Boreal Witch

There's been a whole mess of stuff going on around here lately. Having a newborn certainly puts your life into a whole new level of chaos. It's not necessarily bad, in my humble opinion, but it does require a whole new household strategy (which can become very stressful).

Strategy #1: Sleeping 2 hours at a time isn't as fulfilling as an 9-hour stretch, but it's better than nothing.

I'm determined to pace myself better now that I have two kids. Arthur is 3 and already a champion sleeper. Now I need to make sure that Balin doesn't keep him awake. I've started sleeping downstairs for half the night so that I don't disturb Robinson or Arthur's night sleep. I figure if they can get some solid blocks of sleep at night, they'll be more rested and thus more helpful during the day. That's the theory at least and so far it's working for them.

I no longer poo-poo at these short naps. I need them to keep up my energy (and sanity). I've been trying to take naps during the day and going to sleep early at night so that I can get about 6-8 hours a night, even though my sleep is broken up into 2-3 hour increments. Hey, I'll take what I can get now.

Strategy #2: Delegate, delegate, delegate.

I'm a horrible at this because I assume that I can do everything on my own. Most of the time I can, and sometimes I get overwhelmed. After having Balin, I've been trying to pace myself better. It's been hard because I feel as though I can't always rely on other people to do the job right. Housework especially.

A part of it is just being able to let things go, which I am also horrible at. Our kitchen floor hasn't been mopped and the bathroom hasn't been scrubbed down in 3 weeks . I don't think the carpets have been vacuumed in 2 weeks and there's a lot of stuff that needs to be taken to the garage since our incident with the water heater.

On a positive note, I've also discovered a ready helper in Arthur. He's nearly 3 and very mature for his age. He's been taking Balin's presence in stride. He takes messages to Robinson when we're on different levels of the house, helps with some chores, and fetches things for the baby, such as diapers or wipes. He doesn't always do it right, but he tries, and that's what matters.

Strategy #3: Frozen meals are AWESOME.

We've already dug into our frozen meal stash. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to just throw something into the oven and bake it. There's no preparation and no big mess to clean up. Last week, instead of making a whole new meal, Robinson threw some freezer fried chicken into the oven and made some Cole slaw and mashed potatoes while it was baking. Hardly any mess, no greasy splatter, and the chicken was delicious.

Strategy #4: My post-partum body may not be swimsuit worthy yet, but that doesn't mean I still shouldn't take care of it.

This is a funny statement to me because while I was pregnant, I was consuming large amounts of sweets. I would make cookie dough just to eat it. Now that I am no longer pregnant with Balin, I've lost my appetite for sweets. No joke. I had a cupcake yesterday and I felt so sick afterward. It's a good think Luna bars are low glycemic because those have been my before bedtime snack for the last few days.

I'm hoping this aversion to sweets continues. I've always had poor judgment when it comes to dessert and I'm discovering (yet again) that I like not filling my body with all kinds of sugary garbage. This was also my downfall after my pregnancy with Arthur. Once my weight plateaued because my breast milk production leveled off, I kept eating like I was still making lots of milk...and then gained a lot of weight. It took a lot of exercise and healthy eating to get it off...and then I got pregnant again. I do expect to fit into my jeans again someday, but in the meantime, I'm planning on concentrating on eating well and getting some moderate exercise once I completely heal.

Blessed be.

For the last day, my attempts at breastfeeding have been a challenge. Balin has a very shallow latch for my nipples, although he'll open wide for his fist. A new definition of "nipple confusion" for sure.

I had some difficulties nursing Arthur, too. It was quite a humbling experience asking for help, but I didn't want to give up (even though the pain made me think twice a few times). So I called Joanne Spears at Public Health. After her visit, Arthur and I made a great nursing team. It became very simple, almost second nature.

I called Joanne this morning and she was able to come by today. For about 45 minutes, we troubleshooted some of the issues I was having nursing Balin and found a good position for the both of us. Now, there's no doubt in my mind that we'll be an awesome nursing team, too.

It's nice that we're on our way to becoming a team because this kid's got quite the appetite. According to the midwife, he only lost 3 oz in his first day (most kids his weight lose 8-12 oz their first day). He's already about pound bigger than his friend Slate, who is two months older than he is. I can't help wondering if he's going to be a bit shorter and stockier than Arthur, who has his father's build. Eventually these two may be wearing the same size clothes even though Balin is several years younger.

Oh, my.

Blessed be.

Arthur came home today and met Balin. Judging by the look on Arthur's face, they've hit it off just fine.

Or not.

It's a good thing Balin got Arthur a gift. I think the grader melted his heart, just a little bit. As soon he opened it, he ran off to play with his new grader and pistachio shells. Robinson had to remind him to thank Balin before he ran off, which he did (a hurried "Thanks, Balin!).

