Emotionally:
Both pregnancies I was very easily overwhelmed. I feel like I didn't handle it as well while I was pregnant with Charlie. I cried over everything. I was the primary chorister while pregnant with him and I would stay up crying almost every Saturday night wondering how I was going to teach 3 little kids primary songs. By Sunday I was so tired from crying all night that I didn't even make it to church. I eventually had to tell my bishop that I was not handling this calling well and I needed to be released. It was an important lesson for me. Sometimes you have to admit that your stress is just too high and ask for help.
This time around I knew what to expect. I let people know how easily overwhelmed I was the last time around so that if I were given anything to do they would know that I might need to ask for help with it. I didn't cry over everything, and I made sure to let Steve know when I was having particularly emotional days so that he could be extra patient with me and help me through it. One big difference was that I had the shortest temper. Little things would make me so mad! Steve was fine. He made smart adult decisions that made sense. It was children that would set me off. (For the record I never got so mad that anyone was in danger. I still communicated well with the children in my life, I mostly just vented to Steve ALL THE TIME.) Did you know that eight year olds will make decisions like an eight year old? That was so frustrating to me! I could see a clear solution to simple problems, but children don't think like adults. Also two year olds act like two year olds all the time! I knew that it was unreasonable to NEED every one to act and think like a mature adult, but it still bothered me so much when children would act like children.
Physically:
With Charlie I had a very average pregnancy. Everything that I read in "What to Expect" happened. My morning sickness went from 6 to 10 weeks, and was totally gone by 12 weeks. Then I sometimes questioned whether I was really pregnant because I felt so normal. I started feeling flutters around 18 weeks, and Steve felt him kick at 28 weeks. I went into labor on my own the day after my due date and had an average 12 hour labor. Not so average was my gestational diabetes, taking 3.5 hours to push him out because he was face up, and him spending a day in the NICU because of low blood sugar.
My pregnancy with Phil was miserable. I though that I knew what to expect because this was my second pregnancy. I think that was my mistake. I was expecting it to be pretty similar, but it was totally different. Now I know that even though I've been pregnant twice, I have no idea what to expect during pregnancy. I got sick at 5 weeks this time, and stayed sick for what seemed like forever. I threw up all the time, and it didn't get better until I was more than half way done with my pregnancy. I also started feeling him at 13 weeks. I never got that break where I just felt normal, and I really missed it. He was also so high up at first, and then so low once he dropped. My hips moved apart so fast, and then they didn't stop moving. I ended up getting a referral to a physical therapist for the hip pain. I couldn't walk. I couldn't get in and out of the car. I couldn't sit on the floor to play with Charlie. I couldn't stand up quickly if he needed anything. I couldn't even get into bed on my own at night. I was so upset that I was in so much pain that I literally couldn't do anything. Then Phil dropped a little lower, which was pretty terrible because he was already so low, but it did take a lot of pressure off my pelvis, and the pain eased up quite a bit. But he was so low that I had an intense waddle. It was really more of a sway back and forth and hope that I somehow propelled myself forward. It was like putting a grapefruit between your legs and trying to walk around without dropping it. I was sure that one day I was going to sneeze and he was just going to fall out. For the last month of my pregnancy I had constant contractions, and a week before I was induced I went to the hospital in labor, but not progressing. At my appointment just after going to the hospital I was in confirmed slow labor. That meant constant painful labor contraction that were progressing me way too slowly to actually be admitted to the hospital. Thus the induction. Once Phil popped out all of my pain and discomfort was instantly gone. The nurses in recovery kept asking what my pain level was and I told them zero. They told me that zero is really unrealistic and I didn't need to be tough about it. Really though, after being in so much pain for so long little cramps from my uterus contracting and the bit of swelling for having a baby felt like nothing. I started lying and telling them my pain lever was a one or a two just so they'd stop thinking that I was trying to be tough though.
He was totally worth being miserable for 9 months.
Also, just so I have this documented somewhere here are comparisons of Charlie's and Phil's birth and 2 week stats.
Charles
Birth:
Weight: 8 lbs 7 oz
Length: 21.5 in
2 weeks:
Weight: 8 lbs 4 oz
Length: 21.5 in
Philip
Birth:
Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
Length: 20 in
2 weeks:
Weight: 8 lbs 14 oz
Length: 21.25 in
Phil started gaining and growing faster than Charlie did. We actually had to take him in to the dr at 2 days, because we left the hospital early, and he had dropped down to 8 lbs 4 oz. I think He is gaining faster because I struggled nursing Charlie so much. Really though, I'm still not producing enough breast milk for Phil, so we have to give him a bottle after he nurses just like with Charlie, but Phil nurses so much better. Also he eats so differently from Charlie. Charles ate every 2 hours. He still eats every 2 hours! Phil is actually eating every 3 or 4 hours. It seems like its is moving more consistently to 4 hours. Which means that at each feeding he eats a lot more. I've figured it out a little, and Phil and Charlie ate the same amount each day at this age. Just different amounts at different intervals.
 |
| Charles Walker Hurd |
.JPG) |
| Philip Carl Hurd |
Not a great comparison because Phil pulled a frown right as I took the picture, but I had to keep it because frown pictures are cute and funny. Some day I will find good comparison pictures.
