Oh the lessons, they keep pouring in. But there's one thing I want to remember to tell new moms with newborns - it does get better. I remember the incessant crying in the middle of the night, we had no solutions, just making things up. Like she must have a bubble, that formula is giving her indigestion, she's over tired, she's still hungry, her little insides are still growing, whatever! What I know now is what I wish I knew then - its just newborn shit. They will cry and cry and there's not much you can do but keep them company. Trying to fix them, however pointless, is company enough.
I'm proud to say we made it through to 6.5 weeks without any major hospital runs for baby or parents. We had an underweight baby, which scared me enough, but supplementing formula has turned her into a tank again. We've had baby acne, and diaper rash, and yeast rash, and accidentally lightly scratched her head while trying to change her in the back seat of the car. But no 911! Success! Although after that one fateful night that she kept we awake until 6 am, M emerging from the bedroom I said to him ruefully, "if she doesn't sleep soon we're going to have to take her to the Emergency Room." Him, bleary eyed, assuming I've read more baby books than him, "really?" No silly. Its just newborn shit.And I also now realize there's a reason why she kept us up some nights - it was to make us appreciate any decent amount of sleep she would give us from now on. And we proved to be the laziest family in the world by all staying in bed until 11am on this holiday Monday.
And my favorite time to look into her little face is when she's waking up after a morning nurse, making little E.T. neck stretches toward me, breathing out a big sigh, and resting her head in the crook of my arm again, eyes closing for one last cat nap. Oh I will stay here too, then. I can't believe we made this little angel.
Can you tell I had a good night's sleep?
Hooray for a good night's sleep! Not looking forward to experiencing the terrible early lack of sleep days of a newborn again. That's my least favorite part. It does getting better. Almost always now I am able to sleep until 9:30 a.m. on the weekends.
ReplyDeleteOh, love those first moments of wakefulness cuddles. That's why I can't quit the cosleeping yet! The time goes crazy fast - and they change so much during these early months - isn't it amazing? Hope this trend of good sleep continues for you. I won't even mention the 4-month sleep regression, that would be cruel. Nope, I won't mention it. Ahem.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jen, in my case, the newborn-sleep-deprivation-torture-phase passed even FASTER the second time around. Or maybe it just didn't seem to matter so much because new babies smell so much better than 3-year-olds ;)