Just wanted to write a quick post to say (if you haven't heard), that our baby girl was born on January 10th. Her name is Magdalena, and she weighed 8 lbs. 15.5 oz, and was 22 inches long. We are all doing well, thank God, and have been enjoying the help and company of Daniel's mom for this whole week. I plan on posting our "birth story" soon, but have not had a chance to sit down and put my thoughts together. I am pretty sleep-deprived at this point, and have not gotten into the habit of napping during the day like I know I should be. I would love to hear pointers from you moms out there on ways you coped with the lack of sleep. Also, if any of you had babies that didn't like sleeping without being held, how did you deal with that?
Being a mom is wonderful, though I know it will be the greatest challenge and blessing of my life. At this point, I'm trying to fight the temptation to get discouraged, compare myself to others, and wondering if I'm doing things the "wrong way" all the time. Oh well, we live and learn one day at a time.
That's all for now....I will write more about the baby soon, I promise :) THanks so much for all of your prayers and encouragement for our family!
Being a mom is wonderful, though I know it will be the greatest challenge and blessing of my life. At this point, I'm trying to fight the temptation to get discouraged, compare myself to others, and wondering if I'm doing things the "wrong way" all the time. Oh well, we live and learn one day at a time.
That's all for now....I will write more about the baby soon, I promise :) THanks so much for all of your prayers and encouragement for our family!
11 comments:
Christy,
I don't know you, but I've known Daniel for a long, long time. He'll know who I am.
Motherhood? You have questions, concerns...let me tell you something. There is no greater gift from God than to be a parent. Kim and I have a daughter and let me tell you (and Dan) that it is the most REWARDING life event ever. My advice? Love, love, and more love. You guys can do it. You've gotten this far, and you can both go even farther.
Say hi to Jean for me. She's a blessing for sure.
Congratulations! :)
There were times when I would wear baby in the pocket sling, and then doze sitting up in a cushy chair. That way she still felt like she was being held & snuggled, but once she dozed off, I was able to sit down, and not be constantly walking/bouncing her.
Welcome, little one!
Blessings,
Michele
Oh-hhh- I LOVE the picture- Maggie has changed already this week!!
Happy One week old birthday on Saturday morning- I am SO THANKFUL we were there for her first Birthday Breath from God! What a miracle!!
I wish I could be there to help you - but I am so very thankful for Jean and all the support and help she has given you.
Love to you all!
Marm
I remember thinking "so this is what exhaustion feels like" - it is very hard but I think that wearing the baby helps immensely (and we didn't do it, but I would if I had another one) and really, you do need to nap when you can.
Congratulations Daniel and Christy! Maggie is so beautiful! Christy, basically you just get used to being sleep-deprived.:) Seriously. There is no answer. It feels like torture at first, but it does get better day by day and you just don't remember what a full night's sleep was like.:) I do recommend trying to sleep during the day though as much as you can. One thing we did with Bridget(which is probably not recommended) is she slept in her car seat for probably the first 3 months because she was so cozy and tight in it. That really helped her. Also if you have one of those vibrating chairs she LOVED that and would sleep in it all the time. I know you WANT to hold her all the time when she sleeps (at least I did), but you have to take advantage of her sleeping so that you can nap.
Hope any of this helps!
If she falls asleep in your arms or in a sling/carrier, try to put her in something else (my sister is putting her baby in the bouncy seat). And then you take a nap, too. dont' worry/think about housework, dinner, etc. for now. there will be time for that. you will become a queen at catnaps and power naps. go to bed at the same time maggie does, even if it is 7:30pm. just do it. then you will get a little bit of rest before the next feeding. And remember to let dad hold her, too. right now you are in recovery time from the birth. let your body heal and the best way to do that is to rest as much as you can. because then you have a second baby and then you are never able to rest (because your first demands time/attention):)
Hello Christy (and Daniel and Magdalina!) What a beautiful photo! We were so excited to be 'in' on the process of little Magdalina's birth...by texting of course :)
With my dk, I found that napping for 20 minutes when they napped helped with the sleep deprived feelings, going to bed early did too...As far as them not sleeping, you have some great suggestion from others. I also had the crib by the bed or even had baby in bed...the family bed! Daniel and you will find a rhythm!
God bless all of you-Daniel's mom too.
Love Aunt Helen
Christy!
What an amazing photo of you! I am going to try to get that printed and framed!!!
We've already spoken, of course, about all of this....have you tried the swing?
I just think it's funny...little Maggie didn't want to leave you and now she still doesn't!!! Soon enough they will learn to sleep independently but right now, let Jean pamper you and just sleep when Maggie sleeps. You will be refreshed even if it's just a little bit of sleep.
I totally agree with Rachel, though. You do have to get used to it!!!
Love you and can't wait to see you! Happy 1 week birthday Maggie!
Love,
Carrie your big sis
Hi Christy!
Theres really no way to deal with sleep deprivation. You just have to kind of except it. Just don't worry about anything else, and let people help you. Thats one mistake I made, I did not have anyone around to help me, and I tried to do too much, and did not get out enough. I got very depressed. I know if I had been around people and did not feel like I had to do everything, and did not feel so isolated it would have helped. Of course no sleeping makes depression worse too.
When Jessica was a baby she would only sleep when we held her as well. The thing that really help is we had one of those battery operated baby swings. It was a life saver. Thats where ended up sleeping for like the fist 6 months of her life. another thing that helped was putting her in her car seat and putting it in the bathroom and letting the water run. She would fall asleep instantly. As soon as we turned the water off she would wake up again. So maybe a less wasteful thing to do would be get a noise machine
Hope that helps!
Congratulations!!!
I think one down side to having a 'big' baby (DD was 9 lbs, 10 oz) is that they are heavy to carry around!! ditto on the sling advice.
You get used to the exhaustion in a funny way: you will still be tired, but if you ever get more than 2 hours of sleep you ca feel incredibly refreshed!
I don't want to repeat any comments I made when you initially asked for advice, but I'll add that all new moms (dads, too?) can feel incredibly frustrated and upset at times. I don't know anyone who hasn't a "complete" breakdown now and then. It doesn't make you a bad mom or mean you don't love your baby, it just means you're exhausted beyond belief.
When that happens, blow your nose, make your cross, and beg Panagia to help and strengthen you. I guarantee she will :)
These first few weeks are the roughest. Before long, you'll be nursing in your sleep without thinking about it. Just remember to stop and take care of yourself! If you aren't being cared for, you cannot take care of your darling baby.
It helped me to lay Caitlin down in her bassinet, swaddled tightly, with her pacifier and I jiggled her or the bassinet until she drifted to sleep. You could also use a wedge to help her sleep on her side. I also was a fan of the vibrating baby seat. I could always count on that to help her go to sleep if I needed. Take care, Christy. It gets better!
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