with it until after 2wks because it could cause abnormal bleeding. They said it's better to wait. I was annoyed that I didn't ask a nurse over the phone to triage (sp?) before I came in. What a waste of time and money.
Wednesday, was a appointment with the Municipal court in Salem for my traffic violation...$343. Ugh! Had to be there at 8am. Took Jesse to a friends house (same as tuesday) at 7am, so I got up at 6am to be ready. Went with mom and the girls and Baby James to City Hall. Stood in line to register for 10min. Sat in the court room for 45min before all the people were registered and the judge made his appearance. waited another 1 1/2 hr. before my case was called before the judge...found out that the max deduction for traffic violations is %25, which is based on the judges decision and the persons past driving record. He reduced it the max %25. Was it worth the drive? Exhaustion, and time of mom and my friend? I don't know. I would rather have just paid the full fine, as I had the money in savings. $80 reduction just didn't seem quite worth it.
As for life for me right now...well, I had my first week by myself while Mark went back to work. Monday was by myself (I was tired with the baby going to bed around 11pm. and every 3 hr feedings, Jesse waking up at 645-7am) Tuesday was suppose to be a mid-wife 2 week check up but she called and asked to reschedule - so I scheduled a dr. appt to make sure James' circumcision was healing properly. I had a friend watch Jesse for me(Soooo thankful for friends) I got to the Ped's office and saw a ped that made me feel old cuz he looked the same age as me. : ( And found out it was a pointless trip, his skin is healing well, but is sticking a bit, however they don't mess with it until after 2wks because it could cause abnormal bleeding. They said it's better to wait. I was annoyed that I didn't ask a nurse over the phone to triage (sp?) before I came in. What a waste of time and money.
Wednesday, was a appointment with the Municipal court in Salem for my traffic violation...$343. Ugh! Had to be there at 8am. Took Jesse to a friends house (same as tuesday) at 7am, so I got up at 6am to be ready. Went with mom and the girls and Baby James to City Hall. Stood in line to register for 10min. Sat in the court room for 45min before all the people were registered and the judge made his appearance. waited another 1 1/2 hr. before my case was called before the judge...found out that the max deduction for traffic violations is %25, which is based on the judges decision and the persons past driving record. He reduced it the max %25. Was it worth the drive? Exhaustion, and time of mom and my friend? I don't know. I would rather have just paid the full fine, as I had the money in savings. $80 reduction just didn't seem quite worth it.
Thursday morning was difficult. Baby James kept me awake until 2am the night before. When Jesse arrived in my room at 6:3oam, I cried. I called my mom to see if she could come over, but she wasn't able to. So, I pulled myself out of the pit and chose to focus on God's strength in me. We headed to the Indoor Park here in town and visited with friends for 2 hrs (that was nice) I had a cup of coffee while I was there and felt better.
Friday morning a friend from church came over to visit (that was nice too).
And now we are here at friday night...Mark is heading to the beach for our middleschoolers beach trip we planned. I won't be going. Just too difficult to take a new born baby and not have any shelter, on top of the fact I could use the rest. I am still healing from the delivery. Mom is coming tomorrow to help me clean house (it's a mess). And she's going to take Rose and Jesse overnight, even with Linda coming in tomorrow night to stay 2 wks. Such a gift to me. She said it's no big deal. Karmin is going to have her first sleep over at a friends house. (someone I trust very much, a single mom with one daughter - we used to babysit her daughter) Yep...so that's my first week. We'll see how next week goes.
We did get a new pick-up. A 2004 GMC Colorado? I think??? : ) It's a crew cab, so it has a full bench seat in the back and 4 doors. It was a great deal, and we were amazed that we found something within our price range so quickly. We would rather not have financed for 1/2 of the cost, but I couldn't go without a car for 6mo to save up the money, and Mark didn't want to buy a $1500-$2000 beater car to commute in, and save up the money for what he really wanted later...so we compromised. I'm just really thankful I don't have to be without a car. Although I could have done it. I did it before for 4 mo. when Jesse was a baby when the CRV Transmission blew. Anyway...James is growing well. He met his birth weight by week 1, (which is normally benchmarked for 2wks) and by 2 weeks he's 6oz over his birth weight. So nursing is going well. Ended up with Thrush and candida yeast symptoms in my body, but it happens after every baby. I'm trying to stay strict on my diet, but I've been fudging a bit here and there. I got the florastor that Dr. Shirk recommends so I need to be disciplined so I don't waste the $36 I spent on it.
Jesse is enjoying the baby, just as much as the girls I think. Every morning he climbs in bed with me and pesters James by rubbing/patting or poking James' head. Chattering away at his baby brother. James doesn't seem to mind at all. The girls are always wanting to hold and kiss on him too. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming to be smothered by the 3 kids at the same time, but I'm sure that will relax as he gets older.
