Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Never wake a sleeping baby


I've learned a lot in the last two weeks and maybe my brain will function enough to write a few of these things down.
It's difficult to care for a newborn baby. I've observed that there are two types of babies, the fussy ones and the relaxed ones. I've been blessed with a beautiful, perfect, FUSSY baby. So now that I've realized that, I need to adjust my life to her patterns and cries.
The most important lesson I've learned in the last few weeks is to trust my intuition and my motherly instincts. Everyone will have their ideas and options but I must follow the ones that I believe are best for Lyla.

The first two weeks Lyla was not sleeping. She was crying, screaming and acting as if it was the
end
of the world. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I was feeding her when she wanted, walking with her, holding her, loving her... but nothing would make her happy. After my visit with my wonderful Pediatrician he let me know that I had broken the world record for marathon feeding. I was breast feeding her for about an hour or more at a time. Apparently, it was only supposed to be 10 mins per breast!?! Who knew? (Well not me...) Therefore she was being over-fed and over-full in turn causing her to be a unhappy full little girl with too much food in her little belly. This was making me an unhappy little momma with sore breasts and major sleep deprivation. If you can imagine I was sitting about 8 to 9 hours a day just feeding her! So since Friday I have been following his recommendations of 10mins and life is good! She seems happier and doesn't let out the killing scream at all hours of the day, it's now limited to most hours of the day. (smile) So I've learned to not breastfeed at all hours, limit your time.

The second most important thing I've learned is that Jason and I have an amazing marriage. For being home 2 weeks together with a screaming newborn and no sleep, we did not even snap at each other once. Not one single time. We supported one another, helped each other and kept our sanity together. There's no way I could have made it through those two weeks without him. Today is his first day back at work and I miss him dearly. It's so crucial to have a strong relationship and I am forever thankful that we are married.

Lastly I've learned that many moms don't want to admit how hard it is to have a newborn but I'm open and honest. I don't hold back, I let anyone know what the truth is no matter how I may sound. It's a tough road and even though I was ready for it.... it's hard.

Now.... never wake a sleeping baby.

1 comment:

Joanne said...

Ang, I'm like you - open and honest. It is HARD! Glad you are getting into the groove. Like I said last week - it gets easier as you go and are able to get more sleep for longer stretches of time. :)