Monday, March 19, 2012

TEN WEEK REVIEW: Not As Advertised.

Lets be honest. I thought this was going to be easier.

Whenever I saw new moms, they looked so peaceful.
Their newborns were sleeping. Quiet.
Sometimes they'd wake up, smile, stare into your eyes.

The "newborns" on TV were are all smiley. Quiet.
The TV parents can take their kids out in public.

After 13 minutes of pushing, my baby boy was born screaming. (Apgar score bonus).
He was quiet when they put him in my arms. He cooed a bit, and I loved him immediately.
The second the nurses left him with my husband and I.... I think we were in the hospital with a screaming baby for 2-days straight. I don't know why they let us leave. Clearly, we weren't getting it.

10 weeks in, my baby still cries a lot. I've dealt with it by working around his sleep schedule.
Bottles are made in advance. He wakes up, I feed him.
If he catches me unprepared, I breastfeed.
If he's not hungry, I change his diaper. After both of these have been completed, I carry him around.
I talk. He now babbles with me. When he falls asleep, we repeat.

I started it with an Itzbeen baby timer right home from the hospital. It was useless. The flashing red lights and the screaming baby drove me nuts. I ended up using Baby ESP on my cell phone. The program has saved my life. My husband and I can take turns caring for our crying child, sync our phones, and eliminate the need for misinterpreted sleep babble.

It's more exhausting than I could have ever imagined. Motherhood is better than I'd expected it to be. When my son smiles-- It's a happiness I've never experienced before.