Survival

The first 6 weeks with a newborn are all about survival. What I am noticing is that survival this time around has been much different than it was with Brooke. Of course there are a few similarities thrown in there but it is with expected things.

With Brooke I was trying to survive emotionally. I remember crying every time I nursed her, when I was in the shower, when I went to the bathroom, when I went to bed, when... well you get the picture. I was so overwhelmed. Here I was with a brand new baby and I had no idea what I was doing. I was positive she was going to die if I turned my head for a second. I would lay my head on the side of her bassinet while she slept at night, and during the day I just held her and stared at her. I didn't want to leave the house with her and forget letting people hold her! Everything made my bottom lip quiver. As you can see, we both survived. Brooke made it through the first few weeks, and now on to 20 months, even though we went to Target when she was 2 weeks old and I let someone other than myself hold her.

With Molly it is about trying to survive physically. I am proud to say that I have only cried once, or twice, since Molly was born and it really was more out of exhaustion than anything else! I know that she can sleep in her bassinet each night with out me needing to stare at her, I know it is okay to let her sit/sleep in her bouncer or crib during the day, and we had our first trip to Target when she was a mere 4 days old. But boy am I exhausted physically! Between trying to entertain Brooke through out the day, trying to keep a clean house, and feeding/caring for Molly... I am wiped out. Couple this with a newborn who is up every 2 hours at night and will only sleep when cuddled, and you have yourself one tired mama. I am not even ready to type out my first grocery trip experience with BOTH girls.

All in all, we are surviving. I know that the sleepless nights will pass and schedules will form. I am cherishing the newborn cuddles while I have them and looking forward to what the future holds for our family.

And just because, here are two new pictures of the girls.