Saturday, March 19, 2016
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Raising a newborn.
sometimes i think i should have been a mom thirty years ago. life was simpler. less stressful. no social media. no Facebook mom groups. no research articles at the tip of my fingers. moms went on instinct.
raising a newborn now a days is tough. i never considered myself an anxious person (although tim may think differently especially when i am a passenger while he is driving). however, so many things i want to do with my newborn goes against all research and i am too much of a nervous nelly to break the rules.
landon was put in his crib the day he came home. he had no problem sleeping long stretches and going back down to sleep after feedings. when i brought nolan home, i assumed he would be the same way. i placed him in his crib the night i brought him home... but he fussed and fussed. i thought nothing of it since it was his first day home and continued to put him in his crib for the next three weeks. it took hours for him to settle and fall asleep after each night feeding. very little sleep was occurring. finally i decided to put him to sleep in a rock and play at bedtime. it was the answer to everything. he started to sleep solid four hour chunks and had no problem going back to sleep after feedings.
as weeks went on, i continued to watch nolan's sleeping habits. i constantly laid him on his back to sleep only for him to wake up five minutes later. i was concerned about a flat head with the rock and play so decided to put him on his tummy to nap during the day. he slept amazingly. this is when i realized that nolan is a tummy sleeper. i know what research says about putting babies to sleep on their tummies. it completely frightens me. landon was a back sleeper and still is to this day. he got to sleep comfortably from day one. nolan is a tummy sleeper and i can't let him sleep the way he is the most comfortable.
so as much as my mommy instinct is telling me to let my little guy sleep on his tummy, i will listen to the research. i will listen to social media. i will listen to mom groups. because i am a nervous nelly. and frightened of possible outcomes.
i am thankful for all the research, but life just isn't as simple to raise a newborn as it was 30 years ago.
raising a newborn now a days is tough. i never considered myself an anxious person (although tim may think differently especially when i am a passenger while he is driving). however, so many things i want to do with my newborn goes against all research and i am too much of a nervous nelly to break the rules.
landon was put in his crib the day he came home. he had no problem sleeping long stretches and going back down to sleep after feedings. when i brought nolan home, i assumed he would be the same way. i placed him in his crib the night i brought him home... but he fussed and fussed. i thought nothing of it since it was his first day home and continued to put him in his crib for the next three weeks. it took hours for him to settle and fall asleep after each night feeding. very little sleep was occurring. finally i decided to put him to sleep in a rock and play at bedtime. it was the answer to everything. he started to sleep solid four hour chunks and had no problem going back to sleep after feedings.
as weeks went on, i continued to watch nolan's sleeping habits. i constantly laid him on his back to sleep only for him to wake up five minutes later. i was concerned about a flat head with the rock and play so decided to put him on his tummy to nap during the day. he slept amazingly. this is when i realized that nolan is a tummy sleeper. i know what research says about putting babies to sleep on their tummies. it completely frightens me. landon was a back sleeper and still is to this day. he got to sleep comfortably from day one. nolan is a tummy sleeper and i can't let him sleep the way he is the most comfortable.
so as much as my mommy instinct is telling me to let my little guy sleep on his tummy, i will listen to the research. i will listen to social media. i will listen to mom groups. because i am a nervous nelly. and frightened of possible outcomes.
i am thankful for all the research, but life just isn't as simple to raise a newborn as it was 30 years ago.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Momfriends.
i have always had good girlfriends in my life. when i was in high school, it was lynda, becky, lauren and allison. when i was in college, it was kristen and jen. they always made life more fun. we had countless sleepovers. many coffee dates. girls' nights out. and of course oodles of bus rides to track and cross country meets.
as i grew older, those friendships changed. some of my good friends growing up went different paths. however, i am so thankful for the time we spent together and the memories we made.
when i became a mom, my life changed. and my relationships with friends changed too. coffee dates were no longer my girlfriend and i talking about jobs, boys, and our futures. coffee dates were now entertaining a toddler with cheese sticks and rocking a fussy newborn in a carrier all while ripping open sugar packets one handed and flagging down the waitress for as many refills as we could before all heck breaks loose.
many of my girlfriends are moms. i have been so fortunate to be able to meet with many momfriends over the past couple of weeks. and the one thing i realized is that we all pretty much feel the same exact way. we have so much in common.
on saturday i got together with a momfriend and her family. we ordered some take out and usually the husbands pick up the food while we stay home and watch the four kids under 4. however, my friend's husband jokingly said that we could pick up the food and let me tell you... we jumped on it so fast, that he never had the chance to say he was kidding!
jackie and i ran to the car. we drove out of the driveway in complete silence. we took deep breaths, looked at each other and chuckled at the fact that the chinese place was only three minutes away. we took the long way through the parking lot and parked the car. in front of us was the most amazing thing ever...
this sign meant we could park here for fifteen minutes!!! it was giving us permission to take a fifteen minute break. a mom-break! we sat, chatted, and laughed in a quiet car. no one was asking for an iPhone. no one dropped something and begging us to try and pick it up in the backseat. no one was whining about being hungry. we enjoyed our fifteen minutes, ran in the restaurant, grabbed the food and drove (slowly) back to her house.
once we arrived home, the husbands were on the couch entertaining the four kids the best they could. some were running. some were throwing. some were crying. but they were all alive and happy!
we definitely loved our fifteen minute parking break... and i think there should be more of these signs hanging around for momfriends to have a mom-break...because we totally earn them!
