Meera's First Bottle

This past Tuesday Meera had her first bottle. We're committed to pumping (even though I detest it!) so that the boys (all three of them, but Braydon especially) can feed the baby. Braydon was on cloud 9 feeding his girl the other night. Luckily she took to the bottle just great and was happy enough to go right back to nursing for her next feed a couple hours later. She's had a couple of bottles since. At age 4 weeks, Meera is still eating every 2-3 hours round the clock. A bottle here and there is a welcome relief to all involved!!!!!!!!

Visit from Auntie Sabrina, Grandpa Robert, and G'amma

This past weekend Braydon's side of the family -- Auntie Sabrina, Grandpa Robert, and G'amma -- all came to visit (see G'amma's Guest Blogger Post below). They met Meera for the first time, entertained the Big Brothers, and cooked/cleaned for Braydon and I. Here are the top three pics from what was a beautiful weekend.

Guest Blog Post from G'amma – First visit!

There really aren’t any words that adequately describe the joy of meeting a new grandchild, especially one as beautiful and wonderful as little Meera. Of course I’m biased and presumably most grandparents feel the same way. Still…..

And the boys are as amazing as ever. Honestly, how many just four-year-olds do you know who can hit a ball all the way across the yard (both of them), steal bases (Owen mostly—pretty funny), execute nearly perfect dives (Owen), practice the crawl (Kyle), and be incredibly gentle with a tiny baby? Perhaps just as remarkable, sit quietly in the back seat while grandpa and grandma spend over an hour lost in the countryside, never complaining for an instant? And then thanking us for taking them?! No kidding.

There was only one troubling moment while in a convenience store paying for cookies and encountering color negativity. Fortunately that was offset by distinct approval on the part of one who asked about the boys’ parentage and was told about their adoption. We can hope that seeing these boys with their parents sets such a good example that it will change the way some people think.

I simply don’t know how Heather and Braydon manage everything and manage with patience and grace. It is truly incredible. But I do know that it leaves me more determined than ever to continue working toward a sustainable future for all of them.

Meera 3 Weeks Old

Meera turned three weeks old last night at 10:21 p.m.
These are some photos of her from the past week.
She is changing everyday.
What a joy to have a newborn!

5 to 7

There are lots of baby sister thoughts, feelings and activity going on these days. Lots of baby holding, lots of trying to get her to smile, lots of worrying why she is crying, lots of diaper changing, lots of worrying how it's all going to get done.

Meera is pretty good about sleeping at night, although not without challenges, of course. She eats around 10 PM, then again around 2 AM, then again around 4:30 AM. She's pretty much text book on the clock 2.5 hour feeding. Rocking it. Does not always go right back to sleep. Not rocking it.

I have never been much of an early morning person, as my parents can attest and Heather can certainly attest. But after the 4:30 feeding when she is ready to hang out and not sleep, I get up and we hang out; Heather tries to get a little more sleep (since, even though she is recovering from a c-section and nasty cold she gets the least sleep of everyone in the house). So now we even are starting to have a little routine!

M and I go downstairs, and she gets into her bouncy bjorn chair. It's like a big man's lay-z-boy but for the under-1 set. We watch the light get brighter outside. We get up, go outside and watch the sunrise. We talk politics, shop, burps and diapers. It's a little one sided, but like the rest of our family, Meera is no slouch when it comes to making herself and opinion known. Inside we go, play a little "wheels on the bus" and sometimes the bus gets a little sidetracked.

Then when she is tired around 6:00 AM, it's down the basement to shield the rest of the family from her loud crying and my cooing to help her fall asleep. Sometimes by 6:30 she is asleep, sometimes not. At 7 she goes up to Heather for breakfast, and typically the boys are up and raring to go.

This morning Kyle was up first and he and I had a great breakfast. We chatted it up. That kid has the most amazing memory. A few months ago I casually remarked that he was going to lose his teeth and get new ones (yes, I did say that, I know - what was I thinking???). He, of course, asked when and I said when he is 7. Never came up again. This morning, after talking about how when he's 5 he gets to play golf (particularly important since Tiger just won the US Open with a bum knee), he says: And When I am 7, I will lose my teeth and get new ones! Big ones Papi? Yes, big ones. Big big big grin.

Big grins all around when it can be like this.

Baby Girl

These photos are the first that -- in my opinion -- really capture our baby girl's spirit. She's not always this happy and contented, but she is like this much more of the time than I ever would have expected from a newborn. When I look at these photos I really see our Meera Grace -- the beauty of a girl that I'm really coming to know these past couple weeks -- shining through the images.

Pool Boys

Owen and Kyle are loving life (and living their lives) at the pool, yet again, this summer. They've only been out of school for just over a week -- and so far they've spent the vast majority of that time at the pool. This time of year Braydon and I ask ourselves daily what we'd do without the pool. We know what we'd do: we'd be wishing for a pool. For the sake of our boys (and for the sake of our sanity) we're so grateful to have this pool, especially this year.

