Growing Up.

More Fun in the Philippines. 

....Aaaand there went March

How is it possible that March is nearly over?! The last few weeks have totally flown by. I'm so sad that my maternity leave is nearly over but honestly am also a little bit looking forward to being back at work. There's so much going on with Roots of Health right now and it's a very exciting time!

It has been really great to be home with the kids for the last 3 months though. Sometimes I really wish I could stay home full time. Maybe sometime in the future. We'll see.

April will be another full month. Luke will be starting a preschool summer program at SV Montessori. He really liked it when we went to check it out and most of his little friends will be in the class too so that should be fun. My boy is growing up so fast!

Bye bye February

February always goes by fast since it is a short month but I feel like this February REALLY went by quickly. My parents in law came for a visit from South Africa and they arrived on January 31 and left us yesterday. When we were planning their visit a whole month seemed like a good chunk of time. We planned so many things, and guess what? The month absolutely flew by. There are so many things we didn't get to do though of course we're very thankful for the time we did have and the stuff we did do. But it still wasn't enough! We are all missing "Granny" and "Grandpa" a lot.

As we say good bye to the month, I will share the ridiculously sweet moment I captured this morning when Aliya was sleeping and her nanny gently placed her in Luke's arms. Luke is having a lot of issues these days with tantrums, probably due to being 2 years old and to Aliya's arrival. But he is surprisingly very sweet and affectionate towards his sister, who he refers to as "baby girl". He cuddles her and kisses her head all the time. I hope this lasts!!

Aliya on V-day

What my girl thinks of Valentine's Day...

Aliya at 1 Month Old

February 10 was Aliya's 1 month birthday. 

I've alternated between thinking the month was the longest month in the history of time, and also feeling like the month just flew by. I am quite surprised at how difficult the sleep deprivation has been for me, given that this isn't the first time I've had to deal with it, but the sleepless nights have been really hard. I keep being reminded though, that this too shall pass. Hopefully in the next month Aliya will learn to sleep longer, and at night! 

(She's marvelous at day time sleeping!)

Happy one month birthday my little love!

Aliya Ysabel

My baby girl is a week old today yet I sometimes can’t believe she is really here. My pregnancy with her flew by so quickly, although was pretty difficult at times, especially compared to my pregnancy with Luke. Aliya was due on January 21 and came 11 days early, on January 10^th. I am so happy that she is here and I am *so* thrilled not to be pregnant anymore! I got my weekly baby center email a couple days ago that said “You’re 39 weeks pregnant, 1 week to go!” and I very happily deleted it without reading.

Huge smile while napping

On January 10^th I was lying in bed trying to take an early morning nap (Luke had gotten us up a bit past 5) and at around 7:15, I suddenly felt this light popping sensation, and then all this fluid gushed over me. I was so confused as to what was happening. Marcus was reading in bed and I called his name out and he looked at me and sprang into action. He told me later my expression was so funny because I’m normally so in control and I just looked so confused. Less than an hour later, we were at the hospital in the ER, waiting for my OB-GYN to come and do an internal exam. I’d really hoped to not have an induced labor like with Luke because inductions tend to be so much more painful (the contractions come much faster than they would naturally, giving your body less time to get over each one). Unfortunately though, when my fabulous doctor, Dr. Marie, checked me out, I was barely 1 cm dilated and was having such mild contractions I couldn’t feel them. She reminded me that ideally a woman will give birth within 12 hours of water breaking, so she started an induction.

By around 1 pm my contractions were becoming a lot stronger and more painful, and when Dr. Marie checked me again, I was 5 cm dilated. Around 2:30 Dr. Marie ordered for me to be brought to the delivery room where I would finally get some pain relief in the form of an epidural, and soon after would be ready to give birth. While I welcomed each contraction because I knew they were bringing Aliya closer into our world, I was in a lot of pain and was really, REALLY ready for an epidural. So when I got to the deliver room and was told that all the hospitals in Puerto Princesa were out of epidural catheters, I honestly thought I might die. I didn’t have the energy to react but I was told the anesthesiologist was quickly checking her personal stocks and I just prayed between each contraction that she’d have one. Dr. Marie assured me that if they couldn’t find one that I could have a spinal tap at 8 cm but I didn’t know if I could last that long.

Thankfully the anesthesiologist came back with an epidural catheter and soon enough I finally had some relief from the pain. It felt like literally 15 or 20 minutes later that Dr. Marie told me I was nearly at 10 cm and that I could start pushing. Three big pushes later and Aliya Ysabel was born. She started crying immediately and so did I when I got to see her and touch her. Even then I remember thinking beyond being happy that she was safe and sound, I was just so thrilled to not be pregnant anymore!

We spent the night at the hospital and hoped to go home the next day. However, our awesome pediatrician, Dr. Rebs (who is Dr. Marie’s husband!) had had blood culture tests done to rule out any infection since an infection could have caused my water bag to break early, and also both doctors knew about how much illness my family had been dealing with in the days and weeks before. The blood test showed that Aliya had an elevated white blood cell count, indicating an infection. Dr. Rebs recommended keeping Aliya in the hospital for a few days and starting her on antibiotics.

It was really hard to watch nurses and doctors pricking and prodding my baby and to see her in pain from the shots and needles so early in her life, but we are so thankful that we had such good care, and were happy to play it safe. Thankfully within a few days Aliya’s tests didn’t show any more signs of infection and we were cleared to go home.

And now it has been a week since her birth. Time is really flying by. So thankful for my baby girl! Welcome to this world baby Aliya :)

Aliya at 1 week old

Baby # 2

So now that my family is on the road to recovery, and I am officially on maternity leave, I am finally thinking a bit more about all the changes to come with the arrival of our baby girl. Before Luke arrived I think I was a lot more nervous about all the unknowns. I don’t feel as nervous now since I’ve gone through this all before, but both Marcus and I are a bit nervous about how baby girl is going to change the dynamic of our family. What will it be like to have two little ones? How will Luke interact with his sister? How will our relationship with Luke change? And our relationship with each other?

I know only time will tell but I would love to hear from those of you with more than one baby. What were your initial experiences like? Do you have any advice for things we should do for Luke throughout this adjustment period? Things we should make sure we do for baby girl? Things Marcus and I need to keep in mind for each other?

Any anecdotes and advice or experiences welcome! Many thanks :)