There's a lot that involves being a mom. Most people get the impression that a stay at home housewife and mother sits around in their pajamas all day eating ice cream and watching cartoons with the kids...and you know what...I WAS in my pjs until about 3... I ate the last delicious ice cream drumstick...and I watched the five hour long version of Pride and Prejudice. Yep, being a mommy does have these benefits, but I just think of these as necessary awards for being awesome and to keep us from going INSANE. What people don't know, except all you other moms out there, is that in between that bit of ice cream and movie we are scrambling around trying to find the time to pee and eat an entire meal before baby starts screaming and requires our attention. Let me put it this way, I have a pile of clean clothes on the floor and the kitchen is a mess because little Miss Savannah doesn't think Mommy needs to do anything except hold her and admire her pretty face. Which I do like all the time.
Here's a few things that baby is teaching me.
1. Get sleep whenever you can
2. When you have the option to clean or to sleep...well, do I have to finish that?
3. Savannah now rules the house. Her schedule is our schedule. We do what she wants...or else
4. Early bedtime equals happy Mommy
5. Eating salad is a no no. It results in icky green poop and a very fussy baby
As a new mommy, I'm still trying to get into the rhythm of things. Luckily, I have a cousin who has a daughter a week younger than Savannah and we can bounce ideas off of each other. One recent pearl is that she puts her Laila to bed around seven which helps her sleep better and longer at night. This is something we've been trying to do. Some days it works, some days, like today, it simply doesn't. Right now our little girl is being rocked by Bryce and she is doing her best to be as fussy as possible. She slept for maybe an hour all together, woke up twice, and is now crying. I literally want to yell out "When is it going to get better?!" Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing anything right at all.
I guess what I'm saying is, being a mom is HARD! I now understand why my mom used to say she was going to pull her hair out. I feel like that every. single. day. Everybody says it all gets so much easier at 3 months...and oh boy am I looking forward to 3 months.
Meet my three best friends:
These three items are alternated throughout the day, and sometimes are given all at the same time! The Zantac helps with her acid reflux, the gas drops are for, well, gas, and the gripe water is just my own personal life saver. Basically gets her to stop crying long enough to forget what she was crying about. Too bad there's nothing that I can take to make me feel better....oh yeah, it's called chocolate. (feel free to send some my way anytime you'd like). Most people make parenting seem so easy! But I'm going to go ahead and admit that it's a struggle. It's a constant emotional roller coaster and I can go from wanting to cry and scream at Savannah to be quiet to kissing her cheeks and feeling unimaginable joy within minutes. Now that's exhausting. It's even worse than PMS because you don't have the option to go into your room all day by yourself with a good book and forget about the world.
Don't get me wrong, I love my baby girl. She is the cutest thing I have ever seen and my greatest accomplishment. It's simply that we are both still learning...she's learning how to do things other than cry...and me learning how to get her to not cry. So here's the deal, I would like some advice from you sage mothers on a few topics:
1. What worked best for you at bedtime with your little babies?
2. How often did your babies nurse?
3. How did you keep your sanity?
4. Did your babies cry a lot...if so, what did you do?
Feel free to comment and share your experiences...you will be helping a new mommy figure things out! Thanks in advance...and go ahead and send a few prayers our way!!
