I honestly think the first month of a baby’s life is the hardest. For me, that is. The baby is just like “Wheeee, this is fun! I’ve got magical powers that summon big humans just by screaming. I shall now make a scrunchy face to get milk!”
I, on the other hand, get to know what it feels like to be a genie.
No wonder genies are always so sullen all the time. Well, except the one in Disney’s Aladdin. That one is almost annoyingly happy and sings a lot. Then again, everyone’s happy in the Disney universe. Real genies are a lot more sulky, and understandably so.
The first month, there’s the confinement. Even though I’m not fussed about sticking to traditions, the confinement does serve a practical purpose. It’s just so much easier to be at home with the baby where I’ve got all my baby equipment and everything is nice and comfy. On the down side, I’m stuck at home all day in my milk-stained tees and crazy hair and a baby attached to my boob. Not exactly glamorous.
The breastfeeding has improved now that we’ve got a rhythm going. It still hurts though. I was feeding Finn the other day when the husband came into the room and he was like “Why are you twitching?”
“What? No, I’m not.”
“Are you turning into Harry Redknapp? (It’s an Arsenal fan joke – they call him Twitchy)
“My boobs hurt and it’s making my face twitch involuntarily ok happy?”
“I hope it’s not a permanent thing or I’m going to have to call you Twtichy.”
“Just go away.”
I hear the pain goes away after a month or two. Hopefully sooner, so I can stop twitching.
And then there’s the guess-why-I’m-screaming game. With a newborn, you never really know whey they’re crying. You think they’re hungry but after drinking for 5 minutes, they projectile vomit everywhere. It’s like playing Mastermind every time they cry to try and eliminate all the possible reasons. Are they hungry, burpy, poopy, gassy, too cold, too warm, tired, not tired, bored, over-stimulated, under-stimulated…and OMG this list isn’t even exhaustive.
6 more days till he hits the 1-month mark. When we get there, we’re going out to celebrate.
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Mine is now 2 months 2 days already and I’m still playing the guess-why-I’m-screaming game. And it’s usually in the wee hours from 1am till 5 or 6am. :(
I can’t wait till she passes the 3-month mark… Hopefully she’ll outgrow this phase…
Hang in there Daphne!
Thanks babe! :)
Hang in there! I’m very impressed by your determination to hang in there with breastfeeding despite the pain.
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Which is why I’m actually amazed you’re doing it for the 3rd time & even going for a fourth! Haha good job at raising the birth rate.
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What I can remember the most difficult part of first month is firstly getting baby to latch and drink correctly, and then the 2-week long breast engorgement. When the pain episode is over, it is the forever mental stress of worrying whether the baby has drunk enough milk! Oh how many times I did mental calculations each day. Morning left 9 min, est. 80ml, right 5 min, est. 30 ml. 11am bottle, 100ml, so that’s total of 210ml, still short of how many ml…….LOL…Think I will still do the same for the 2nd one, or 3rd one, just a mother thing I guess
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LOL I do the same mental calculation as well! I cross check the timing with how hard the boobs are to see how much he drank
With all three of mine I found that 6 weeks was the magic mark. I’m not sure why but it just seemed to “click” at that point and we started to find a routine
That’s 2 weeks to go.. :)
This post hit very close to home as we’ve got an almost 6 week boy in our home. Thankfully he doesn’t scream too often and I am slowly learning the screams he does give a bit better. As for twitching, I’m hoping that goes away or at least my little boy stops pulling at my nipples when he’s frustrated or the boob is empty.