Life with two under two

Ai-Vy has been more alert this past week and is fussy in the morning. Unfortunately it's the time I have Ky-An with me also so it makes life a bit challenging. I think she has gas in the morning, that's why she's can't sleep and is fussy and her stomach is distended. I've also notice that she spits up whenever I give her a bottle after breastfeeding. It makes me think that maybe she doesn't need the bottle but not sure why she seem disatisfied and keep rooting or screaming until she gets some milk in. She's also been fallen asleep after feeding on one breast so I've been pumping the other one. I got 2 oz on one breast today. I think that's really good for me since it's only been 2 weeks! Since I got to pump some out, I've been supplementing her with the breast milk and she seem to feel better today because she sleeps more. Her schedule is fussy from 7 to about 10a.m. Then she sleeps until about 2p.m. Wakes up and drink some milk and goes right back to sleep until about 6 or 7p.m. If I didn't give her a bath then she would probably just drink some milk and goes right back to sleep. Since I give her a bath, she's a little more alert and would be up for another hour and then goes to sleep until 11p.m or 12.

This is when it gets hard, she would wake up at 12 and drink some milk then fall asleep and I can't wake her up. That's my frustration with her at night time. Everytime I put her to my boob, she'll fall asleep in a few minutes. If I try to put her down, she'll cry right away or in an hour because she's not full yet. Other times she'll sleep right through so I never know what it is. Most of the time it's wake up, feed her, and she fell asleep. By this time I am already awake so I put her down, went to the restroom, go back to bed, pull the cover over Ky-An, sleeps for about 30 minutes and then she wakes up again because she's not full yet. Needless to say it's very tiring and I am not sure how to keep her awake to eat at night. Besides that she's been breastfeeding very well and I am glad. I hope to have enough milk to stop supplementing soon.

I've also notice that she grunts a lot whenever she sleeps at night in the co-sleeper. However, she sleeps soundly in the stroller, the couch, or the bouncer. We are not sure if it's elevation of these things that keep her sleeping well, the everyday noise we make when she sleeps out in the family room, or if our bedroom is too cold. I am going to try and let her sleep in the cosleeper tonight and see if that helps.

Ky-An has been warming up to me again and I am so happy. I miss hugging and cuddling with the little booger. Hieu would give Ky-An a bath while I feed Ai-Vy and hang around in the bathroom with them. Then Hieu would hold Ai-Vy while I sing Ky-An a nightime song that I made up for him. I then go outside to put Ai-Vy to sleep while Hieu is with Ky-An in the bedroom. Ai-Vy is a doll and usually fall asleep in 10 to 15 minutes so I put her in the bouncer and went in the bedroom to trade place with Hieu. I love this time with Ky-An because it's really the only time I can fully concentrate on him. It's a mother and son time with no interruption and I think he reacts very well to it.

Whenever Ai-Vy cries at night, I would take her to the bathroom or our closet to feed her so Ky-An doesn't wake up. We also brought the changing pad into the bathroom so I can change her in there. Hieu also went out and bought 2 nightlights. One for my side of the bed so I can keep an eye on Ai-Vy and one in the bathroom so I don't have to turn on the light and blind our daughter. Ky-An usually sleeps through all the crying just fine throughout the night unless it's at the end of his sleep. Ky-An usually wakes up around 6 a.m. so if Ai-Vy makes noise at around
5 a.m. then I'll take her outside so she doesn't wake him up. Ai-Vy and I usually sleep on the couch at this time until big brother and daddy wakes up. I then sleep until about 7:30a.m. then get up so Hieu can get ready for work. Ai-Vy wants to be held all morning and I somehow manage to play with Ky-An, feed him milk at 9:30, lunch at 10:30, and change diapers. Hieu gets home around 11 a.m. to take him to the babysitter's house. He almost always fall asleep on the way there and won't wake up until 2 or 3p.m. I then do some household chores, check emails, do some work, and take about an hour nap. This nap is very important because it keeps me going at night and throughout the evening.

We are starting to get a routine down so things are not so hectic as the first week. It actually hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be (knock on wood) because I've actually have time to continue my couponing as well as get some work done. Hieu and I manage to sneak out to the stores while the other one stay home with the kids. We even managed to watch Fantastic 4 on DVD last week! I was just telling Hieu the other day that with Ky-An, I couldn't wait until he gets home for lunch so I can eat and get a break. Now I am watching two kids in the morning with no problem. Ky-An was colicky so Hieu and I had to take turn holding him in the evening and eating dinner. Now we eat dinner together everyday. I was still in pain during my 6 week visit to the doctor last time. This time I was driving around by the second week and forget that I just had surgery most of the time. With Ky-An I couldn't get it together to get out alone with him until he was 4 months old. Hieu couldn't go to the stores either without me stressing out. This time I've already took Ai-Vy to pick up coupons with me last week and Hieu goes to the store all the time with no problem. I am not sure if we are just better at this or if it's because Ai-Vy is an easier baby. LOL.

I still can't believe that I am a mother of two though or that I only gave birth about 2 weeks ago. It's been so much fun and I feel so fulfilled. I am truly blessed with these two kids and I'll take this exhaustion and chaos any day.