Giovanni Paul is One!

                  Our second child has been such a huge blessing to our family. I wasn't sure how I would handle two kids under two, but Giovanni has been such a sweet baby and it has been easier than I expected it to be. That doesn't mean it has been easy all the time. Breastfeeding has been much easier than it was with Gianna and that has made feeding him easier. However, from birth to 13 months he pretty much woke every 1-3 hours at night and it was rough. Tim tried to help as much as he could, but Giovanni usually wanted me because I was the one who could feed him. Co-sleeping didn't really work most of the time but at least I could nurse him while lying in bed rather than having to get up to make him a bottle and sit in a rocking chair to feed him etc. Most people can't understand how I was able to survive that long with such broken sleep and honestly, I am not sure how I did it. I will say that prayer, family support and Giovanni's sweet temperament were crucial to my survival and well-being. I honestly felt like I was running on God's grace most days and it helped knowing so many people were praying for me. Another helpful thing was that Giovanni typically did not fight sleep like Gianna had. He would nurse back to sleep easily although he would occasionally wake up when I tried to transfer him back into his crib. Every morning he would give me the biggest smile and that helped me to get through the rough nights. He is seriously one of the most loving and sweet babies I have ever met. I think it helps that he has a very loving and caring big sister, but it seems to really be his personality. He seems to have a bit of St. John Paul II's love for humanity because he is always reaching out to strangers and smiling at them. Now that he can walk he loves to interact with people sitting next to us in Church and will often walk up to them and hold their hand. This week I had both kids with me while grocery shopping and I turned around to get something off the shelf and when I turned back to my cart I found Giovanni had reached out to a woman walking next to our cart and was holding her hand. He is seriously such a loving little boy and brings smiles to everyone he meets. I am beyond blessed to be his mother and watch him share his love with the world. It has been an exhausting year for both Tim and I, but we love Giovanni so much that it makes all the sacrificed sleep worth it.

                For the most part I have loved having two kids even though it can be challenging at times. Especially now that I have two toddlers it can be very stressful dealing with double the tantrums but there have also been a lot of benefits as well. Gianna is a very attentive sister and can help Giovanni calm down at times and since he was born she has been excellent at finding pacifiers for him. It is seriously awesome to ask her to go upstairs to find his pacifier or bottle etc and she will run upstairs and return with what I asked for. She is such an amazing sister and mom to her baby dolls. She spends a lot of time putting her babies to sleep or breastfeeding them and it is super adorable. Having Gianna as my firstborn has made the transition to two easier. I have had a lot of days when I feel like I can't handle it anymore but thankfully God blessed me with a sweet husband and two sweet children to give me the strength I need. I end every day exhausted and emotionally worn down from handling the constant demands from both kids, but I am also extremely thankful for them and happy. Motherhood is basically an emotional rollercoaster every single day. I have so much respect and compassion for all the mothers out there because it is really tough!

                At 14 months Giovanni is still a big cuddle bug and we love it. He prefers to snuggle with me most of the time, but he will pretty much let any family member or close friend hold him and he will snuggle with them, it is very sweet. He has a special bond with both of his grandfathers. We spent a few weeks in Washington last Christmas when he was only two months old. I remember when Tim’s Dad would come home from work he would sit with Giovanni on the couch and Giovanni would laugh at him. That was the first time he started social laughing and it was so cute. Since my parents live close he gets to spend more time with my Dad and when he sees my Dad he lifts his arms to tell my Dad to pick him up. When my parents watch the kids, Giovanni will refuse to go to sleep for my Mom because he wants my Dad to put him to sleep, it is very sweet. Aside from being a sweet cuddle bug, Giovanni keeps us on our toes by climbing everything. If we do not keep our dining room table chairs pushed in, he will climb them and climb on top of the table! He will climb pretty much anything. It is stressful, but I guess that is how life with boys will be. Another favorite activity of his is eating. He can be picky with some foods but when he loves something he will tilt his head back with delight and smile and occasionally he even holds the food up and sings. We love watching him enjoy his meals. He also still loves to nurse which has been a special bond for us. Now that he is older I usually just nurse him at home which is easier because he is quite the active nurser. Overall, he has a huge personality and we love our Giovanni Paul so much! I am looking forward to watching him continue to grow and develop over the years!