Photo of the Day

A New Day

Well, believe it or not, today has been a great day so far. I'm still sick as a dog, but feeling a bit better than yesterday. Kyle and Owen have been --miraculously-- absolutely perfect (well, as close to perfect as they're ever gonna get)! Meera has --miraculously-- been eating and sleeping beautifully! Once he got past the depression of leaving, Braydon got off to work just fine this morning. And Alex, our lifesaver Nanny, has ensured a fun summer day for K & O. After three days of misery it has been a wonderful surprise to have a really smooth and good day (so far). Sometimes (the past few days) life throws us punches. And sometimes (today) we get roses.

Blogless in Pennsylvania

We're here... barely. We've been completely off-line for the past few days. Sorry to our readers that we've been MIA in the blogosphere. I hate not blogging because I feel like I'm missing out on my own processing/journaling and also because I feel like I'm leaving all these important days somehow undocumented. But late Thursday night I started coming down with a yucky bad sick thing. Very feverish with high fever all day Friday. My OB put me immediately on an antibiotic. But it was not anything related to my c-section or breast-feeding. Saturday and today I've had a terrible bad flu bug-- congested, achy all over, sore throat, headache, the whole nine yards. As if the whole newborn-nursing24x7-twinados-transition2PartyOf5-CsectionRecovery-thing wasn't enough. So here we are: Blogless (and sleepless) in Pennsylvania. Braydon and I are surviving... but barely. The boys are hanging in there o.k. (I'll put it this way: we have our high points and we have our low points), all things considered. Meera is eating like a champ (good for baby; rough for Mommy) -- but is having some trouble sleeping (rough for all parties involved). Braydon goes back to work tomorrow... which is deeply depressing on every level. So, there you have it. I'm hoping that at some point soon I'll figure out how to find time to blog. As they say, 'this too shall pass.' In the meantime... the truth is... we're struggling.

Photos of the Day

Very hard to find time to write these past few days... but at least I can post some photos. It is hard to capture these moments of these days. These pics don't do it justice. But they at least give a glimpse.

Meera Grace

Snapshots of Meera's First Week Home

We've been home with Meera for one week now as a family of five (or, as my college roommate Jen called it -- a "Party of Five" -- Hi Jen! I love that--- "Party of Five"). The week has gone better than I had expected, especially since having a c-section. But I wouldn't go so far as to say the week has been entirely a "party" per se. ;0 Meera is an awesome baby. I had prayed and prayed for a mellow baby and I am giving thanks that --- so far at least, knock on wood --- I seem to have received what I prayed for. Meera and I are nursing well, which is what I'm most grateful for. I had read three breastfeeding books cover to cover during my pregnancy and talked to as many of my friends as possible about it. I was more worried about breastfeeding than I was about labor/delivery. I worked hard with Meera (and the breastfeeding specialists) those first few days in the hospital and I've got to say -- it has all paid off. Still, being confined to a chair and nursing for hours on end (it often feels like that's all I'm doing 24x7) is not exactly my style. It is hard for me to sit still, let alone for soooooo much of the day/night (I am not a sit-still person). But alas, that's life with a nursing newborn. It is what it is. Meera sleeps well, and when she is awake Meera is calm, cool, and contented most of the time. The only exception seems to be when I eat potato chips. I've eaten them twice in the past week--- with horrible results in Meera's demeanor. This is a huge bummer, since I love potato chips. I had tried to not eat them much during my pregnancy (I worked so hard to eat healthy), and was so looking forward to indulging in them post-delivery. But eating them is definitely not worth the fussies/crankies/screaming fits that come as the consequence. So, no more chips for me... at least not for a good while. Meera is amazingly good at putting up with her brothers' antics. They hug her too tight and hold her too much and slobber her with kisses too often and zerbert her belly with way too much gusto (not to mention cover her butt with layer upon layer of "bum bum cream" at diaper changes). They also bang their drums and blow their trumpets while marching circles around her ("Marching Band! For Baby Meera!!!!!"), and they yelp and scream and shout and sing and have tantrums without any respect for a newborn infant in the house. Meera takes it all in stride. Thank God. She can sleep through just about anything --including twin 4 year olds banging the piano within 2 feet of her downstair's crib. It is quite something to see actually. Really. Anyway, she's a dang good baby. Most of the time. I have my post-pregnancy-hormonal, deeply-sleep-deprived, c-section-recovering moments of watery blubbery slobbery meltdowns a couple times a day... sobbing and crying in Braydon's arms in total despair (sometimes because I just can't fathom how on earth we're going to manage all of this... and sometimes because I am just overwrought with adoration for this precious new little being in my arms). Braydon is a rock and handles it perfectly. He also is really good at burping the baby (she needs to burp a lot). He also has been a MASTER at keeping K & O busy, happy, and pre-occupied so as to give the baby girl space to just be with her Mama for some chunks of time each day. I'd say that overall, it is all good. Delirious (both in the good sense and the bad sense), but overall... good.

Photo of the Day

Meera's First Pool Day

Record high's here today. Hot and humid, heat index over one hundred. The boys (all three of them) were in the pool for a good portion of the day. The girls (all two of us) were quite annoyed that we can't join them yet. We did visit the pool though... for all of about 10 minutes until I couldn't bear to watch anymore (green with envy) and Meera was hungry (as usual). K & O did what they consider to be some pretty impressive "pool tricks" for their sister. As you can see from the photo above (~~big yawn~~) Meera was pretty unimpressed. I think its 'gonna take a lot to impress this girl.