Food, friends and footy.

A lot can happen in one week. This time last week we had a super cruisy easy baby who slept beautifully and had no dramas. This week we have the same again but in between it has been a whole other story.

Basically Evie has reflux. In adult speak this is like heartburn, which as I know personally is not a whole lot of fun. It really reared it's head on Wednesday night (although there were a few signs over the previous day or two) which was Nick's birthday. Happy birthday to Nick - obviously his birthday took a bit of a back seat this year and we haven't even had cake yet but we'll make up for it in years to come. Anyway, I went to put Evie to sleep in her cot that night around 9.30pm but she wouldn't settle. And she kept crying. And crying. She actually cried all night long which is possibly normal for some babies but definitely not this one. At some point we made a decision that one of us needed to get some sleep so we could function with Ollie the next day so Nick, not having the required bits and pieces, drew the long straw and went to sleep on the couch. I stayed in the bedroom with crying girl until 6am when Nick came in to find us both completely distraught. Poor Evie had actually cried herself hoarse - definitely not cute, although I'm sure some parents have probably wished for a mute button for their newborns. It was such a horrible experience that I keep joking to Nick about putting in a claim for PTSD.

We then had a mad rush up to the doctor to find out that she probably has reflux. The doctor was great and gave us a script for something wonderful that would help her out. So we trotted down to the pharmacy only to be told that it took 24 hours to fill that particular script. I think the lady at the pharmacy felt the daggers come out of my eyes. It was heartbreaking to be given the solution to her pain and then told we can't have it until tomorrow. Thankfully she was eventually so tired out that she slept for a while on my chest. After that she seemed to be on the mend a bit thanks to a few other measures the doctor recommended.

Since then she has gotten gradually better so fingers crossed we are over the worst of this, but it definitely wasn't a fun experience for all involved.

On a lighter note, here is a pic of me when I was a newborn (forgive the 70s sheets!). I couldn't find a great comparison photo of Evie but trust us and everyone else who has met her, there is quite a strong resemblance. I think there is also a strong resemblance between the ecstatic look on my sister Alicia's face and that of Ollie each time he gets to cuddle her.

I've noticed since having a second child that a lot of people are asking me whether we will have a third child now. Our plan has always been to have two children - two hands equals two children. Plus we don't want them to have more votes than us in the household. Three kids means bigger cars, houses, many more dollars, much greater environmental impact etc. But I think that I might have been a little worried that once Evie came along I might reneg on this deal. I so often see people who get intoxicated by tiny newborn babies.

But I can safely say that having a newborn has firmly cemented my resolve to only have two children. Sure Evie is wonderful and I am thrilled to pieces that she is part of our family but a newborn is damn hard work, and it isn't just for a few weeks either. The fog of the baby bubble lasts for months before it gets any easier. No one explains to you before you go into this that if a baby feeds every two hours that is from the time they actually start feeding. So if it takes you an hour to change them, feed them and settle them back down then you've only got yourself one hour to get yourself back to sleep and in a nice relaxed state before the little taskmaster strikes again. And this just keeps going all night long, and every single day for months. No wonder new mothers find themselves so exhausted.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Last night Evie slept for four hours before she woke up for a feed, then had another four hour stretch. It was the longest I had slept for since the day she was born. I woke up this morning feeling positively perky and even managed to join my boys for a pancake feast before Obear went off to daycare.

I've been wondering if life will ever get back to normal again, but after a night like that I can see through the fog. It won't ever be the same as it was before, but it will be a new kind of normal. An absolutely wonderful, albeit sleep deprived, kind of normal with two lovely little people to entertain us along the way.

(Here are the boys on Nick's birthday when Nick got his new watch).
A tender moment captured between Ollie and his baby sister. He is still completely obsessed with her and just wants to kiss and cuddle her at every opportunity. Although we did have an 'incident' yesterday where Ollie was playing with his babushka dolls (he is comfortable in his blokeiness) not far from where Evie was sleeping in her beanbag. We heard a thump and Evie started crying. Cut to a guilty looking Ollie and a babushka doll not far from where Evie was howling. Ollie was punished on the basis that he threw the doll at her but we didn't have conclusive evidence. Not until later that day when we saw the scratch on her head. Thankfully it doesn't appear to have done any real damage - no babushka shaped imprints.