And then there were two kids!

         I can't believe it has been more than a year since my last blog post. I can explain! Ironically as I wrote my last post on my reflections on the first year of motherhood, I was already one week pregnant with baby # 2. I am so glad I already trusted that God would give me strength to endure any challenges prior to that pregnancy because being pregnant while chasing a toddler and working four days a week was no cake walk. My second pregnancy was easier in that I had slightly less nausea and less fatigue thankfully. I had new challenges in that I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks. Thankfully my job as a Degreed Nutritionsit allowed me to understand and implement a diet that controlled my blood sugar and I did not require medication or special monitoring for my baby. At 34 weeks I was driving to work and noticed I had 3 contractions in 15 minutes. They never stopped. I was put on bed rest and tried to take it easy until 36-37 weeks but little Giovanni Paul Barbeau stayed in until 38 wks 6 days just like his sister! I couldn't even coax him out while his grandparents were visiting from Washington. Overall my second pregnancy was easier because I had Gianna to remind me how worth it everything was going to be. And I was so excited to see how she would be as a big sister!

          The day before Giovanni was finally born I came to the conclusion that the reason my labor was starting and stopping was that he was not in the correct position and couldn't descend further. Luckily I had copied directions for the "Adominal lift and tuck" from Hypnobabies which is a technique for getting baby to rotate when you are experiencing back labor from a baby facing the wrong direction. Tim and I had been sent home from triage early Friday morning because I was not progressing. I was so tired of having painful contractions that weren't making and progress! So after we got a few hours of sleep and ate breakfast I told him that he was either going to help me try to rotate baby or I was going to a chiropractor! Well we started around 930 and did the technique during contractions (it is kind of like the Heimlich!), It was extremely uncomfortable but I could tell it was working. They recommend trying 10 contractions but it only took about 8 before I felt the pressure shift and we were in active labor! After that my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I was screaming at Tim so we knew this was really time to head to the hospital. I survived the 30 minute drive to the hospital which I had been afraid of, it definitely wasn't easy though. I kept telling myself "I can do this, I don't have a choice!" and by the time I got checked out in triage and was 6.5-7 cm I was all about the epidural. I think I finally got into my room and had the epidural placed around 1:30. I remember texting Melissa, who would be his godmother at 3 pm that they were just waiting for me to dilate fully and I would probably push in 1-2 hours. Well Giovanni was born 7 minutes later. Hearing the time he was born and then seeing what time I had texted her, I couldn't believe it. Basically right after the text was send the Doctor came in to see how I was feeling and decided to check me super fast. Well he saw Giovanni's head called everyone into the room and I think I pushed 3 times and he was born! So much easier than my 2 hours of pushing Gianna out. And my recovery was way easier as a result as well.

          Giovanni came out looking like a grumpy old man and he was hungry! Within 15 minutes of being born he was sucking on his thumb and ready to nurse. Thankfully he latched well and ate for forty minutes and then ate every hour for the first 24 hours of his life. That was definitely a heads up to me that he was going to be a frequent nurser. Six months later he is still nursing every 2 hours mostly around the clock ! I am so grateful that I am able to nurse him and provide the milk he needs to grow. I plan to write more in a future post to encourage other moms who had difficulty nursing their first baby!

         Fast forward six months and I LOVE having two kids! Aside from pretty much never getting enough sleep to function (which is now 5 hours for me) it is going really well and I am happier than ever. I still have my dark days when I am up with him every hour and super exhausted but overall I find so much joy in watching my children grow and develop their sibling relationship. It does not surprise me that Gianna loves her brother so much and tries to take care of him but I have been surprised that Giovanni has been so interested in her since the beginning. He has been laughing at her since he was two months old! Gianna is legitimately good at helping me with him. She will tell me when he is crawling towards something he isn't supposed to have and she is good at entertaining him while I try to cook. Having two kids is definitely easier than just having Gianna and it is such a wonderful blessing. I will say having them closer together helps because Gianna still naps around 3 hours so it guarantees that I at least get to lay down with Giovanni. I also only went back to work two days a week so that has made things easier as well. I plan to share more in the future but I want to encourage anyone contemplating having a second child that it is definitely easier than your first!