Blessed be.

I'm letting you in on a little secret: the second labor really does go faster than the first. It's just a question of how much faster and whether or not you are prepared for it.

Arthur took his time. He was born about 12 hours after my contractions started (including an hour of pushing), which, according to the midwives, was not really that bad for a first labor.

This time around, I woke up at 11:30 pm because my water had broke. Then the contractions came on, but they weren't 1 minute long and 4 minutes apart. They were 1 minute long and 2 minutes apart! Eek! We called Marcy (who came over to spend the night with Arthur) and then Sarah (who was going to watch him the next morning until we came home). Marcy made it over safely despite the snow (another 4 inches or so) and we were off to the Birth Center.

Robinson managed to get out of our driveway, hit every single light green, and avoided law enforcement (while speeding a little). When we arrived, Robinson hadn't even taken off his shoes and jacket as I threw off clothing and started to push. The second midwife arrived. Balin was born 20 minutes later. We were completely unprepared for how quickly this baby came into the world. Had we hesitated, he might have been born on the Steese (a very similar situation happened to my mom with her second daughter, only she was on the Richardson).

Balin was born March 28th at 1:31 am. He was 8 lbs 12 oz - almost a whole pound bigger than Arthur! - and 20 1/4" long. He's healthy and happy and has reddish hair. I hope he gets to keep that.

As we were pulling into the driveway this morning, we were a little concerned to find no one home. Sarah had kidnapped Arthur and had taken him to her house where he spent the entire day playing, eating, and watching Bob the Builder. In fact, when we did call the conversation went something like this:

Robinson: Hi, Sarah, it's Robinson. How's Arthur?

Sarah: He's fine. Do you want to talk to him?

Robinson: Sure.

Sarah (to Arthur): Hey, Arthur, do you want to talk to your dad?

(No response.)

Robinson: Ask him if he wants to talk to Mommy.

Sarah (to Arthur): Do you want to talk to your mom?

Arthur (to Sarah): No. I'm playing.

Sarah was gracious enough to keep Arthur all day and all night (his first sleepover!) so that we could get settled in with Balin. It was nice to have time with Balin, but we missed Arthur terribly. Sarah sent updates throughout the day so that we'd know he was doing well.

Balin is eager to meet his older brother and give him a gift. I think Arthur is eager to meet Balin to see what all the fuss is about.

Blessed be.

I've been trying harder to celebrate more Wiccan holidays as traditionally as Yule. I want to actually have annual events and activities on these days that the family can look forward to. I've already missed Imbolc (due to Oldma's funeral) and Spring Equinox (as usual, I'm blaming it on Baby X). In fact, the only thing I really did to celebrate the Equinox this year was write a short Facebook post. Not really what I had in mind.

On the other hand, I have been nesting which means I have been doing a lot of spring cleaning. So maybe I shouldn't feel so bad that I didn't celebrate the Equinox. Maybe I should consider it a month-long event. Therefore, I have been so good about celebrating the Equinox that I didn't need to do anything else.

Hm. Even I don't really buy that.

Winter is fading. I see it more and more now that the weather is so nice. The snow has almost completely melted off the roof and the deck is almost clear. Even though it's been a relatively mild winter, it's a bit of a relief that it's nearly over. I'm itching to start digging in the garden again and excited to start planting. I'm ready to chop and haul wood and take Arthur to the park. I'm ready to bike to town on nice days and take long walks with Robinson. I'm ready to see the birds arrive at Creamer's field and go outdoors without wearing a coat. It's times like these I miss Washington's more temperate climate.

In other news, we went to the Open North American Dog Races this weekend. Arthur loves dogs and anything dog-related. He was thrilled to just stand on the sidewalk and watch dog team after dog team run by. In fact, he was a little sad that it was over. I think he could have stood there all day.

Clean your house, bake some bread. Celebrate spring!

Blessed be.

My little boy is growing up.

That's not surprising. People grow, people change.

It's just a bit...bittersweet.

I love this age. Arthur is so expressive. He's curious. He's active. He's more independent. He's proud to be a "big boy."

I'm a little worried about how my relationship will change with him once Baby X is born, but both good and bad springs from change. The bad: Arthur will probably feel a little left out and a little confused. Maybe even jealous. We'll all be tired and a bit cranky. The good: Robinson will be able to spend more one-on-one time with Arthur, which will be nice for both of them. Not to mention the fact that Nana's coming in April and will most likely be staying for his birthday. Arthur adores Nana and will be so happy to have someone all to himself to spoil him rotten.

Another perk of being the older one? Fun activities that only "big boys" get to do. I signed him up for swim lessons next month. He and his friend Jade will be doing the class together. I'm not sure how much swimming they will actually be doing (I think most of the class is just getting them comfortable in the water), but it sounds like a lot of fun. He's pretty excited. If he likes it, we might sign him up for another session during the summer.

