The first couple of weeks, I spent time getting used to this new being in our home. He woke me up several times during the night, ate all the time, pooped and peed all the time, and cried seldom. The first few nights, my body woke me up instantly. Any little noise he made, I popped right out of bed and went to his bedroom to peek into his crib to make sure all was well. Sometimes, I'd do this three or four times over the course of an hour until he actually woke up. So, I've since learned that my son takes about one hour to wake up, and that this consists of several squirms and various noises until the actual "I'm awake now; come feed me!" cry. Now I can sleep through these little noises and be confident that he'll wake me up when he's good and ready.
We later got to give him his first bath! That was very exciting because I hadn't actually seen the cute little naked body that all babies possess up to this point. Everything is so tiny- his legs, his hands, his feet and fingers, his lips, his teeny tiny bottom- everything is just SO cute! It was a bit of an experience though. We got a gift of the Summer Spa, which even has a little jacuzzi jet that you can turn on. Although, you can't fill the tub up very high, and the only thing it would ever touch is the baby's feet, so I'm not certain the point of this jet. But, it does have a shower nozzle that sprays the water ever so gently on baby, and he hasn't a care in the world about it. I've heard from many people that their babies didn't like water being poured on their heads; well, this nozzle takes care of that problem for me! It's really hard for me to gauge the temperature of the water since his skin is so very sensitive; but with daddy's help, we got it right. We got the tummy warmer and kept nice, warm water on him to keep his body warm. I washed him ever so gently, since he was a mere six pounds and ever so tiny during his first bath. I think I was too gentle, though; he still had yucky under his armpits! (Sorry, son... you did!) Once it was over, he'd certainly had enough and let us know about it.
During the third bath, I felt like the worst mother in the entire world. I got the water all set up in his Summer tub, got him undressed and brought him in to get his bath. I set him down on his chair and he immediately screamed at me. I picked him up right away and snuggled him in his towel, and I guess the water was too cool. I heated it up a bit and laid him back down. He was surprised at first, but then was OK. I finished bathing him and he stayed very cool, calm and collected; that is, until I laid him down on his changing table to get dressed. He immediately let out a horrible wail, and then I noticed his chin was chattering and his little lips started to turn blue. Oh my WORD! I quickly slapped on his diaper and wrapper him up in the fleece winter blanket we got, and held him close against me until he was warm enough to get dressed. I was supposed to put him down after his bath since he gets so tired afterward and go to bed myself, but I couldn't sleep for several hours after because I was so worried that I'd done something wrong. I think I was awake until after 2am that morning, even though he was not. His daddy and a few dear other mommies assured me that I'd done nothing wrong. Boy, did I need that. New mommy syndrome, anyone?
We've had our share of rough nights and times trying to get to know our little boy and all of his different cries, moans, and squeaks. I think I've learned quite a bit about him. I know when he's uncomfortable; I know when he's hungry; I definitely know when he's tired (good Lord please never let a day like that come again); and I know when he's content. I also know that he's a napper, and that not letting him sleep when he's sleepy is the biggest mistake this mommy could make. Not only did it keep him up all day; it kept him up ALL night. I did lots of reading, and over stimulation seems to have been the cause. I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't sleep at night if he was up all day, and then I learned. If he's up all day, then he's up all night. But, if we let him sleep when he wants then he pretty much sleeps through the night, with one or two wake ups. I think, without even knowing it, that we'd already gotten our little man on a schedule. How neat!
Overall, these first six weeks have been amazing. Our boy has shown us smiles and laughter, even if they were in his sleep. He's started cooing at us intentionally. He looks around and watches the television. He responds to the sound of our voices and looks in our direction when he hears them. He's even started to mock some of the faces I make. I'm overjoyed and delighted to have been chosen to be this little boy's mommy. I'm more in love with him everyday, and I can't wait until the day he can say, "I love you mommy" back to me. What a precious treasure we've been blessed with.
No comments:
Post a Comment