Okay, that last post was a little depressing. Or a lot depressing. Things are better now. Eleanor had a 103-104 temp for 3 days and let me tell you--it was rough. She wouldn't eat anything. Then she got a crazy rash. Then James got sick, so he couldn't help at all with the girls. BUT Eleanor is pretty much better. She's eating and the rash is going away.

And seriously, Eadie (I think this is the spelling we've decided on) is THE BEST baby ever. She is an angel. She is a good eater and hardly ever cries. And breastfeeding is much much easier this time around. Eleanor was such a piranha and I had 6 weeks of serious pain. Despite having a rough time last week, I never hit the level of "completely delirious."

I hit that point about a week and half after I had Eleanor. After getting up for what felt like the billionth time (which is no picnic post-c-section) one night to feed Eleanor (who cried every 45 minutes during the night) I looked at my sweetly sleeping husband and wanted to put the pillow over his face. I knew then that I needed to start running the following day or my husband wasn't going to make it.

It's going to kill me to go back to work in August. But I have 2 months to enjoy my girls. And luckily, I'll just go back to teach 3 classes.

Speaking of Eadie, I should properly introduce my new little lady. Edith Virginia was born on May 17th at 7:54am via c-section. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 19.75 inches long and had a ton of lovely dark hair. How I love that hair!

This one was planned and not after 22 hours of labor (i.e. Eleanor) and the recovery has been so much better. It was pretty dang nerve-racking pre-surgery, but James did relaxation stuff with me and I just focused on my breathing so I didn't FREAK OUT COMPLETELY. All in all, a much better experience. The hospital was so enjoyable. It was nice to just get to know my little Eadie. Since she was not at all planned and I was occupied with a busy toddler and working literally up until 36 hours before giving birth, it was like I had not grasped that there was a little person inside me. Hearing her cry for the 1st time was a very sweet experience. She was real. Not just 2 lines I did not expect to see on a birth control test.

Eleanor is adjusting reasonably well to a new person in the house. She will say "Hi, baby!" and then just ignore her. I can't believe I have two little girls.

 

Having kids 14 months apart is hard. Especially when one has a temp of 104 for 2 days and wont eat or drink anything (Eleanor) and the other has pink eye, jaundice, and funky breathing patterns (Edie). All the while, I have a UTI, am engorged, have a suspicious lump in my arm pit, the most heinous cold sore you have ever seen (it's consuming my chin now and my husband wont kiss me), and recovering from a c-section while my husband is so stressed and overwhelmed from work, I might as well be a single parent.

Does this sound like complaining? It should, because I am. This is hard. I am no Xena warrior princess mamma.

Re-covered Car Seat

I'm not going to lie. I'm pretty pleased with myself. Other than working full-time, keeping my child alive, not murdering my husband, and managing to cook sometimes, my accomplishments during this pregnancy have been minimal. While I was so productive during my pregnancy with E--sewing, knitting and crocheting up a storm--I've created NOTHING this entire pregnancy. "Nesting" has been replaced with practical planning. That is until this weekend.

Since E is 13 months and tiny and we are just a few weeks away from bringing little J into this world, we knew we needed another infant car seat. At 17 lbs, E is nowhere big enough to even contemplate a front-facing seat. However, we really didn't want to buy another infant seat for just 6-8 months of use considering our finances. Luckily for us, a former work colleague offered us a car seat and crib that their youngest was just out-growing. Big win!!!

As you can see, the seat was well-worn. While still perfectly functional, I wanted to clean it up--and I did. I took it all apart, and in doing so, I decided that I'd use some houndstooth fabric I bought at the thrift store a few weeks ago (4 yds for $2.99---wahoo!) to recover the seat. I knew it'd be a big undertaking, but my very dormant creative juices needed an outlet. So this weekend, amidst all three of us being sick (our new life since E has started going to daycare), I decided to make this thing happen.

Here's the before pics:

 You can see that it was pretty worn and dirty. I decided that simply washing it in the washing machine wasn't going to satisfy me.

  So all I really did was take apart each little piece of fabric with a seam ripper. That was BY FAR, the most time consuming part. At the recommendation of another blog I saw about recovering carseats, I took pictures as I did it in order to know how to put everything back together. Then, I made matching pieces in the new fabric and sewed it all back up! I sewed the original padding onto my new fabric. My friend gave it to us sans shoulder pads, but I made some because I don't want the straps rubbing into to E's skin. I also washed the straps and all the little fixtures in soapy water. In all, the conversion cost about $10 total. Not bad for a new car seat!

 ALL CLEAN!!!

Other than needing to make about 50 zillion freezer meals before my May 17th c-section, we are almost ready for another little one! Physically, that is. Emotionally and mentally ready for 2 kids 14 months apart? Not a chance.

Eleanor's 1st Birthday

Oh my heavens, it's been a while since I've blogged. And, boy howdy, has life moved along quickly since then.

1) First off, we got Netflix. We're pretty much behind everyone else when it comes to technology. Our phones don't go on the internet and our TV gets 3 channels. On a good day. So our commitment to Netflix was no small thing. So far, we're loving it and are wondering why we didn't do this sooner. Eleanor LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba, and we can get access to it 24/7. I know I vowed that my child wouldn't watch TV, but that was before I had a child. The reality is Yo Gabba Gabba has saved my life many times. It calms her down and even makes her eat food. She's almost a year and isn't even 17 lbs yet. We try anything to get her to eat. For a few weeks, she flat out refused to eat anything.

But, if DJ Lance Rock is on screen, she zones out, her jaw drops, and she'll eat whatever we give her as she stares at the screen. I kid you not.

We've also been enjoying a variety of TV shows like Freaks and Geeks, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Twin Peaks, and 30 Rock. It's been awesome.

2) We bought a house. It's great. I park in a garage. We have a guest bathroom, a piano in the front room, and a room for my sewing and James' music equipment.  Downside: We don't know how to fix or repair anything.

3) We got pregnant again. I know. A mom in my new ward asked privately "How exactly does that happen?"after I mentioned that it was "not on purpose." My answer: Birth control doesn't always work.   So there you go. Oh man, it feels as though I've been pregnant forever. I ran into the mom of a girl I grew up with and she was like "Oh, I heard you were pregnant with your first!" I then sheepishly explained that I gave birth to my 1st and managed to get pregnant before she went onto solid foods and that this baby bump would be her little sister. I'm due end of May. They'll be just shy of 15 months apart. If I think about it too much, I start freaking out and have to focus on breathing deeply.

4) Due to number 3 (see above) and our needs as a family, I went back to work in the classroom. Teaching high school French. HUGE BLESSING. I love it. For the most part. It's hard not to be there all day with little E, but when I am with her, I can focus on her 100%. When I was teaching online from home, that wasn't the case at all. Life actually feels more balanced right now. We've got a great sitter. And I only work 6.5 hours a day, but get full benefits and all summer off. I work in the same district as J now so we have the same school breaks.