Oh, and three year portraits were postponed. Arthur's really sick. Those will have to wait until next week and hopefully Baby X will decide not to make an appearance until after those are done. That's really the last thing that needs to get finished before Baby X arrives. Besides party planning, but I figure Nana can help me out with that when she comes. So, things are moving along, slowly but surely.

Blessed be.

I helped a friend of mine clean her kitchen cabinets. She was getting ready to move to Texas and needed to get her house ready for renters. She had a few Mr. Clean Magic Erasers out so I started scrubbing everything in sight.

Talk about magic! The erasers did an incredible job - so much so that on Sunday I invested in a 10 pack with the intention of cleaning out my kitchen cabinets (purging as well as scrubbing). The tops were caked in grease and hair which had been there since we moved in. About a year ago, I tried to clean off the cabinets without much success, so I gave up. Then again, I used a degreaser made from vinegar and water (works on most things, apparently not on this).

Monday morning I started the task.

Wednesday night, I finished.

The insides and outsides had been scrubbed and were now a sparkling white. The tops of the cabinets were no longer greasy. I thought I'd only use about four, maybe five, erasers in all - turns out, I used 8 1/2 (eww). You can kind of tell in the picture on the left; the left cabinet is clean, the right is dirty.

The kitchen is clean - for now. I think I'll start cleaning out the cabinets every spring. The whole room certainly looks nicer with a little attention and I found plenty of stuff hiding in the cabinets that I didn't even need anymore.

After this little escapade, my ankles swelled up pretty bad. The swelling didn't go down for about two days (and at this point in the pregnancy, it's hard enough to get around with just a belly). Even with that little annoyance, it was well worth it.

Break out that broom, mop, and dustpan! Spring's on its way!

Blessed be.

It's interesting to see the differences in pregnancy the second time around. I suppose when you only have one child, it's easy to just assume that everything about the second will be the same...or, at the very least, similar. You have nothing else to base your experiences on except for the first time around.

I'm 37 weeks along since yesterday. People seem surprised to hear that. Toward the end of my first pregnancy I felt like a hideous beached whale. I was so big, I couldn't tie my own shoes. I've felt a lot smaller throughout the second pregnancy, though it probably didn't help that I lost a little weight during the first trimester because I felt so sick. Maybe because I'm a stay at home mom now I'm more active. I walk for about an hour at least once a week and I'm in constant motion chasing a 3 year old. I'm up to (and slightly past) my first pregnancy weight and I do expect to gain more (they say you do with the second one), but I'm not sure if this is all baby weight or if it's water retention. Wouldn't it be great if it was both?

I'm still up every two hours, but this time it's not because I have to pee. This time it's because my arms, legs, and hands are so swollen that I can't get to sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night, unbearably uncomfortable, and hoping that when I get up in the morning I don't look like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. The swelling happened last time, too, but it was not as bad. On some busy days, I can't stay on my feet that night. What would also be great is if all of the swelling went down in a couple of days after the birth, like last time.

Despite the blog complaining this morning, I'm finding that this pregnancy has more or less been a breeze. I've had some people tell me that it's because of Arthur. Since I'm distracted by his needs, I'm not paying attention to the second pregnancy. That's certainly part of it.

I'm more relaxed about the entire affair, especially the birth. Arthur was 13 days past his due date, which was so stressful. I went through the Birth Center last time (and am again this time) and Alaska State Law says that after 42 weeks, it's mandatory induction at the hospital. Luckily, he came just under the wire. What I thought was a curse is now actually a blessing. The only way this baby could be any later is by being 14 days late. I kind of chuckle about how frustrated I was then and how easy-going I am now. Well, relatively speaking.

Then again, what was actually a blessing could now be a curse. In retrospect, I had a relatively "easy" birth, without medication or intervention. This time will more than likely be different and I often wonder how.

Finally, there's Arthur. If the pregnancy was hard for him (after all, he can't sit on my lap anymore), then Baby X will rock his world. I'm hoping that he'll continue to be a good helper and that I'll remember to spend alone time with him. I'm hoping that I can be conscience of how he's feeling and remind him how much we love him.

It's a grand thing that his Nana is coming up to help for a while. She'll be more than willing to lavish attention on Arthur and then whenever Robinson is home for the day, he can take Arthur out every once in a while and Nana can lavish attention on the baby. And then I can sleep.

Speaking of which...I should get back in bed. I'm finally tired again.

Blessed be.

A part of me missed the feisty, red-headed Redpolls. They certainly aren't afraid to get into a scrape or two to assert their dominance.

My other half wishes they would just GO AWAY. They hog the bird feeder and don't allow the Chickadees - my favorite winter visitors - to visit the buffet.

Blessed be.