After I gave birth, we (all three of us) were fortunate enough to be able to spend two days at the local Birth Centre (i.e. 4 star hotel with midwives). It was a wonderful way to get the hang of things (ha!) and to spend some time with our wee dude. After those two days, we drove nervously home on a heinously rainy day, and got ready to start "life with baby".
Two and a half weeks later, here I am. Still alive, still functioning (thank god). On the spectrum of babies, with one being "perfect, textbook, angel child" and ten being "screams all day every day and doesn't sleep", our Chip is about a 5, maybe a 6. He likes to eat more frequently than most other babies (if you've heard of "cluster feeding", it's what my boy does all day), and he's got a healthy pair of lungs. He's not great at putting himself to sleep, and during the day he's not all that keen on going to sleep at all.
So, basically- he's a newborn, though from what I can tell, there are newborns out there who are a lot nicer to their parents, and make it easier for their mums to get out and about during the day. Seriously, the other babies at coffee group sleeps in their carseats, wake politely for feeding, burp easily, then go back to sleep, while Chip arrives, wakes up, screeches, insists on being fed again, looks around contentedly for a little, screeches, spits up, pretends to be ready to sleep, screeches and asks for food! Having said that , we usually get one good sleep during the day which gives me some time to do things (though this has been getting harder and harder recently), and at least two 2-3 hour stretches at night, so I realise my current complaining rights are lower than many (*knock wood*)!
We're both totally infatuated- especially Phil (I think it's easier to be smitten when you spend the nights asleep and most of the day somewhere other than stuck to the couch). We're convinced that our baby is a genius (...who just can't get the hang of "close eyes... be asleep"), and we spend a lot of time marvelling at his cuteness, and at his neck strength (... I have to confess, I was a little gutted when I found out some of the other babies were rolling over already!) He's not quite at the stage where he's really growing and changing every day or week- he's still very much a baby, but we are seeing peeks of his personality- and his "I want to eat NOW" faces and gestures just kill me!
I recovered pretty quickly from the birth- I like to think my fitness contributed to that, but really, it was probably luck, but have really struggled to get out of the house much with baby in tow, so am feeling pretty lumpy and sluggish. Early on, I could get Chip into the pram and out the door for a walk, but at the moment he's not sleeping enough for me to risk waking him, and I'm still a bit nervous of being caught even 10 minutes from home with a screamer! The last couple of days,we've ventured out for 20-30 minutes with Chip in my stretchy wrap. Unfortunately, it seems a bit too warm for that still, and he's not quite ready for the mei tai carrier yet. It's also difficult for me to get a baby break, given his feeding non-schedule- I can't just leave him with Phil, as he'll almost certainly want to eat as soon as I leave! Plus, as Phil is being really great during the nights and during his non-working hours, I want to make sure he doesn't lose all of his workout time, especially since he's the one with a world champs to train for! The whole non-schedule thing is also making it a bit tougher to figure out how to express so that Phil can take care of him, but we'll get there eventually! That was basically a very long way of saying I've been for about 4 20 minute long walks in the past 3 weeks, and the couch is now molded to my back and backside!
I'm feeling the urge to run- or jog, at least. I tried a few steps for kicks during my one baby break so far. I found that my legs felt weird and heavy, that my natural pace was slooow (8.5kph), and that I need a new sports bra! I'm hoping to get a couple of baby breaks per week to get out for walks- and, once I'm cleared to exercise, little runs too. And that will just have to do for now.
Right- sounds like Mr Eatalot is waking... again. If you need me, I'll be on the couch.
7 comments:
You're right our guys sound just alike! And you're so right about the getting sleep and not stuck to the couch thing. ;)
So good to hear about Chip/Toby and how you're doing. I hope he moves closer to the 2-3 rating soon ;) until then keep up the good work.
Ahhhhh my first baby was a daytime non-sleeper, if I learnt anything from the experience (and sorry, I KNOW you've probably had every possible bit of advice and maybe don't want more ;)) ... is that some babies just aren't sleepers and I wasted a lot of time and frustration trying to make him sleep because i believed that is what babies did, I ended up spending a lot of time with him in a little bouncy seat with my foot on it bouncing him, which seemed to keep him happy. My mother very wisely told me that very awake babies like that are showing how intelligent they are (still not sure if she was just trying to make me feel better or whether it was true - although he's 20yo now and studying for a statistics/economics degree!).
I'd love to read the birth story (I'm a sucker for them) beckfamily@paradise.net.nz ... and of course, BIG congratulations!
it sounds like you're doing an amazing job with a feisty little one :) love the updates!!! and don't worry about the couch - you'll get off of it soon enough!
i've heard the 6 week mark can be magical . . .
You are doing a great job mama!!! That's so great that you are feeling the urge to jog/run. I am feeling that now but not going with it :). My sister had a screamer on her hands and would just stroll around the neighborhood anyways.
Yay babies! Sounds like you and your little guy are getting along pretty well for only being a few weeks in. Can't wait to hear how things progress!
How wonderful that you're already feeling the need for speed :) I hope Chip starts to give you a bit of a break soon and you can get a little more time for relaxing and doing the things you really want to do!
Post a Comment