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Our Weekend In Review: Stuck On The Couch

Monday, August 23, 2010

I spent the weekend on the couch.

No, really. I spent the entire weekend, on the couch.

My recovery has been less than fantastic. Just a tear shy of torture, I'd say. A lot of it is my own fault though, as much as I hate to admit it. For some reason, I was under the impression that coming home from the hospital meant- things going back to normal. I thought that my release was kind of like a free pass, to get back into the kitchen, back into my chores, and back into my full go-go-go mentality.

Well I pushed myself too hard. I opened up my incision in 4 different places, started to develop and infection, and found myself stuck on the couch, unable to do anything other than eat, drink, and feed the baby. Christopher wouldn't let me so much as sit up to grab a glass of water. And while I found it extremely annoying, after the first 10 minutes of being treated like an injured queen, I gave in, cozied up with my pillows, and let myself heal.

Most of the pictures that I took over the weekend were from my little corner on the couch. Not the most exciting, but- ...



On Saturday morning, the kids watched cartoons. Its not very often that we spend a morning in front of the tv (sometimes we go days without even turning it on), but with my not being able to get up and move around- why not?

Being stranded twelve inches above the ground, gave me a lot of perspective. I watched Eleanore curl her feet behind her knees, as animated characters danced across the big screen in front of her. I observed Charlie's infatuation with passing cars and trucks, as his head turned towards the outside every time there was a movement on the street. I noticed that we have a lot of little bitty spiders, that on an average day, go completely unnoticed, as they crawl up and down the walls, and scurry across the window sill. Things that I would have never seen, had my husband not sent me to my beneficial sofa-jail.



Charlie's transition from little brother to big brother, hasn't been as smooth as we had hoped it would be.

Jealousy, confusion, anger.

After I came home from the hospital, Charlie wanted nothing to do with bedtime. As soon as we'd put him in his bed, he'd scream. It was so bad, the first night, come 3am, that I was sure something was wrong with him. "He has to have internal bleeding, if he doesn't stop soon we have to take him to the ER!!", I begged Christopher- who was completely matter of fact about the whole thing, "oh hes been screaming at the top of his lungs for an hour, so what".

When we finally went to soothe him (because I just couldn't take it anymore), he snubbed us! He turned his face away from Mommy and Daddy, waved his hands up in the air for us to leave him alone, but when we did what he asked and backed away- he screamed for us to come closer.

Oh. I see.

Hes angry with us

Charlie simply didn't want to be left alone. And not only did we put him into his isolated crib by himself, but we had shut the door, walked away, and then completely ignored his pleas for attention.

It was a long night, that one.



So the next day, in an attempt to make Charlie more excited about bed time, rather than feeling abandoned- we bought in (from the garage) his big boy bed.

We had been saving his toddler bed for his birthday, 4 months from now, but... you do what you gotta do, ya know?

Bad idea.

Charlie hated his toddler bed. Now not only did he feel completely alone in his bedroom, while Mom and Dad were snuggling and loving a new baby sister in their room, off and on, allllll night long, but- he didn't have the comfort of his crib.

We should have known better. Parenting fail.

...so we removed the toddler bed, and the next night, put him back into his crib, and all was well.
Or, as well as it can be, when your world has been shaken up and taken over by all things teeny tiny and pink.



Sometime Sunday morning, Christopher captured this moment, while I was washing my face and brushing my teeth (my "me" time).

Eleanore holding her little sister, Evelyn.

Don't let Evelyn's look of complete panic fool you into thinking that shes unhappy (we all know shes not). She always look like that, being so brand new and all.

Hey, random question...
Have you ever seen our living room?



This morning, while no longer on complete bed rest (y'all would not believe what a couple days on your butt will do for a sore spot on the belly!), I decided to let the kids watch cartoons again.

I'm not going to lie. My corner on the couch has gotten pretty comfortable. And now that I'm not hurting every time I move, I'm not as opposed to sitting here (yes, I'm there right now) for hours on end.

Christopher goes back to work next week though, and I'm sure by then, the couch will go back to being just a plain ol' couch again. No longer my own personal recovery room.

But until then, hee hee.



Eleanore, all warm and snuggly with her Hello Kitty blanket, forced to watch Curious George from the floor, since our couch isn't big enough for the 5 of us (she doesn't look too miserable though, does she?).



The boys, and the angry pets-deprived cat, having a total stare-off.

Who do you think won?



And Evelyn, laying quietly in ...wait- wheres Miss Evelyn at?



Oh. Good. She is in there!

I failed to document the rest of our days adventures (having left the camera by my nest on the couch), but be assured that we did many exciting things today. Having baby's blood drawn, trying to get the broken dryer to work, not getting stung by the swarming bees at the base hospital ...all very exciting things that I'm sure you wished I would have taken pictures of. Maybe I'll do a better job next week?


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I'm linking up with Mommy Elephant's Manic Monday post, today.
Manic Monday Button


18 comments:

They call me mommy... August 23, 2010 at 5:41 PM  

Poor littel Charlie ): I know that pain Julie was the same way when Johnnie first came home, it won't last forever. Before you know it he will be just as sweet as little Elie with his newest sister. Oh, and those pics of the two girls are beautiful! Yay daddy for getting that beautiful moment! Love the pics! glad to hear you are feeling a little better, as a mother it's hard to just sit back and watch but sometimes you just NEED to. Hope you all have a good week!

