Two Months: Jo-Jo
On Friday Jo-Jo had her two month checkup and another round of vaccines. Poor baby didn’t do so well with the shots, but honestly who would? Overall Jo-Jo is healthy and growing. She’s now 9 lbs 6 oz and is 22.25 inches long. That puts her in the 15 percentile for weight and 45 percentile for height just like Izzy at this age. I think both the girls will end up being tall and skinny girls. Jo-Jo’s eyelashes are impossibly long (like her daddy’s). I’m kinda jealous that her eyelashes are longer than mine and she’s only two months old!
Jo-Jo is doing great at night which I’m so thankful for. She will usually get 8 or 9 hours of sleep and wake up at exactly 7:30am. That means starting the day earlier than usual but I guess the upside is I am able to get more done during the day.
One Month: Jo-Jo
Baby Jo-Jo is now one month old and we just moved her out of our room to sleep in her own room. I gave in and put her into a swing to sleep and have gotten at the most 6 hours of sleep. I didn’t want to have to use the swing, but I think a well rested momma and baby is worth it.
Jo-Jo now weighs in at around 8 pounds. I haven’t measured her yet but she’ll get measured and weighed by the doctor at her two month checkup. We’re teaching Jo-Jo early to “cry it out” because we definitely can’t carry her around all day with Izzy running around. I’d say Jo-Jo is learning and her cry time is getting shorter and shorter.
I’m learning how to handle two kiddos on my own and am managing fairly well, that is as long as we’re not running errands and both kids are happy and not crying. Izzy is back at her weekly music class and is attending “summer school” this month on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
I started up a fitness routine again, although sometimes I find it hard to fit in a workout during the day or even sit down to have a healthy meal. However I am determined to drop the baby weight sooner rather than later!
Here are some pictures of the kiddos:
-
- Sleeping Baby
-
- Momma and Baby
-
- Sisterly Love
-
- Tiny Smile
-
- Playdough Bracelets
-
- Um…Smile??
Week 1 With JoJo
Well, we’ve survived week 1 as a family of 4! Luke is back to work this week, so now I’m adjusting to being at home with two kids. So far, not so bad. I’m glad that Izzy has learned to do a lot of stuff by herself, like going potty and playing by herself. JoJo has made it easier also by sleeping a lot.
Today was our first checkup for JoJo. She has gained back almost all of her birth weight so today she weighed in at 6lbs. She’s in the 10th percentile for weight. She’s 19.5 inches long and is in the 45th percentile for length.
Whenever I look at JoJo it’s like looking at newborn Izzy…just with more hair. I dug up one picture of Izzy from when she was brand new so that you can see the resemblance I’m talking about. Can you tell which is which is Izzy and which is JoJo?
Joelle Grace Knowles
Joelle Grace Knowles is here and is a healthy, happy and CALM bundle of joy!
Birth Date: Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 4:10pm
Weight: 6 pounds, 3 ounces
Length: 19 inches
Like with Izzy, we had a little trouble coming up with a good girl name that was somewhat Biblically based. We finally ran across the name “Joelle” on a website and saw that it was the feminine form of “Joel” and means “Jehovah is God”. “Joelle” also isn’t a very common name which I liked.
For a middle name, we wanted both our girls to have names that were also characteristics we hope that they grow up with or into. Isabelle’s middle name is “Faith” with hope and prayers that she will be a woman with faith. Joelle’s middle name is “Grace”, for it’s the grace of God who saves and we pray that Joelle will also be a woman of grace and with grace for others. For Joelle’s nickname, we’ve been calling her “Jo-Jo” which Izzy can also say.
Now onto the birth story, I’ll try to keep this as G rated as possible.
On Friday, my water broke at home just as I was about to get Izzy up from her nap. Not the most convenient time for it to break since Izzy had gone through her drawers and made quite a mess of her room. Luke was also just on his way back from work so there I was cleaning up after Izzy while still trying to clean up after myself!
When Luke returned he took over cleaning up over Izzy while I made various calls to my health care providers. We decided to have dinner and put Izzy to bed before heading over to the hospital since contractions had not started and we thought they might actually send us home to wait for actual labor to start.
After checking in at the hospital at 8pm, they told me that we were there to stay until Joelle arrived. My mom headed up to Fort Collins to relieve Cousin Steen from Izzy duties. That night I was given a pill to help start the induction process since Joelle needed to be out within 24 hours of my water breaking.
On Saturday morning my mom and Izzy dropped by to see how things were going. Izzy was quite concerned about the IV that was in my arm and almost started to cry because it looked like mommy had an “ow”. At 11am I was put on pitocin to get actual labor started and progressing quickly.
After a few hours of pain I happily took an epidural. At 4pm pushing started and 5 pushes later Joelle arrived with full head of hair and working her lungs with some good crying. My mom and Izzy came by a couple hours later to meet Joelle. Izzy enjoyed meeting her little sister and holding her. It’s been so fun to see Izzy turn into a big sister.
It’s amazing how different this labor and delivery was from when I had Izzy. I’ve also found that my recovery is going much quicker as well which I’m extremely grateful for.
Now I have to give some props to the hospital we’re at. It’s one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States and I’ll agree to that! Our labor and delivery room and staff were great and on top of things. The recovery room that we’re staying at has a bed for daddy which makes it more comfortable for Luke to stay with us.
