Don't Be Tardy For The Potty

Becoming a mom of two was a much easier transition than I expected it to be. Going from childless, to mom of one was much more difficult and daunting. Penelope is a very easy going baby and Charlotte is almost five (shit, I'm tearing up already), and those two factors make life a whole lot easier.

My recovery has been slow. Very slow. The longest stretch I've had without any pain lasted four days, and that was just earlier this week. Things are probably taking longer this time because this was my second c-section. I also found out that I had chorioamnionitis (an infection of the placenta). I'm really glad that I found out after Penelope's birth and not while I was still pregnant, because I would have been completely freaked out. It's pretty rare (1-2% of pregnancies) and can cause serious complications for mom and baby. I had absolutely no symptoms of infection, so there was no way for either of my midwives to know what was going on. It was discovered through a pathology report on my placenta. This was either the reason for my crazy prolonged labor or possibly caused by the prolonged labor itself. There's also a chance that I had a little rupture in the amniotic sac with a very slow leak which lead to infection. regardless of the cause, this makes me feel 100% confident that my c-section was necessary. I'm glad that we got Penelope out when we did, because she was completely healthy and so was I. Catastrophe averted, I kid.

Charlotte still loves being a big sister. She's a wonderful helper. I especially enjoy seeing her talk to, and read to Penelope. It's so sweet. I get all verklempt thinking about it. I hope this sisterly love continues even when Penelope starts getting into Charlotte's stuff. I have a feeling she won't like being a big sister all that much when Penelope starts crawling.

Two weeks ago we started doing elimination communication with Penelope. It's been going really well. She stays dry most nights. I just take her to the bathroom when she wakes up and then I nurse her and put her back down. I've gotten into the habit of singing "don't be tardy for the potty" when I take Penelope to the bathroom. As I tweeted earlier, I'm pretty sure that can be considered child abuse. I've been using sleep gowns and onesies with leggings at home, but I think I'll be making some split crotch pants for her pretty soon. I need more clothing options for when we leave the house.

That's about it. Life is good.