Outings

Last week was W's first full week at his new job. Monday was a rough day. Clara cried for a vast majority of it and I was counting on my mom to come over much earlier than she did. That night I explained through tears to W that there are going to be days where I don't accomplish much other than basic survival. I also decided my dairy days were over.

On Tuesday things were much better. I was planning to get out of the house with the girls. My mom showed up that afternoon as I was getting ready to leave. It wasn't much but I went to a hallmark store to buy a card for my nephew's birthday, the post office to mail his present, I browsed briefly at Marshall's, and then went to a deli and got a sandwich. All of these places were in one plaza, but I felt super accomplished. Clara did some screaming and my mom had to free her from her carseat, but all in all it went well.

Wednesday I wanted to get out again. It was sunny and fairly warm for upstate NY in November. That afternoon when my mom came over we headed to a nearby park with the dogs and babies for a walk. We walked for about an hour as both girls snoozed away. After, I went to the ATM at the bank to deposit some checks.

Wednesday night was not a good night for sleep. Lucy pretty much refused to sleep until about 3:30 AM. She grunted, whined, and fussed in bed next to us for hours.

Thursday morning I woke up and decided I was going to get super adventurous. The instructor for the prenatal yoga class I went to also offers a post natal mama baby yoga class. I was super curious about it and had asked my mom if she'd join me the previous day. I got up a little after 8, fed the girls, pumped quickly, and busted my butt to get out the door by 9:10.

The class was from 10:15-11:30 about 50 minutes away. When I arrived I knew the girls would be ready to eat shortly. I ran in while my mom waited in the car and asked the instructor about feeding the girls. She told me that mamas were encouraged to feed their babies during class as needed.

The class was so great. I didn't exactly do a ton of yoga, but it was such a great environment. I recognized a bunch of people from prenatal yoga and got to meet their babies. Most of the babies were under 6 months and there were about 20 mamas there. It was so nice to be in a room where it was okay if my babies cried or needed to be fed. The class is only offered twice a month, but I definitely plan to return.

From yoga we went to my in-laws house to feed the girls and have lunch. I have a friend I met through yoga who was 8 weeks behind me in her twin pregnancy. She started to have complications around 24 weeks related to placenta previa. Around that time her baby b wasn't growing as well as baby a and may have had other complications. Unfortunately she lost her little baby b at 27 weeks. A little over a week ago she delivered baby a at about 33 weeks. We had exchanged quite a few Facebook messages and I reached out to her to try to support her while her baby was in the NICU. I can't imagine the post partum hormones mixed with the NICU experience and the mourning of a baby.

I brought a few things with me that morning in hopes I could stop at the hospital and see her and her baby. The girls ate well and then we headed to the hospital. My mom was planning to walk the girls in the stroller while I went in. Unfortunately my friend wasn't there as she had a doctors appointment. I left the stuff and we headed home. We later corresponded and I planned a different time to visit again. 

On Friday we stayed home and did nothing. There were snow flurries outside all morning and I was exhausted from our busy week.

Cutting out the dairy has made a huge difference with Clara. It stinks and is hard, but honestly, totally worth it to avoid the inconsolable screaming. It was almost like a light switch when I stopped the dairy. 

I'm proud of myself for getting out so much my first full week home, but know it would have been much harder without my moms help.

Yesterday I went back to Syracuse to see my friend's baby in the NICU. I got the girls out of the house by myself and they both slept the entire drive. Usually Lucy does some serious screaming in her carseat so it was nice to have such a quiet back seat. I brought the girls to my in-law's, fed them, and then left to go to the hospital. It was really nice to see my friend Katie and meet her little guy Jack. I also saw my favorite LC and got to catch up with her some. It is so hard to believe my girls were as small as little Jack not very long ago. We don't have any plans for the rest of the week but I think we'll go to a different park today for a walk. 

I'm definitely realizing that I need to get out of the house more. It's tough to not have anyone to socialize with during the day. It's also good to have a little change of scenery from time to time. Now I just need to find places to go/things to do that don't cost money. Any ideas?

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Hanging out during the day. Lucy wasn't too thrilled.

Snuggled in bed the morning.

Lucy is getting so strong!