Blocked nose

Nico is 2 years, 3 months & 3 weeks.

He’s got the sniffles, so we’ve had to clean his nose with saline water and give him some nasal drops. He used to take it like a man, but now that he’s developed his own will, things don’t quite go as smoothly as they used to.

Yesterday he decided that there was no way he was going to go down without a fight, so after much wriggling away, he found the perfect solution:

Thumb in one nostril, index finger in the other. Nothing was going to go in there! And when I managed to control my laughter and finally prise his hand away, out came a booger…

Eloïse is 20 days old today.

She’s started imposing her willpower as well, waking up and crying until she’s either fed, cuddled, or transferred to Mummy and Daddy’s bed. I remember Nico trying the exact same thing on us. However I’m finding it harder to deal with - unsure whether this is because of the extra workload imposed upon by an another child, or being (literally) drained from all the breastfeeding and broken sleep.

 

Finally starting to enjoy her baths.

Next target for a tear-free, scream-free time: nappy changes.

 

 

 

 

A real smiler  

Happy fortnight Eloïse!

14 days, 85hrs breastfeeding, 2 sore boobs, 700ml of leaked breast milk, 115 nappy changes including 4 sneeze-induced projectile farts, 110db of wailing and 6 loads of washing later, I’m happy to announce that so far we are surviving the aftermath.

Eloïse has been a pretty quiet baby, happy to settle (most times) after a feed and not crying too much (most nights). However she just isn’t into baths and nappy changes, which give her the opportunity to exercise these lungs and remind us that sound production isn’t directly proportional to size.

 

 

 

Coming home to kisses and cuddles

 

 

 

 

  

 

Nico when he was the same age

 

 

 

The resemblance between brother and sister can be really striking when Eloïse is wearing Nico’s clothes… especially at 2am under dim lights and when sleep deprived (me, not her).

Welcome Eloïse!

Eloïse Hoài Thủỏng Martens was born on Monday 01/02/2010 at 10:08. Just as well that it was on Auckland anniversary, I didn’t know whether to show up to work after Vaughan repeatedly told the team that last week was going to be my last week in the office… Contrary to my plans, had she been any later.

The contractions must have started during my sleep as I didn’t remember feeling them until 5:30 or 6:00. By 9:00 we were in hospital and my world of pain started. Thankfully it didn’t last any more than an hour - which is a relief, after Jodie’s constant predictions that I’d have a long and painful labour because I didn’t exercise a lot. But no, this was another textbook birth. And although I haven’t read a lot of books about births, I certainly don’t recall any of them saying anything about the midwife and birth partner merrily observing tall ships entering the harbour while the mother would be lying there in pain, desperately sucking on the happy gas.

 

 

Salami and ham sub never tasted so good. Bas had gone downstairs to get me a footlong BMT - that’s how he escaped being told off for discussing ships and diving while I was going through my ordeal.

 

 

 

After all these worries (I can hear the ‘told you so!’ from here), Eloïse’s birth weight ended up being a reasonable 2.880kg - that’s over 600g heavier than her big brother.

Said big brother came to visit with Ba Ngoai, Oma and Oom Thijs a short while later. He didn’t seem to mind having to share attention so much… Must have been something to do with a train set he was given as a peace offering. We are now into our 6th day together as an extended family, and there have been no tantrums or acts of violence to date. Nico has been a bit clingy with Papa and has demanded a few more cuddles than usual, other than that he was quite happy to give his little sister a kiss on the forehead when encouraged. But I make no mistakes. I know it will come.

 

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Nico’s looking all sad and forlorn. But Daddy was cunning enough to bring a Hairy Maclary DVD for him to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

The two grandmas and Oom Thijs having a cuddle.

 

 

 

We stayed at Birthcare overnight and it was great to have the room to ourselves. But along came a family who thought it’d be OK to have the whole tribe come visit for 6 hours. So it was time for us to pack up and go home. And it was bliss to be back in my own space!

What else is bliss?

• Mattress and pillow that don’t crinkle because they’re waterproof
• 3-ply toilet paper
• A whole night with no midwife to come in to introduce herself
• The internet - don’t underestimate the power of breastfeeding boredom
• Cold meat sandwiches and champagne
• Getting re-acquainted with my toes
• Slipping into my old clothes again

Unfortunately not everything is rosy. I’ve discovered that after pains are really painful with the subsequent births; the sleepless nights and dirty nappies have come back to haunt us; the trail of milk that I’m leaving behind my every footstep like Tom Thumb and his breadcrumbs. It took me less than a week to fill an entire ice cube tray with milk that’s leaked while breastfeeding. I haven’t even started expressing yet.

All in all, things seem a bit easier this time round - either because we now know what we’re doing, or we just don’t care any more if we’re screwing it up…