A called and said that it seemed, from my blog, everything was going smoother. That, in general, we seemed to be getting he hang of things and adjusting well.
I wouldn't say "smoother". I do think we are adjusting, however. Adjusting to operating on 3-4 collective hours of sleep a night, no longer being able to stick to one activity for over an hour, waking up earlier than the rest of the world because baby is WIDE AWAKE, tolerating endless hours of non-stop screaming following multiple pacifier drops, poop stripes that seep onto onesies (and you), and striping off one outfit a day due to projectile spit-ups.
Take the last 24 hours, for example:
Wake up at 6:15AM to Evie being hungry. Feed her and try to coax her back to bed just so mommy & daddy can walk amoungst the living after a horrible ALL NIGHT LONG crying fit. (Brief backstory: She had finally settled around 3AM and the 3 hours of sleep last night wasn't cutting it for us.) She did eventually go back to sleep and I woke up at 8:15AM to get ready for a "crafty brunch" at K's house.
I showered and got on make-up before the next feeding. Fed the baby again (and then pumped because I am desperately trying to create a 3oz bottle to freeze for emergency back-up & for when I return to work). Grabbed her baby book (this will have to be my "craft" at today's brunch), reloaded the diaper bag, got Evie in the carry case, grabbed some fruit I had bought for the brunch, load the car and... we're off! It is now 10:48AM. It took me nearly 3 hours to get our sh*t together.
Spent 3 and a half hours at K's. We ate once while there and we are ready for another feeding when mom decides to leave. We pooped twice and wouldn't really settle down unless held by mom. We are cute and interactive for a brief window and everything is OK (I never even opened the baby book).
Home at 2:45PM to eat and sleep. Mom naps at 4PM after fussy baby fights sleep for half an hour.
Mom wakes up at 5:15PM to make dinner, eat, and feed dogs. Baby is up at 6:30PM to eat. Feed baby. Baby is wide awake and doesn't like being idle... at all. So, we go for a walk with her in a baby carrier strapped to dad while Betty takes mom for a walk.
Storm ensues and we get home by 7:15PM.
Baby is awake after dozing on the walk. And she is... pissy. Not fussy, pissy. Time somehow elapses until 8PM when the Steelers are on... and baby is really starting up by now. I try feeding her again, this helps. But then she starts again. Dad tries consoling her while watching the game. This, doesn't a happy baby make.
By 9PM, I take Evie to the bedroom where I settle her on the bed with one dim light and no other stimulation. She cries non-stop. By 9:20PM, I try nursing her, AGAIN. This helps but then we start in with the crying, again. There's crying in between all the pacifier drops (this is like, every 10 minutes or so). Her cries aren't whimpers either. They are all out "wahs!"
By 10:30PM, mom is pissed off, too, and lets the baby scream. This, doesn't work, and begins to irritate mom. Mom sticks the pacifier in her mouth (baby sobs while sucking feverishly) and mom rocks the car seat (her bed since her "acid reflux" diagnosis) for 15 minutes. Baby sleeps. Mom stops rocking. Baby spits out pacifier and "WAHs!!!!" God. Dammit.
Mom whips out a boob - its her last defense and baby acts like she hasn't eaten in DAYS (again, its been 1 hour. The same time duration between the last 4 feedings. I have nothing but dust to offer at this point).
Evie sucks maybe 5X's in a minute... and is out cold. What... the... hell... is this? I leap for the lamp and go to sleep, too. I don't even bother telling Rob (who's on the couch). He's just going to miss out on sleep - not my fault.
Evie acually "sleeps" - she wakes 4 hours later for a feeding and then 4 hours again after that. Who-hoo!
BUT, when mom feeds baby at 6:15AM this morning (sitting up in bed propped up against her two bed pillows), Evie BLEECHS! all down the back of mom... onto her shirt, shorts, both pillows and yes, the bed. God. Dammit.
So much for "sleeping in" to make up for last nights all night long belly-aching.
Mom puts on her trainers and hikes around the neighborhood with the stroller for over an hour instead.
Another day has begun...
3 comments:
Holy shit! You poor woman. I remember those days (with glaring clarity after reading that post!) - hang in there, you're doing awesome. And NOT in the spirit of gloating at all but more to give hope and light at end of tunnels - Ivy now sleeps 10-12 hours straight every night and only needs fed every four hours, and MOSTly doesn't cry for no reason. And she was pure horror at Evie's age! It feels like forever, but you are only months away from good sleep again! Okay, that didn't sound so "light at end of tunnel"-y...but you know what I'm trying to say...actually, I don't know what I'm trying to say...I think I got brain damage from the incessant crying and lack of sleep in the beginning....
OH! Something that really helped with Ivy when she was wailing at that age that was completely counter-intuitive but worked was playing a white noise sound (we used "The Happiest Baby on the Block" soundtrack (it ROCKS!! um, not really..) the hairdryer or the rain sound - downloaded it onto the IPOD to play repeating). You have to play it very loud at first - it was weird, Ivy would just snap out of crying, turn her head to the side, and fall asleep (so by weird I mean magical) - and then if we felt brave we'd turn down the noise some so as not to permanently damage her hearing (until she goes to shows/concerts and does it herself later). Maybe it will help - it definately gave us some breaks/sleep - although I now have this recurring nightmare about being chased by a hairdresser...
God Speed!
Meg
10-12 hours a night? (I can hear the angels' chorus hymn, "ahhhhh--hhh-hhh!!!!!"). I don't know what I would do with that kind of sleep-time. I mean, I would, first of all, totally forget we HAVE a baby and probably leave to go out to dinner & a bar... leaving her unattended in her room... only to return late at night and sleep in past (*gasp*!) 6AM.
We received MANY ideas for putting Evie to sleep (yikes, that sounds a little too much like euthanasia ... we aren't quite there, yet).
I've heard the swing, white noise, vibrating anything (crib mattress or chairs), car rides and letting her sleep on your chest.
I still keep worrying that if any of these ideas DO work we'll be setting us up for disaster (like she'll ALWAYS have to have a magic vibrating bed to fall asleep). But maybe I need to let go of these notions cause they are holding me back?
Of course ya gotta go with what seems right to you. I will add that there are nights where Ivy doesn't really need the noise at all, so I'm fairly certain we aren't dooming her to a life dependent on sound machines. What I'm REALLY sure of is that our whole house is much happier when EVERYONE gets their fair share of shut-eye.
Actually Jay, this time.
Oh, and it seems Ivy HAS found her thumb after all! Only took her a little over 8 months...
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