A New Normal

First, let me officially introduce the newest addition to our family, Conrad Ashley. Conrad arrived on Monday weighing in at 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long.

I had a quick labor but significantly painful delivery. Apparently my body and epidurals don't get along. With Joseph my epi wore off on one side after an hour. I had to get a 2nd epi, which was so dense, I couldn't move my legs for 6 hours after he was born. The upside was that I felt nothing when delivering him. The same thing happened this time, except I was 9 cm dilated when it wore off....and it hurt...bad, really bad....like "Get this kid out now!!!!!!" bad. I begged my nurse to call the anesthesiologist but instead she sent my OB in to break the news that I had no time for an epi re-do and was going to have to deliver virtually pain-med free (at least on one side). I pushed for 10 min with Joseph so I thought to myself "You can do anything for 10 minutes." Well, 10 minutes turned into about 30 min this time. There was some screaming of "Ow. It hurts. It hurts" and "Just let me push!", searing pain and unbelievable pressure and he arrived....beautiful, healthy and significantly larger than anyone in the room was expecting. My OB looked at me and said "Well, I'm glad we did this a week early because next week would have been a whole different delivery."

The last few days have been happy, wonderful, crazy, chaotic and tiring all at the same time. Conrad is a great eater - he likes to eat every 2-2 1/2 hours, which is a daunting task when breastfeeding. He seems content to be put in a bouncy chair or swing for 30 minute stretches - something Joseph was never happy about.

Joseph loves his brother - he's so interested in him and comes running every time he makes a noise to see what he is doing. He loves helping me with diaper changes. He brings me the supplies and waits patiently to put the dirty diaper in the trash for me. He likes to tell me that Conrad has a "butt" and a "pee pee". Conrad is rather dramatic about his diaper changes and Joseph loves to mimic both the sound and volume of his crying and laughs his head off afterwards. Joseph continues to be hyperactive so balancing his need to go "out! out! out!" and my recovery and newborn care is well, hmmmm....challenging. Thank god my mom is here and keeping Joseph entertained. I think I may kidnap her and force her to stay past next Sunday.

I promise to have more pictures and videos up soon. Right now they are still sitting on our cameras and on a long to-do list we need to get to. This to-do list also includes updating the name and look of this blog. Right now we are in serious survival mode. Here is a small glimpse of why it's hard to get much done these days...

8 am - My mom has made everyone breakfast and is cleaning the kitchen. I'm trying to eat while balancing Joseph's desire to climb on the couch and sit with me and climb back off to sit and eat his breakfast....a pattern that repeats 50 times in 10 minutes. Conrad is happily sleeping in his Moses basket. I manage to get on Facebook for 3 minutes. Everything is relatively calm. Then in 2 seconds all hell breaks loose. Conrad starts screaming and I realize he's soaked through (damn leaky diapers). He screams his head off while I change him and while trying to calm him down he starts sucking my neck....time for another feeding! I get him settled in for a feeding, which Joseph sees as an opportune time to run and jump on the couch. After 5 requests to sit down, he gives me a devil-ish grin and continues. My mom swoops in him to send him off to timeout - 2 minutes of Joseph screaming. He comes back out calmer but 30 minutes later and Conrad is still feeding, breakfast is cold and Joseph is begging my mom to take him "out".

So please forgive us if your e-mail goes unanswered, I don't pick up your phone call or you don't see a ton of pictures for a little longer. We're just figuring this 2 kid thing out.