Postpartum Months 2 & 3

It just keeps getting better.

Something changed with Kaia around 2 months. She became more aware of her surroundings and thus more at ease.

This has come with some additional comforts to us parents as well. First and foremost, she has been communicating with us through smiles and “oohs, and aahs.” I can’t get enough of this. I could literally do that with her, and kiss her cheeks all day long. Secondly, she has been napping better and been easier to put to sleep. Which has been a major game changer. Her “witching hour” seems to have disappeared, which is monumental to our mental health as parents. She has required less work to put to sleep, for the most part. Meaning we don’t have to walk her as long, and she will even fall asleep in the swing now! Huge! Last but not least, her sleep time at night has drastically increased. She regularly sleeps 5-6 hours for her first bout, and twice now she’s gone a 9-10 hour stretch without eating. And then she’ll fall back asleep and sleep another few hours! Amazing!! I've never had a baby sleep through the night before..

Kaia got COVID when she was six weeks old. We all got it, for the very first time (as far as we know). Luc started, then Kaia and myself, then Anders. Anders was asymptomatic the whole time and I only felt fatigue and a headache. Kaia and Luc both got a fever and terribly congested. Luc felt awful, and I imagine Kaia did as well. She had a fever for 24 hours and basically slept all day. She didn’t smile for a couple of days, and sleeping at night was pretty rough. I was on high alert for her breathing being okay; and she was fussy and congested. Poor baby, but we made it through.

She had her two week check-up, which was a mess of sorts. She slept the entire way there, which was a miracle, but then she vomited all over herself right when we got there. She was 13.8 lbs - 85% for weight, and 80% for height. The doctor did hear her heart murmur again though. She’s pretty confident that it will resolve itself, but offered to do an EKG if we wanted. I declined, as I trust that my doctor would play it safe and issue one if she thought it necessary or helpful. Which she didn’t. So I’m not too worried. She was supposed to get her shots, but we ended up having to leave and come back another day because they were taking so long and I had to get to work.

So a few days later, they got us in for her two month shots: two in one leg, one in the other, and an oral vaccine. First of all, I have been on the fence about vaccines. Or I should say, curious about them- which is more than I’ve ever been. In the end, I followed the advice of my long time highschool friend, and decided to stay in the middle on this one and go with the norm.

Christmas was yesterday and it was perfect. Kaia slept through almost all of it. She slept in until 9 am (which never happens)- so presents were done, and then she napped from 12:30-4, which was almost the entire time that my parents were here! It was nice to be able to be present for conversations with my parents though. We didn’t get Kaia a single thing for Christmas! Pretty funny I think. The first time parent me would never have done that!

Luc’s mom came a couple of weeks ago to visit. It was so nice to have her help and to have the kids get to spend time with her. She bought Kaia a new car seat to see if it would help her fury in the car. It seems to have improved things. For instance, yesterday she rode the entire way to the Epicenter and back without a single cry! Any peaceful car ride we can get! School for the older kids starts back up next week so we’ll be back to driving across town everyday.

That’s it for now. We’ve been really enjoying family time. Anders is really in love with Kaia and it’s so sweet to see. He holds her and calms her: “oooh Kaia, it’s ok, it’s ok.” She’s turning out to be such a gift to the entire family. And I love that we are having this time at home during the holidays to bond together.

A note I want to make about body image: smaller is not always better. Why do women seem to always want their body to be smaller. When I tell people that I am twenty pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight, I am met with condolences: “Oh, I’m sorry.” I didn’t say it was negative, yet that is the assumption. Shouldn’t health be our ultimate goal, not smaller/less weight? How health is defined is determined by each individual. We need to consider mental health in with this too. Lately I’ve been craving a sweet to offset the stress of my taxing postpartum days. And that may come with additional pounds, but that’s a compromise I’m willing to make right now. Because smaller is not always better. And let’s not always judge ourselves based on the size of our body. Okay, that’s all on that for now.