Chelsey - The Paper Mama August 23, 2010 at 6:07 PM  

Loved all the photos. What a sweet new baby you have. That's sad that Charlie was feeling so abandoned! You've got a cute little home there... filled with cute people!

Unknown August 23, 2010 at 6:12 PM  

Awww, no way, not a parenting fail. Kids always react differently from each other!! Gracie is Miss Independant, but I can guarantee that if I had a baby while Annelie was still as young as Charlie, BAD THINGS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! Even now, she's the baby and definitely happy to be in that position!!

So sorry you've been hurting, Tia!! I hope you heal quickly and are back to your usual self in no time! And when I say that, I mean like, in a month from now, because I know how long it takes to recover from abdominal surgery!! Good luck! We think of you 5 all the time!

Dana August 23, 2010 at 6:42 PM  

You should rest all that you can before the hubby goes back to work. You should try to squeeze in some more morning cartoons with your kids :)the babies adorable! We are working on baby number 2 and im very nervous for how my daughter will handle it!

Yah Bag August 23, 2010 at 7:40 PM  

Such a great post. Thanks for letting us have a glimpse of life right now. One thing though... and it's a negative thing... are you ready for it? I find it pretty irritating that you have 3 VERY small children, a giant incision in your belly, and a CLEAN friggin house. So annoying. LOL! Beautiful family lady... glad you're feeling better.

Adriana August 23, 2010 at 8:40 PM  

i love this post. poor lil Charlie. He is a fiesty one, no? and the pics of the girls...note that s on the end!!!... are so cute.
im glad to hear you are healing.
xo
adriana

Rachel Elizabeth August 23, 2010 at 9:12 PM  

Cute pictures. Sorry you were stuck in bed. I hated those first couple of weeks after my C-section.

Rogue Wild August 23, 2010 at 9:19 PM  

is it just me or does Evelyn make the same scrunchy eyebrow thing Charlie does? hehe I see both of the kids in her

I'm glad Christopher sofa-jailed you =o) sometimes we forget, in our I'm the mama moments, that we need to take time to heal too .. big hugs!!

Mommy Elephant Sarah August 24, 2010 at 12:04 AM  

M did not take to his toddler bed at all either. Lots of crying and screaming between 12am-5! The next day I had David put that crib back too, and he slept perfectly again. But that is a whole other blog post.
I love that you posted your living room. I recognize a $1.00 book from Target!! :D We have the same one.
Glad to hear you are feeling better, there is nothing worse then not being able to do the stuff you are used to.
Love the pictures Christopher got of the two sisters. So sweet.
Hope things get easier for Charlie. Poor guy.

Anonymous,  August 24, 2010 at 12:05 AM  

I remember the nest on the sofa where I spent most of my time when Ave was a newborn. You are constantly nursing and then the kiddo falls asleep on you and you are basically trapped on the couch. In a good way. When a new baby comes into the family the child who used to be the "baby" will regress and act out. He'll get over it. Kids don't like change. You are doing great and everything will fall back into place soon. Loveyou.

Devon August 24, 2010 at 6:43 AM  

oh my. you have had a TIME of it, haven't you?! glad you are healing up well now that you've been resting.

love all the pictures!... and... you might want to get on the teeny tiny spider problem! hahaha! (or better yet, have christopher get on that!)

Renee August 24, 2010 at 7:32 AM  

I feel your pain!! After Jagger was born (via c-section) I too developed a bond with our couch, lol!! And I'm pretty sure Jagger is going to react much the same as Charlie when his little sister is born in November! Anyways, glad to read you're feeling a bit better! And I hope Charlie gets used to being the big brother soon!! Beautiful pics!

Amazon Alanna August 24, 2010 at 8:42 AM  

Don't worry about the spiders...I think their cousins live at my house...I don't mind them, my son loves them, and I don't point them out to my arachnophobe husband. It works for us.

Beautiful pictures of a lovely family. Thanks for sharing with us.

considerthelillies August 24, 2010 at 10:44 AM  

the view from your little corner of the world is very sweet! Evelyn is gorgeous as is Eleanor and Charlie! Please don't over do it now that you are feeling stronger!

mrs zombie August 24, 2010 at 11:59 AM  

Cute, cute.. even when one of them is angry.

Alyssa S. August 25, 2010 at 10:51 AM  

Hey, you enjoy that rest time! YOU deserve it. I got to enjoy exactly one day off of my newly surgicalized foot and have been up and around scrambling on crutches ever since. I kinda wish I had more time off my feet completely. Of course, by day two I was DYING to be off of the bed and out of the bedroom.

AW, poor Mr Charlie. It must be rough when you realize you aren't the baby anymore. I think my sister got a dose of that when I was born. It took her 18 years to get over it :P Amelia seemed all fine and dandy when Merrick arrived. Or so I though until one day when he was about 3 months old and she calmly walked up to him (in my lap), stroked his head and then promptly slapped him in the back of the head...all with a calm smile on her little face. I'm sure he'll adjust and start feeling more big brother-y!

I love that little pink ladybug bundle. She's so sweet.

lollywood August 26, 2010 at 9:39 AM  

Congratulations on your beautiful little girl! Sorry to hear you were stuck on the couch, but good to know that you healed back up!

Anonymous,  August 26, 2010 at 2:13 PM  

Im scared to death to have another child..but you certainly make it seem easy. I praise you all for doing a fabulous job!! I adore the pictures!!

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