The food at the hospital is actually good! I get to order off of a room service menu and basically order as much as I want for “free” (I know my insurance is paying the hospital bill). Last night the hospital gave us a “New Baby” dinner which included steak, lobster tail, dessert, salad and sides.
The nurses that have been taking care of us have been helpful and quick to respond to our needs. The midwife who delivered Joelle knew what to do in order to make my labor and delivery somewhat quick and painless. I don’t think I want to leave the hospital and return to real life! Quite the opposite of how I felt the need to bolt out of the hospital in Florida.
Here are some pictures of our new addition and a video of Izzy holding her little sister:
Belly Week 39
I’m writing this post from the hospital where we’re waiting for the arrival of our baby girl. This is our second trip to the hospital this week. We were here on Monday because of early labor signs, but today we’re here because after my water broke at home and now this girl has to come out. Even though my water broke, I’m not in labor so it looks like I will be induced in a couple hours. Hopefully the induction works and goes quickly. I’m not up for another three day induction like what happened with Izzy.
It’s hard to get rest at a hospital with nurses coming in an out every two hours to take my vitals, however I am trying to rest a little so I have some energy when it’s really needed.
Hopefully the next time I post I’ll be able to post pictures of our baby!
Belly Week 38ish
My countdown widget says there’s 16 days left until my due date. This information causes mixed feelings for me. I’m so ready to meet our little girl, but so not ready for everything else that will come with her… Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic.
I’m coming into this with both eyes WIDE open. I’ve known what I’m getting myself into for a long time, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. Actually I think it’s harder because I know what’s coming and the apprehension is there! With Izzy being our first baby, we were blissfully unaware of everything and excited for Izzy until reality hit the first night we were at home. Let’s just say there were many tears from Izzy and I the first week home.
So here’s what I’ve learned from Izzy and from mom’s of multiples:
- I won’t be able to walk or sit comfortably for at least two weeks after birth.
- Never leave pain meds at home especially for the first two weeks after birth!
- My baby will probably be hungry for the first couple days of her life while my milk comes in.
- Nursing is a learned skill for both mom and baby and will be more painful this time around.
- The “mommy-diner” will have to be open 24 hours and provide on demand meals that can take an hour to complete.
- I won’t check out of the hospital until they are literally kicking me out.
- She probably won’t sleep more than 3 hours at a time (if that).
- I will go through packs of D batteries like a champ if the infant swing will help her sleep longer.
- Not all babies fall asleep in the car.
- It’s guaranteed that Izzy will want my attention when I’m busy with the baby.
- Izzy will be whine-ier than usual because she won’t be the center of attention anymore.
- Getting in and out of the car with two kids will be at least a 5 minute process, a process that will need to be refined and mastered.
- Getting out of the house with a newborn is an hour long process.
- Explosive diapers are unavoidable and those clothes are easier to throw away than to wash.
- For the next year the longest I will be away from the baby will only be for two or three hours.
- Getting back into my pre-pregnancy clothes is going to take a lot of work and a lot of time.
Ignorance truly is bliss but having your first baby is a harsh dose of reality =)
Tadfish Swim Lessons
Izzy just finished her next set of swim lessons through the city parks and rec department. This class was called Tadfish. She learned how to “dive” into the water by putting her arms over her head and sliding into our arms on her belly, she learned how to put her face in the water to talk to the fish, she learned how to use her feet to push off the side and lay on her back (with our help) and she practiced all the other swimming skills she had learned in previous classes.
For half of the classes Luke went in the pool with her, for the other half of her classes I went into the pool with her. Her report card for this class said she learned all the skills they were teaching, but since she’s not yet three and not comfortable enough to put her face fully in the water she should either retake the class or wait to go into the next class.
With summer right around the corner and our community pool opening up soon I’ll be spending time with Izzy in the pool practicing her swimming so hopefully she’ll be ready for the next class when she turns three.
Baby Shower
A friend of my in town offered to throw baby #2 a baby shower. It was so thoughtful of her to do this for us since with Izzy we weren’t able to pull off a traditional baby shower. The baby shower was last weekend and I’m so glad that my friends and my parents were able to come.
Baby #2 received all the necessities including a few outfits all her own, which I’m thankful for since most of her clothes will end up being hand me downs.
Thank you to everyone who was able to make it and thank you to Esther and Heidi for putting this all together!
Belly Week 36
One more month… I’m exhausted from carrying this little baby girl and keeping up with Izzy, who is now a big girl. Whenever people ask me if I’m excited for pregnancy to be over, I usually respond with, “I’m excited for the next year to be over!” I know there will be more sleepless nights coming my way very very soon!
When I was pregnant with Izzy I made it a point to slow life down to a crawl during the last month of pregnancy. It seems like with this pregnancy, things are getting busier. There is something planned everyday of the week whether it’s errands, play dates, swim class or music classes, something going on almost every weekend in May, our basement is still not completely finished and Luke’s cousin Steen is staying with us while he finds a place to live in Fort Collins.
It would be great if life slowed down just a bit before our baby comes, but I’m not sure that will happen. Well at least life isn’t boring!
More from Music Class
Like I thought last week, Izzy’s getting braver at music class. This week she was able to play the drums and was the second kid to voluntarily get up and “sing” in front of the entire class. This week’s instrument was the keyboard, and again, she was the second kid to volunteer to play it.
Here are some videos. The “singing” one makes me laugh because she’s not actually singing. I think she’s at a lost for words…