Muddling through Christmas time with my Jewish family in town from So Cal and our little Christmas tree and the presents underneath and me with so little sleep and the weirdest naps are the ones when I fall so deep that I dream for a second.
The boy is sleeping now, in his big ole’ rainforest swing. We’re not sure whether we like that he’s sleeping now, because it means he probably won’t be later. I should be sleeping now. Will try to as soon as I click “publish.”
It’s been nice to have family around to hold the baby and really just liven up the place a bit. I keep not managing to get outside (bad mommy!) so the inside entertainments are even more important. (Will go on walk tomorrow! — I vow over and over.)
We did go out on Saturday, briefly. But I timed it all wrong so that the baby was crying from needing a diaper change as soon as we sat down at the restaurant and then we went to the wrong bathroom of the two available options, which was about the size of a broom closet and was NOT the one with the changing table but that one had a line, and so we changed him on the floor, on his little diaper bag mat but still… Germs!?? Ugh.
And then he cried some more and Scott walked off with him up the street, to try to soothe him and I sent my Dad after him because I knew he had to be wanting the boob and meanwhile some woman passing Scott on the sidewalk commented that it sounded like the baby wanted milk.
Does everyone know how to tell the cries apart but us??? Then again, when I was child-free, I always suggested to my friends that their crying babies seemed hungry, I think. Sorry, everyone.
So I had my first public boob-flash breast feeding that day as well.
Come to think of it, was outside on Friday too, briefly, as we got all dressed and bundled and headed out to the pediatrician’s for our appointment only to receive the reminder call — for our appointment on Wednesday of next week. Not sure how I messed that one up but since we were already out, we went to our swanky neighborhood Whole Foods, and then the Christmas tree lot and then a short two block walk for coffee/tea/hot chocolate and fresh air.
Not so bad.
I was able to eventually tell the cries apart. Stop trying to listen and just relax, that is when you will figure them out.
Betsy (Mom 2 3)’s last blog post..It is not over!
I have been thinking of you guys and checking in.
I remember going to my new moms group and all of us were sitting there with our leaky boobs and our red-rimmed eyes with our intensity focused on our little bundles of “joy” and we all wanted to do everything right and the older woman who ran the group said, “Just relax!” and we all thought, “How can we possibly relax?!” and she said, “Well, for starters, forget about the ‘shoulds’ — whenever you hear that word, from yourself or someone else, as in “He should be sleeping more or less” or “I should be more together,” etc., just kindly turn a deaf ear and give yourself some time and focus on what is happening right now.”
It was great advice. I often try to banish “should” thinking from my life, as it brings a lot of stress with it.
Also, I wanted to tell you that in the breastfeeding course I took (I took a six-day training course to become a lactation consultant), I learned that babies don’t start consolidating sleep or other activities until about four months of age. This means that these little ones are often completely erratic and very changeable (and thus very hard to “predict.”)
So I guess I am trying to say that feeling disoriented is normal under the circumstances, and to please remember to be easy on yourself… you say you “timed it wrong” and that you chose the “wrong” bathroom, but try to remember that you (and your hubby and Jonah) are all doing the best you can! And that things will start to clear up sometime… soon-ish.
And then you will be better able to listen to your intuition, which is almost always the best answer to anything, any time, in my opinion.
Stacy’s last blog post..Wellness Wednesday: Water