I take it back!

I must have wrote my last post on a good day because we've had a few very rough days here surviving with two under two.
It started with Sophie waking up to eat and be changed at 5am. Then just as I was falling back asleep, Dave's alarm went off. Then Parker woke up. Then Dave's second alarm went off after I sent Parker back to bed and was asleep maybe 10 minutes. Then Dave woke up with Parker and my day was to start. And it didn't get any easier as the day went on: quite the opposite actually. Parker was really whiny all day and threw temper tantrum after temper tantrum. Sophie wouldn't sleep more than a few minutes either. So basically it was a huge cry fest here, myself included.
This is where I'm thankful for tandem nursing though, I have to say! I've been breastfeeding the two of them but never at the same time. I'm not sure why but I do know that whenever I'm feeding Sophie, Parker likes to destroy the house. He's been wanting to nurse much more often lately (big surprise given how moody and sensitive he's been the past few days) and with Sophie being up and unhappy I decided to try my hand at simultaneously nursing them. I got comfy on the sofa and put a pillow on each side. Then I had Parker in a cradle hold as per usual then put Sophie on top of him on the other breast. It worked magically and I wished I had started this from the beginning. It was also very sweet to look down at my two babies and Parker rubbing Sophie's back while she nursed.
So I think that's my new weapon of attack for cranky days. That and a glass of good wine at the end of the day. :)

Two under Two...

...is not always easy. Throw a hormonal teenaged girl into the mix and I'm done for!

When I was pregnant with Sophie I spent most of my time worrying and panicking about two under two and imagining worst case scenarios. I have to say though that while it's definitely hard it's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I find as long as I'm one step ahead of them (and I think that's the secret to this whole parenting thing!) then things go okay.

Thankfully I've worked with children for the past ten years and i've found that by following a schedule is helpful. Not a strict schedule but more a routine I guess. And having activities for Parker to do is great too but I've been slacking in that area. I need to have a day to prepare tons of art supplies, or maniupulatives so that I can just whip it out when he's looking bored. Maybe that will save my houseplants from curious toddler hands. :)

Ally's been a huge help when she wants to be. SH'es great with Sophie and loves to hold her so that I can quickly run the vacuum, start dinner or take a breather like I'm doing right now. A week after Sophie was born we decided to switch schools for Ally. She wasn't doing well at her old highschool and there were some serious problems that were coming up. I'm not sure that a switch of schools will work but so far so good. Fingers are crossed that this keeps up because I dont know if I can survive anymore teenage drama.

Parker's adjusting fairly well. He has his good days and his not so good days but all in all he seems back to his usual self. He's back to wanting to nurse a lot and I know that's because he's needing some extra comfort now that Sophie's here. And I don't mind, I was sad when he stopped nursing towards the end of my pregnancy because my milk had dried up and felt he was much too young to wean. So yay for him back to nursing but man do I ever feel like a 24 hour milk bar! hehe

Sophie is fabulous! She turned 1 month yesterday and I can't believe how fast the time went by. She's starting to smile and it just melts my heart... her whole face wrinkles up and she smiles with her whole body: love it! I've also noticed in the past few days she's started to coo which is just freaking adorable! She's also taken to not napping so great in the daytime, a few minutes here and there but usually a good long nap when Parker naps in the afternoon (thank you!!). She's also starting to get pretty fussy although I wouldn't say colicky... I think it's because she's not napping a whole lot in the day time and she gets overtired. We decided to make an appt with a chiropractor though to see if that helps with her fussiness.

As for me: I've decided (not 100%) to open up a family daycare next winter. To do that we need to move into a house (we're in a townhouse) so the search is on for something suitable!

Okay, Sophie's up, time to go!

Placenta Encapsulation

Before Sophie was born, my husband and I decided we wanted to take her placenta home with us. I had terrible PPD after the birth of my son and didn't want to experience that again nor did I want to take medication for it while I was nursing my daughter. Even though some anti-depressants get a passing grade for nursing mothers, it still passes onto the infant and can cause lethargy which I noticed with Parker. So having Sophie's placenta processed and encapsulated was a no brainer for us.

Consuming placenta has been a part of history for a very long time and is a part of traditional Chinese medicine that women have been taking for thousands of years to aid in the speedy recovery from giving birth.

Placenta contains many vitamins and minerals such as B6 and is high in iron and protein. It also contains Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone which is proven to be a stress reducer which postpartem women have a less than average amount of. Placenta is also believed to help with lactation.

I found this website to be very useful: http://placentabenefits.info/index.asp. After talkign with my doula who has been processing placenta for nearly 30 years and also talking with my midwife, I decided this was something I was interested in.

When I delivered the placenta the nurses put it in the freezer for us. I was expected them to say something but they didn't even bat an eye. I've heard horror stories of hospitals refusing to release the placenta to the mother, etc. But this wasn't our case at all I think because it's becoming more and more popular for mothers to take the placenta home.

Lorie, our doula, came over 4 or 5 days after Sophie's birth to process the placenta for us. At first I was looking into doing it ourselves as it is pretty simple but caring for a newborn, a toddler, a teenager plus recovering from childbirth I knew it'd be best to hire someone to do this for us!

I meant to take pictures of the encapsulation but I decided to take a much needed nap instead. Basically what Lorie did was remove the cord and membranes (we have that in the freezer still to plant under a special tree for Sophie this spring or summer) and then she steamed it. This part I remember quite well as it has a very strong smell much like liver. After steaming it, she sliced it thin and dehydrated it for 7 or so hours. The next morning Lorie came over to grind it up and put it into capsules for me. Simple as that!

I take two each morning and I can honestly say I feel a difference. I'm no longer weepy, less stressed and I generally just feel better.