One Week
Well, we survived the first week and I didn't even have a crying breakdown until last night. I'm not even sure what the specific cause was--just accumulated stress and post-partum hormone issues. Little Dude (that's become his blog name, so I think I'll use it) has decided to actually sleep for the last two nights. Well, he does three hours at a time, gets up and eats, and goes back to sleep. I can handle that--it's better than the first few nights when he'd just fuss for hours. We've also discovered that he likes having his mattress propped up at an angle and he likes being wrapped up tightly. Also, if you hold him for a little while until he's deeply asleep, he won't notice that you're putting him down in his bed. I'm probably teaching him bad sleep habits, but we'll fix that in a few months. I just want to sleep right now.
The feeding thing is working itself out too. My body is adjusting so the engorgement issue isn't so much of a problem, but I'm still kind of sore when he eats. I've been debating going in to the lactation clinic, but I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is. His mouth is just tiny, and his chin kind of recedes, so it's hard to get a nice open mouth when he starts eating. It tends to pinch (ouch!), so I have to really force his mouth open and hold things in place. It gets a little tiring, but it should get better in a few weeks and hopefully I won't need to use both hands to feed him every single time. And I keep reminding myself that he won't need to eat every 2 hours for the rest of his life.
Anyways, we're still surviving. The ward has had people bring us food for the last few nights, which has been a nice little bonus. I'm getting nervous because Master Fob is jumping right into his new job this week and will suddenly be working 40 hours a week, including almost every evening until 9 as well as Saturdays. But I've got my freezer full of food and I'm prepared to keep neglecting housework for the next few weeks, so we'll be OK. Unlike last night, I can now recognize that there will be good and bad days, but not every day is a bad day.
The feeding thing is working itself out too. My body is adjusting so the engorgement issue isn't so much of a problem, but I'm still kind of sore when he eats. I've been debating going in to the lactation clinic, but I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is. His mouth is just tiny, and his chin kind of recedes, so it's hard to get a nice open mouth when he starts eating. It tends to pinch (ouch!), so I have to really force his mouth open and hold things in place. It gets a little tiring, but it should get better in a few weeks and hopefully I won't need to use both hands to feed him every single time. And I keep reminding myself that he won't need to eat every 2 hours for the rest of his life.
Anyways, we're still surviving. The ward has had people bring us food for the last few nights, which has been a nice little bonus. I'm getting nervous because Master Fob is jumping right into his new job this week and will suddenly be working 40 hours a week, including almost every evening until 9 as well as Saturdays. But I've got my freezer full of food and I'm prepared to keep neglecting housework for the next few weeks, so we'll be OK. Unlike last night, I can now recognize that there will be good and bad days, but not every day is a bad day.
Comments
But after the second baby I turned into a major wuss and now will do almost anything to make the pathetic noise that is 'the newborn cry' stop.
LOL, I second That!!
b)feed toddler c)feed mom and dad (and dad can feed himself ya know)and finally: d)sleep, sleep, sleep.
Also, my baby sleep guru, even Dr. Marc Weissbluth, says that all bets are off for at least the first two months, and maybe longer depending on the baby. It sounds like he's already getting into a pretty decent pattern though, and sounds like you are doing a terrific job!
*Shakes her head, unable to believe she's voluntarily doing this again.*