For the last month...

Chase is a month old already. Why is a month so slow when you're pregnant but so fast once they're here? It's been a really good month.

I can't help but to compare what this past month has been like with what the first month with Austin was like. It's been so different. When we had Austin we had just moved to Nebraska and didn't know anyone or have any friends yet. Neither of our mom's could come out, and Derek only had a week off work. LeeAnn came up from Kansas City for the birth and stayed until I got home from the hospital, then she had to leave. We had a few meals brought to us, mainly by people we barely knew, and they were really appreciated but I struggled with the transition to having two kids and needed help with Bryce more than I needed dinner, but that wasn't really available to me. The saving grace was that Bryce's first day of preschool was when Austin was 9 days old, which gave me that 2 1/2 hour break twice a week. I remember one of my few baby blues moments was staring out the window above my sink while I was doing dishes and sobbing because I couldn't believe no one came, it was like no one cared. I knew this wasn't true, the problem was that all the people who cared were too far away, with busy lives of their own, to come to my rescue.

By contrast, we have had so much help since Chase was born. In his first 31 days, there have only been 5 that I haven't had someone at my house helping me. 5! (More on this later) When I was in the hospital the boys went from one friends house to the next so Derek could be with me and Chase. I actually had visitors at the hospital, and flowers delivered - I loved it! My neighbors take Bryce to school every morning and another friend has been hauling him across town (with her son) to soccer practice for me. We have also had so many meals brought to us. If anything, I've been taken too good of care of because I made the mistake of stepping on the scale this morning and I'm 10 pounds heavier than I was with the other two a month after. This, in itself, caused a mild panic. We have really felt loved with all this attention. This past Wednesday the Young Women threw a baby shower for me. Ahhh, I love those girls! Chase has also turned into a great sleeper - for the past week and a half he's been going a minimum of 5 hours at a stretch and one crazy night it was from 9pm to 5:30am. He's kind of crabby during the day though, so it's not a totally charmed life. I've also found the transition from 2 to 3 kids to be easier for me, so that's been easier than last time also.

Here's the breakdown of why I haven't been on my own, except for 5 days, since he was born. When Chase was 4 days old Derek's mom and 10 year old sister Becca drove up from Texas and stayed for about 4 days. Derek was off at the same time and we needed all the help we could get because Chase was up every two hours at night and on that #@! bilirubin light. When they went back, LeeAnn came up from Kansas City for 3 days, then it was the weekend and Derek was home. The next Tuesday afternoon my parents flew in for a week, then I had 4 days by myself until the weekend and this past week has been spring break and Derek took this as the 2nd week of his paid paternity leave. I'm so sad he has to go back to work - it's been so fun to have him here all week. We've had fun AND been productive. We took the kids to How to Train Your Dragon (LOVED IT!), went to the Lincoln Children's museum, played outside and at various parks every day, did tons of yard work and had lots of quality time together.