Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Week 3- Lessons learned so far

(My nieces came to visit Brayden this past weekend)

Whew!
Being a parent is no joke. I've already learned some things about this new phase in our lives.

1. Never say "Never." I told myself that I'd "Never" use Formula, strictly Breast Milk. THat was until Brayden sucked me dry last week and all of a sudden had some growth spurt that caused me to buckle and get some Similac and add it to the breast milk. Breast feeding has still been challanging. Now I can understand why lots of women give up on it. It's laborious. And when your child chomps on your nipple, you litterally feel like someone took a nail clipper and snipped the tip off (OUCH!!! I know, but I needed to give you something to compare it to.) Then after the pain and I finally rip him off, my nipple looks like a pressed Panini!

Another "Never" I buckled to was "The Binkie." Yes the pacifier. I vowed to never use it because I felt that it might cause my child to be dependant on it. Plus they (books I've read) say that it's bad for mothers who are trying to breast feed. Well that flew out the window when I woke up many times to Brayden crying as if he was being murdered. And warming a bottle or trying to get him to latch takes a while.
He's also puked many times when I thought he was still hungry and ended up projectile vomiting. Was he full and just wanted to be pacified? I don't know. But I remember walking down the isle of Target where the "Binkies" were displayed, and really struggled with the decision. I now use it when I'm warming up a bottle. But I've also used it when I've needed a break from him and need to eat myself.





















2. Just because he cries doesn't mean he's hungry. I've had one too many projectile vomiting episodes to learn this valuable lesson. I now know to pick him up, sing to him, bounce him, talk to him, and/or change his diaper. Most of the time if nothing else works, he's usually hungry, or he just wants me to get up and walk around with him.

3. Sleep when he sleeps. It took me a while to learn this valuable lesson (yes, I'm stubborn as a mule, ask Nathan). I now take naps once during the day when Brayden falls asleep. It definitely helps when I have to take over baby duty after Nathan's shift at 2a.m.

4. Snack whenever you can. Cause eating a nice warm meal just won't happen unless someone's helping you. I have my fridge stocked with yogurt, cheese sticks, fruit. Cubbards stocked with Cheezits, chocolate animal crackers, instant oatmeal and applesauce.

This list will grow to infinite numbers I'm sure. :-)



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi!

I am glad you are taking every day as a learning opportunity and rolling with the punches!

Your son looks beautiful!

Lindsay said...

You sound like you're doing terrific, and Brayden is certainly a lucky little man to have you for a mom. :)