A day in the life...

Just trying to keep it real. I feel like lots of blogs paint people's lives as if they are nothing but rainbows and sunshine, but life with a newborn is often nothing of the sort. Now, I'm not complaining at all, and Charlie is actually sleeping better at night than I think the other two did at this stage, so everything is good. However, there are some things that people forget about when dreaming of having a new baby. I will touch on just a few of these with this post.

Sleep like a baby?? What an ironic statement. Guessing what will help your newborn sleep through the night is what drives most new mom's thought process.

What can I do to get 5 more minutes of sleep out of this child. Maybe if I swaddle him like this, or if I mix formula with his breastmilk at night, or maybe if I lay him on his side just a tiny little bit, or maybe he needs a sound machine for some white noise...and these are just a fraction of the ideas I've had throughout having 3 little newborns in the last 4 years. I behave like there is some little trick that will magically click and the baby will sleep 4 hours straight with no interruption between feedings. Lets be honest, this rarely ever happens. At least not for the first several weeks anyway. So if you are about to have a baby or know someone who is, keep this in mind. Sleep deprivation on top of the worries a newborn brings can turn the most sane person into a complete nut job. Cut us some slack.

Secondly, there is the excitement of feeding a newborn baby...another exciting guessing game. If you are breastfeeding, you wonder, is the baby getting enough? Has your milk come in? Should I pump? How often should I nurse? Why does the baby want to nurse every hour on the hour? How do I discreetly nurse a baby who isn't even that good at it yet when I have a house full of visitors who don't seem to get the idea that I might need some privacy? ( no offense to anyone) Then, even if you aren't breastfeeding, which formula should you use?



As you can see, I have chosen to pump breastmilk instead of actually nursing him because to put it nicely, Charlie has the suck of a Hoover vacuum cleaner and he was literally killing me. It was excruciating and by day 3 I was almost in tears at feeding time. Thankfully, I have a great pump so it wasn't an issue and things have been going great ever since, but still there are worries. How often should I pump? Am I storing my breastmilk properly? What if I need to feed him formula and he is only used to eating breastmilk? Will he go on a hunger strike? Not to mention I am pumping for 15 minutes at a time 6-8 times a day, including two pumps in the middle of the night(gotta love that)...So it is very time consuming( but totally worth it, especially in light of the recent swine flu epidemic and winter fast approaching, and 2 big brothers in preschool and a mom in the medical field). Anyway, On a bright note, breastfeeding experts say to expect to get anywhere from 24-28 ounces a day by the 2 week mark and I, Bessie the Dairy Cow, am getting around 60 ounces in a 24 hour period. So as previously shown in the pictures, our refrigerator and freezer is quickly filling up with breastmilk. I am about to transfer some to my moms deep freezer. Moving right along...

Next issue. Which bottles to use, which pacifier to use, which formula to use. What if my baby is a spitter? How much spit up is too much? Should I take him to the doctor? Is he gaining enough weight? Thankfully none of mine have been spitters, but I have a niece who had terrible reflux and I know it was incredibly stressful for her parents. So throw that worry into the mix!

Next, adjustment to new baby life. My lonely husband curled up in our giant empty bed because Charlie and I sleep on the couch downstairs. All of our bedrooms are within 10 feet of each other which is ideal once the baby gets into his own crib, but until that time arrives, we are shacking up in the den so his cries in the night don't wake the older boys. So, hopefully your baby-daddy adjusts as easily to this as Mikey has (keep in mind this is his 3rd rodeo so he's has lots of practice). The adjustment didn't go as smoothly the first time around and we had our share of fights until Huett started sleeping through the night. 2 young inexperienced parents + new marriage + new house +new baby= 2 grouchy parents. But like I say we quickly adjusted and it came oh so much easier with Sam and Charlie, so moms to be, keep this in mind and react to your husband accordingly. Like my mom told me, men just don't do that great with newborns. Mikey does great with Charlie now, but I think it is because he is so bonded with our older two that he can better relate to Charlie since he knows where their relationship is headed. And it is my opinion...and if you disagree, just don't let your hubby read this, ...that there is really no need for both parents to be up in the middle of the night. If I am already up, there really is nothing for Mikey to do with us, but go without sleep and be needlessly tired for work, or to help me the next day and vice versa. If he is up with the baby, there is no reason for me to be up too. That's just me though so take it with a grain of salt. If anything, do shifts where your husband gets up the first half of the night and you get up the second half so both of you can get at least 6 hours of interrupted sleep(that is unless you have to get up and pump)

this is where Charlie and I are sleeping. We have a giant sectional and I sleep on the couch and Charlie sleeps on the chaisse(sp?) lounge that sticks out. It actually works out really well because it is on the very end of the house away from the boys bedrooms. And it's a pretty comfy couch.

This is one of my fave things that I never had with the other boys that I don't know how I ever did without. My wonderful sister-in-law bought it for me and it is one-stop-shopping for everything I need for Charlie. Still, I wonder am I using the gentlest wipes? Are these diapers going to work well? Will he get diaper rash? If so, which cream should I use(I hate the smell of desitin so I have just started trying balmex...the jury is still out on that, but so far, so good...don't try the up and up cream from target. It is runny and it didn't work) Anyway, you see the rubbing alcohol for his umbilical cord which can get infected if not properly taken care of and I have seen an infected belly button a few times at work and let me tell ya, it ain't pretty.
So yet another worry...

I didn't write this post to freak anyone out, or to throw myself a pity party, I just think it would've been nice to know a few of these things before I had Huett, but no. In my head it was all unicorns and butterflies and that just made the adjustment 10 times worse! And I should've known b/c the in the 5 1/2 years that I've been a nurse, I've never done anything but newborn babies. So imagine the shock for a new mom who doesn't even have that experience.

But let me conclude this post by reminding everyone I love this baby, and my other babies so strongly that it wouldn't matter if you told me I could never sleep again, I would agree to it because they are so worth it. Even at 2:00 in the morning, when I am bleary eyed and half-asleep, I am so in love with this baby that I am happy to get up and feed him and hold him until he goes back to sleep. His health and happiness is so important that I will gladly pump breastmilk for hours everyday if I think it will keep my baby safe. And if our family isn't proof of that fact, considering we purposefully did this 3 times in a row in a 4 year span, I don't know what is. How quickly we forget the pains of childbirth and newborn babies...