I'm typing this with a massively sized baby sprawled out on my lap, while he enjoys his pacifier. It truly seems like a rare feat to have him content and quiet and just enjoying the world around him. It always seems like he needs something, from food, to a diaper, to a tummy massage to work out the gas, or a burp mid-way through a nap. Sometimes I forget to enjoy my little guy as I'm too busy trying to figure out what he needs!
I'm still beyond sleep deprived. Having a baby brings sleep deprivation to a level I could have never imagined. Yes it's well worth it, but I truly had no clue what I was in for. I was always the type of person to lay down, sleep, and wake up 8 hours later well rested. Some days I have no idea if I've even slept for 3 hours. The last couple of days, I've not been fall down tired so hopefully I'm adjusting. My mother-in-law has been here for the last 2 weeks and I have absolutely no clue what I'd do without her. Not having my own mom around (she passed away when I was 14) has left me grief-stricken, but my mother-in-law literally came in and saved the day. I have no idea how to cope when she leaves after Thanksgiving, but fortunately for me, she is returning before Christmas hopefully for an extended stay once again. My plan is to go back to work part time in January and I feel so much better knowing that Liam would be taken care of by her rather than someone I don't know.
Right now, I'm reading the Sleep Lady book to try and learn how to sleep train an infant. During weeks 4-8, I've learned it's important to make sure that babies only nap for a maximum of 3 hours during the day, in a well lit environment (to distinguish night from day) and then have a night time ritual. Babies should remain awake from 8-10pm, have a bath in there, and then a final meal around 10, and then be put down to sleep. Tonight is night 1 of this approach. He's still awake at 9:30 - so far so good. He has some good 3 hour stretches but last night was rough. He went down around 10:30, then was awake at 12:15, 2:45 and 5:30. I know it could be worse, but this felt really impossible!
Ok, now he's starting to get fussy again! At least I found some time to update....
Liam is 5 weeks (minus a day)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Starting to get the hang of things... sort of.
Well, we survived the first 3 weeks. Barely, I think. Well, at least it seemed impossible for me. Some days I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I'll admit that I've had some exceptionally difficult days throughout Liam's first 3 weeks of life.
Breastfeeding has never been easy. He's a very lazy nurser and I have had an oversupply of milk, so I've been weaning down with the pumping. My doctor would like me to wean off completely, due to persistent mastitis which I've had for a week now. I even had to get an ultrasound yesterday to make sure that I didn't have an abscess (fortunately, I don't). I've seen a lactation consultant, and I've been to my doctor's office twice in the past week, and I'm on 2 different antibiotics. I guess this makes up for my problem-free pregnancy! So, I'm taking the breastfeeding/pumping one day at a time. I have to get the mastitis under control or nothing is going to work. I've been giving him exclusively breast milk for 3 weeks now, and have never supplemented with formula. We may introduce formula this week and see how that goes. I am hopeful that it may allow Liam to sleep longer at night, provided that it doesn't upset his tummy. He wakes about every 3 hours at night for food. He has had a 4 or 5 hour stretch here and there but I think that was last week.
My mother-in-law is here, which is mostly due to my lack of confidence in being on my own with the baby. I often feel like I just don't know how to soothe him or what he wants. Fortunately, she'll be here for another few weeks, which might make this process a little bit easier on me. I just keep taking things one day at a time, and often one hour at a time.
On the positive side, I've lost all of my pregnancy weight (as of a few days ago!)
Liam is 3 weeks, and 1 day old
Breastfeeding has never been easy. He's a very lazy nurser and I have had an oversupply of milk, so I've been weaning down with the pumping. My doctor would like me to wean off completely, due to persistent mastitis which I've had for a week now. I even had to get an ultrasound yesterday to make sure that I didn't have an abscess (fortunately, I don't). I've seen a lactation consultant, and I've been to my doctor's office twice in the past week, and I'm on 2 different antibiotics. I guess this makes up for my problem-free pregnancy! So, I'm taking the breastfeeding/pumping one day at a time. I have to get the mastitis under control or nothing is going to work. I've been giving him exclusively breast milk for 3 weeks now, and have never supplemented with formula. We may introduce formula this week and see how that goes. I am hopeful that it may allow Liam to sleep longer at night, provided that it doesn't upset his tummy. He wakes about every 3 hours at night for food. He has had a 4 or 5 hour stretch here and there but I think that was last week.
My mother-in-law is here, which is mostly due to my lack of confidence in being on my own with the baby. I often feel like I just don't know how to soothe him or what he wants. Fortunately, she'll be here for another few weeks, which might make this process a little bit easier on me. I just keep taking things one day at a time, and often one hour at a time.
On the positive side, I've lost all of my pregnancy weight (as of a few days ago!)
Liam is 3 weeks, and 1 day old
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