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Transition to two.
i've heard mixed reviews about what is more difficult... going from 0 children to 1 child. or 1 child to 2 children. it has been almost seven weeks since nolan has come along so i am still a rookie at this two kid thing (especially because he is not mobile!), but i can honestly say that going from 1 to 2 was a much easier transition on my life than having no children and going to 1.
now there are a few factors that may have made the transition easier to two. one of which being the age gap. landon is 3.5 and very independent. i am not kidding you when i tell you that the kid can play for HOURS at the kitchen table with play doh. it also helps that he is a good listener and sticks with me like glue if we are out and about. he is a pretty easy kid.
(Knock on wood) Landon has always been a pretty easy toddler/preschooler... but he was a very difficult newborn. he cried all day long, every day for the first three months of his life. and after switching formulas, giving him zantac for reflux, and just growing bigger, he finally became a happy baby. i think having a colic baby as your first is a very hard transition into motherhood.
nolan has been a very easy baby. tim and i joke that if nolan was our first, we wouldn't have waited so long to have another. tim and i assumed all babies scream their faces off for the first three months of life. we waited for nolan to do this. days and eventually weeks went by and we have yet to have a screaming newborn. i was so concerned about him not crying that i googled "quiet baby normal" to make sure nolan was okay! he will only cry when he is hungry and tired. i guess this is more the "norm" than what we had with landon.
so after seven weeks, transitioning to two has been great. sure, i now lug around twice as much stuff, but my life doesn't feel nearly as flipped upside down as it did transitioning to one.
now there are a few factors that may have made the transition easier to two. one of which being the age gap. landon is 3.5 and very independent. i am not kidding you when i tell you that the kid can play for HOURS at the kitchen table with play doh. it also helps that he is a good listener and sticks with me like glue if we are out and about. he is a pretty easy kid.
nolan has been a very easy baby. tim and i joke that if nolan was our first, we wouldn't have waited so long to have another. tim and i assumed all babies scream their faces off for the first three months of life. we waited for nolan to do this. days and eventually weeks went by and we have yet to have a screaming newborn. i was so concerned about him not crying that i googled "quiet baby normal" to make sure nolan was okay! he will only cry when he is hungry and tired. i guess this is more the "norm" than what we had with landon.
so after seven weeks, transitioning to two has been great. sure, i now lug around twice as much stuff, but my life doesn't feel nearly as flipped upside down as it did transitioning to one.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Odd "Baby" Out
Numbers. i love numbers. but not just any number. the number has to be even. like 8. or divisible by five. like 15. or divisible by another number. like 21. i also don't mind the numbers 1-9. they flow nicely.
when i was pregnant with landon, i was due may 26th. a nice even number. i remember panicking at the thought of having him on the 29th of may. or may 31st. i was hoping he would be born anywhere around those numbers. and i really didn't mind any number in the beginning of june. i hit the birthday jackpot with landon. he came on the perfect date of june 6, 2012. 6-6-12. i LOVED everything about it!! not to mention that my birthday is 6-12... it was meant to be.
when i picked the induction date of january 18th, i was thinking my labor would either be really quick and he would arrive on that date... or i would do the two day thing and he would come on the 20th of january. i was hoping we would avoid the number 19. just saying that number is difficult. it just doesn't come out of the mouth easily.
i was also banking on the 18th of january because it would be the best equation for our family. landon's birthday is the 6th. mine is the 12th. tim's is the 24th. he would have completed our perfect pattern with 18. multiples of SIX!!
as the clock neared midnight on the 18th, i knew our chance of being the perfect math family was slowly slipping away. and not only was my math dream not going to happen, he was going to be born on the 19th. an odd number. a prime number.
i have been adjusting and have accepted the 19th. how can i not, when i think of this guy every time the number leaves my mouth!
when i was pregnant with landon, i was due may 26th. a nice even number. i remember panicking at the thought of having him on the 29th of may. or may 31st. i was hoping he would be born anywhere around those numbers. and i really didn't mind any number in the beginning of june. i hit the birthday jackpot with landon. he came on the perfect date of june 6, 2012. 6-6-12. i LOVED everything about it!! not to mention that my birthday is 6-12... it was meant to be.
when i picked the induction date of january 18th, i was thinking my labor would either be really quick and he would arrive on that date... or i would do the two day thing and he would come on the 20th of january. i was hoping we would avoid the number 19. just saying that number is difficult. it just doesn't come out of the mouth easily.
i was also banking on the 18th of january because it would be the best equation for our family. landon's birthday is the 6th. mine is the 12th. tim's is the 24th. he would have completed our perfect pattern with 18. multiples of SIX!!
as the clock neared midnight on the 18th, i knew our chance of being the perfect math family was slowly slipping away. and not only was my math dream not going to happen, he was going to be born on the 19th. an odd number. a prime number.
i have been adjusting and have accepted the 19th. how can i not, when i think of this guy every time the number leaves my mouth!
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