I’m back to work full-time now and have both kiddos in daycare but I was able to take 12 weeks for maternity leave—it was glorious! Not having paychecks for half of that time wasn’t entirely stellar but we felt that it was valuable time that could never be retrieved and I’m grateful for it. We kept Izaak in preschool for much of that time, we didn’t want his schedule turned completely upside-down and it allowed more one-on-one time for me and kid v2.0. Maddox and I spent a lot of quality time snuggling on the couch with Criminal Minds (via Netflix) or some DIY home fix-it show on in the background, playing a bit of peek-a-boo, and lots of time was spent with him snoozing in my arms while I gazed at his delicious little face. Luckily, Joe’s parents and grandpa had decided to come down, by chance, on the evening that I ended up going into labor and stayed with Izaak while Joe and I were in the hospital. Labor this time around came on very fast and furious so I’m not sure what we would’ve done with him otherwise!! Maddox arrived early on a Thursday morning; we were back home by Friday afternoon. My parents had a trip planned to visit us for a 10 days starting that weekend which worked out great too.
Everything about Maddox’s
entrance into the world was quicker than Izaak’s. Izaak’s due date was 4 days prior
to his actual arrival, Maddox only waited 2 extra days. I was in labor for
about 14 hours with Izaak; we barely got checked in and into a hospital room in
time for Maddox’s delivery. Really. The nurses were still doing check-in
paperwork while Maddox was curled up on my chest. I’m not exactly sure what
time we got to the hospital but my cell phone call log indicates that I dialed
my doctor just after 2am and baby was out just after 4am. Besides laboring for what felt like an eternity, I was pushing for
hours with Izaak yet Maddox was out in about 3 (excruciatingly-painful-because-there-wasn’t-enough-time-for-an-epidural)
pushes! And, we actually had a doctor present this time, I hadn’t met her
before as she was a stand-in for whichever of my doctors that was supposed to
be on call, but we had a doctor nonetheless!! I refused any pain meds for
aftercare this time other than regular Advil due to "the good stuff" not agreeing with my stomach - something I learned from the aftercare of the first pregnancy. Even
the getting-pregnant part was quicker with Maddox; it took about a year to
become pregnant with Izaak and only around 4 months for Maddox.
We’ve had Maddox in the breathing world for 3 months now and what a great baby he is! Such a sweet little butterball!! Izaak loves him to pieces too, it’s adorable when he holds his hand or plants a big, sloppy kiss on his forehead. I was a little worried about how our family dynamic would change with the new addition. Going from no kids to having a newborn in the house was a big adjustment for us but adding a second kid wasn’t as big of a shock to the system I guess! Sure, we’re still getting used to how to juggle our roles and responsibilities but overall things are going really well. I’d be lying if I said that Izaak wasn’t a little jealous here and there because he isn’t the only child anymore however. He was very accustomed to always being the center of attention and now the baby occupies some of the time that used to be devoted solely to him. For the most part, he’s been doing great with the change though and as mentioned, he loves his brother. Joe and I have been having fun with comparing their similarities and differences too. Probably the biggest difference this time around is us. In general, we seem to feel less worried about not knowing what to do with an infant. I don't think that the lower stress level is because we think we know everything, rather our realization and acceptance of “you’re not going to know everything” is huge… ya know?! For the most part, Maddox sleeps through the night too… how lucky are we??! Having two parents that aren’t always completely and utterly sleep deprived is a wonderful thing!!
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