Anyway...we're all trying to adjust. It will take a month or so and I think things will start to feel normal and get into a groove. For now, I'm pretty tired and sometimes very irritable, if I don't get a nap because of the baby nursing. He likes to cluster feed...: ) Good for him, hard on me. I don't resent it, I nurse laying down when Jesse is sleeping so that helps.
He sure is a sweet baby, I'm enjoying him a lot,so he gets held a lot. More holding than I was able to do with the other 3. With Rose and Karmin, I had sickness and postpartum depression. With Jesse, I was trying to potty train Rose at the same time as having a new born. Consequently, Jesse is ready to be potty trained (he's taking off his own diaper and putting on his own diapers at times) but I really don't need the stress of that right now, so...we pick and choose things in life and go sometimes with the path that works best for our sanity. I'm trying to avoid the comparisons of other boys the same age or younger as Jesse who are potty trained or being potty trained. Just have to do what works for me, and our situation. Hopefully it will work out with Jesse -time will only tell. I'm just taking life one day at a time.
It's the same with Home schooling Karmin...I'm choosing not to be stressed about that. There are some key things I will focus on in a couple of months, one of them is phonics. For now, that will wait until I can tackle life as it is. We'll see how things pan out, life's a journey and I'm believing God is faithful to show me what things I need to focus on and when. Trusting Him in
this process. It's something that's hard to do, but I know it's all going to work out.
And now we are here at friday night...Mark is heading to the beach for our middleschoolers beach trip we planned. I won't be going. Just too difficult to take a new born baby and not have any shelter, on top of the fact I could use the rest. I am still healing from the delivery. Mom is coming tomorrow to help me clean house (it's a mess). And she's going to take Rose and Jesse overnight, even with Linda coming in tomorrow night to stay 2 wks. Such a gift to me. She said it's no big deal. Karmin is going to have her first sleep over at a friends house. (someone I trust very much, a single mom with one daughter - we used to babysit her daughter) Yep...so that's my first week. We'll see how next week goes.
We did get a new pick-up. A 2004 GMC Colorado? I think??? : ) It's a crew cab, so it has a full bench seat in the back and 4 doors. It was a great deal, and we were amazed that we found something within our price range so quickly. We would rather not have financed for 1/2 of the cost, but I couldn't go without a car for 6mo to save up the money, and Mark didn't want to buy a $1500-$2000 beater car to commute in, and save up the money for what he really wanted later...so we compromised. I'm just really thankful I don't have to be without a car. Although I could have done it. I did it before for 4 mo. when Jesse was a baby when the CRV Transmission blew. Anyway...James is growing well. He met his birth weight by week 1, (which is normally benchmarked for 2wks) and by 2 weeks he's 6oz over his birth weight. So nursing is going well. Ended up with Thrush and candida yeast symptoms in my body, but it happens after every baby. I'm trying to stay strict on my diet, but I've been fudging a bit here and there. I got the florastor that Dr. Shirk recommends so I need to be disciplined so I don't waste the $36 I spent on it.
Jesse is enjoying the baby, just as much as the girls I think. Every morning he climbs in bed with me and pesters James by rubbing/patting or poking James' head. Chattering away at his baby brother. James doesn't seem to mind at all. The girls are always wanting to hold and kiss on him too. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming to be smothered by the 3 kids at the same time, but I'm sure that will relax as he gets older.
Anyway...we're all trying to adjust. It will take a month or so and I think things will start to feel normal and get into a groove. For now, I'm pretty tired and sometimes very irritable, if I don't get a nap because of the baby nursing. He likes to cluster feed...: ) Good for him, hard on me. I don't resent it, I nurse laying down when Jesse is sleeping so that helps.
He sure is a sweet baby, I'm enjoying him a lot,so he gets held a lot. More holding than I was able to do with the other 3. With Rose and Karmin, I had sickness and postpartum depression. With Jesse, I was trying to potty train Rose at the same time as having a new born. Consequently, Jesse is ready to be potty trained (he's taking off his own diaper and putting on his own diapers at times) but I really don't need the stress of that right now, so...we pick and choose things in life and go sometimes with the path that works best for our sanity. I'm trying to avoid the comparisons of other boys the same age or younger as Jesse who are potty trained or being potty trained. Just have to do what works for me, and our situation. Hopefully it will work out with Jesse -time will only tell. I'm just taking life one day at a time.
It's the same with Home schooling Karmin...I'm choosing not to be stressed about that. There are some key things I will focus on in a couple of months, one of them is phonics. For now, that will wait until I can tackle life as it is. We'll see how things pan out, life's a journey and I'm believing God is faithful to show me what things I need to focus on and when. Trusting Him in
this process. It's something that's hard to do, but I know it's all going to work out.
You are an incredibly strong, capable woman. Thanks for sharing your joys and your struggles. I'm praying. Let me know if I can do anything practical for ya :) Jessi Hayward
ReplyDeleteDonaca,
ReplyDeleteI especially appreciate how honest this is! Feels like we just had a conversation... I'm glad God's grace is sufficient for each day.
Bless you, girl!
Leah