Saturday, February 25, 2017

A Family of Six

Cameron Rose Nickelson made her debut on December 29th. It was a scheduled C-section and everything went really well. My Dr. said I had a lot of scar tissue with this being my fourth C-section and it took awhile to put me back together. I spent 2 nights in the hospital and was home in time to ring in the New Year.

A New Year that I was definitely not ready for. Sure we had all our baby stuff set up but I wasn't ready for the sleepless nights, breastfeeding, and still having to take care of three other kids.

Hubby took almost 3 weeks off and my parents were here for a week. Cameron has slept great ever since we brought her home. Nursing hasn't been as difficult or painful as I was dreading and I'm finding it not as overwhelming as I thought managing the other needs of the other kids.

Eric and I both noticed I seemed to "bounce back" after this baby quicker than with Charlotte. I don't know if it's a credit to the Dr. and the attention she paid to my body when stitching me up (I had the on call Dr. when I had Charlotte) or if it's because I got back on medication.

I talked with my Dr. a few weeks before and we agreed it would be better to be proactive with the situation than wait until I was feeling really low to start taking something. It's been a little tricky to figure out a correct dose because my hormones are still a little crazy and I'm not getting enough sleep, but I'm feeling better about things at home and feel like I can handle various situations throughout the day.

I also feel like I'm a lot more patient this time around. Cameron isn't an overly fussy baby but when she gets tired she just cries and fights her naps. It's super easy to get frustrated and I remember feeling that way with Charlotte when she wouldn't go to sleep. This time around it's different. I don't get stressed out when she's crying and my attempts to soothe her aren't working. I just keep at it and eventually she gives in. Usually after a few minutes of crying.

I'm still struggling to get back to a somewhat normal routine of keeping up with housework. If I manage to get the dishwasher emptied and a load of laundry done every day I call that a win. Now as to when the clothes get put away, that's a different day.

I still have thoughts of how life right now might be easier if we hadn't had Cameron, but I know God wanted her here to complete our family.