One Month Old

Today is P. Bibby's one-month birthday. We've all managed to survive with our health and sanity mostly intact. Things have been made easier by two factors: we've surrendered to the needs of the baby quite a lot more this time (like letting her sleep in our bed) and we know this is the last time we ever have to do this. I love my children, but the first few months of life are not my favorite ones. I'm also immensely grateful for the fact that I'm not in school right now and that Mr. Fob has a good job done entirely from home. My body is still recovering and I hope that by the end of the month I'll be back to my usual self. While I've enjoyed this month of being homebound, I'm starting to feel a bit of cabin fever and can't wait to get back to more of my usual routine.

So far P. Bibby has mostly been pretty mellow. She tends to get fussy every night around bedtime, but the majority of nights have been peaceful once we get past the initial fussiness and go to bed. She still spends most of the night in our bed, even though I don't like this for a variety of reasons, but has started taking longer naps in her bed so I hope that in the next few months we can get her transitioned into sleeping on her own. Nursing is still going pretty well and she is certainly filling out her clothes much better than she did a month ago. The kids love having a little sister, and Little Dude has appointed himself her advocate. He is always telling us what she's thinking: "I think she needs a hug", "I think she needs her elephant blanket", "I think she wants some jello" (um, no). He will be happier in a few weeks when we can spend more time outside the house. We may not be thriving, but we're surviving and I know that it can only get better from here, right?

Comments

skyeJ said…
everybody needs more Jell-O. He takes after Grandma Welch, that boy of yours. :)
Desmama said…
It will get better. ;) She'll figure the rhythm out and it'll be good. I love the three-year-old's translations. So cute.
Kristi said…
I say surviving the first 6 weeks is good enough - no need to worry about thriving. :) I'm also glad to hear that the first couple months are rough for some other mommies - I didn't really like Kate until she was 2 months old and felt soo guilty about it. It's nice to know that I'm not alone.
Lindsay said…
I love my children, too, but it seems to take me until they're about 3 months old before I really like them, too. Those first few months are hard.
C. L. Hanson said…
Re: we've surrendered to the needs of the baby quite a lot more this time (like letting her sleep in our bed) and we know this is the last time we ever have to do this.

I didn't say anything when you posted earlier that you'd decided against co-sleeping because my #1 parenting theory is that different things work for different families.

However (in my personal experience), when I had small babies who were still nursing, I found that it was less stressful in so many ways to just let them sleep in the bed with us. Like you say, it's not as though it's a permanent situation...
AmyJane said…
Hey, surviving IS thriving with a newborn! Seriously. All bets are off for at least six weeks, including co-sleeping, demand nursing, and whatever else works. It really is best for you and your baby. I'm more convinced with each baby that you are totally right--we just have to let go of the control and realize that this short season will pass and you'll get back to finding a "new normal."

PS Please tell me these things back in about 10 weeks when I am freaking out living in newborn land myself!

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