Three Months

Gabriel is now three months old, and I have to admit: this month looks like it will be the best yet. Gabriel has become interested in toys, or anything within his line of vision, now. Naps have improved. We have been able to stay out longer during the day without suffering a massive break down on Gabriel's end. He does better when people other than his parents hold him.

My biggest problem lately has been trying to reset Gabriel's little internal clock to match up with daylight savings time's end. Keeping him up later at night has not worked so far, though when he starts his day by 6:00 am and clearly is ready for bed I cannot bring myself to keep him awake later than he wants to be. I will not complain about such a small thing, however, daylight savings will be back on in early March - a mere four months away. Honestly, morning is my favorite part of the day, so Gabriel helps keep me from missing much of it by sleeping in.

In closing, a photo of the cutest little leopard on Halloween:

24

Not the television series.

Today is my twenty-fourth birthday. Reflecting upon my life, I am rather blessed, rather thankful, and rather happy. I am married and have a child - two of my greatest hopes while growing up have been fulfilled.

J.R. works today, but we will spend some time together once he gets home this evening. I intend to visit my parents, where my mother has offered to give me a birthday lunch during the day.

Gabriel even gave me a surprise birthday gift: sleeping until 8:30 in the morning. I slept until 8:00 (this has not happened since he was born), then I had free time until he woke.

I am going to finish getting ready, then when Gabriel wakes up from his nap we will head out to enjoy the day.

The Long-awaited Photo Post

First day home from the hospital with Mommy






Peaceful little sleeper - J.R. and I think that he looked like a glow worm in his swaddleme





One month old






A sample of his big smiles






Two months old and loving every minute of it

Worse...then Better

The third month of motherhood began rather difficultly. I had a bout with the early stages of mastitis during the first week. It was terrible to deal with, particularly as the primary caretaker of a newborn when I was so physically exhausted that I just wanted to rest. I hope that my personal experience with mastitis never gets any worse than what I have experienced to this point in my life.

Gabriel was congested still when the month began, thus his sleep was not as good as it could have been. After reviewing my books on baby sleep, I convinced myself that I was teaching Gabriel all sorts of bad habits. This bothered me immensely, but with sleep having become such a precious commodity, I decided that we were just going to sleep any way that we could. Then I read what Moxie has to say about babies and sleep, and felt better about how I was doing things. Miraculously, (or possibly not, since Moxie said that it would happen) Gabriel's congested nose, and the time in which he was most likely going through a sleep regression, passed, and the sleep got better without me doing a thing about it. Gabriel decided that going for a walk is a good way to relax and fall asleep. When he nurses to sleep, he often nurses until he is almost asleep, detaches himself, and finishes falling asleep. I still sleep only a few hours at a time, but I find the current situation rather bearable. Now if we just finish getting naps ironed out, things would be running fairly smoothly.

Motherhood: Two Month Update

So, two months in and I realize first-hand that things can be "one step forward, two steps back" in terms of raising a child.

There have been several nights that were awful. I blame the sleep issues, at least in part, on Gabriel's congested nose, which makes its presence known at night particularly. There have been a few nights in which it took about three hours to get Gabriel to sleep. There have been nights in which he was waking up every hour or so. Such nights are hard. Now I understand myself, from experience, the lamentations of parents in regards to their baby's sleep habits. Since things seem to be getting better now though, it has been easier for me to keep in mind that these nights of poor sleep for all are really just a short phase in life.

Being Gabriel's mother is not without repercussions on my own body: I have developed tendonitis in my left hand and wrist, most likely related to the fact that I am right-handed and my poor left hand has had to step up to the plate and work to care for Gabriel after nearly twenty-four years of little activity. So, I have been sentenced to physical therapy and wearing a brace for the next couple of weeks in an effort to reduce my discomfort. Pain aside, the worst part of the whole scenario is that the brace does such a good job stabilizing my hand and wrist that caring for Gabriel has been complicated.

On a more positive note, I really, really like Gabriel's doctor. Her manner with Gabriel is much more agreeable and that of the doctors at the other clinic I took him to in his first week of life: I get to hold him while she examines him, which is easier on both Gabriel and I as it reduces his discomfort (aka crying). She specializes in "alternative medicine," while still working with traditional medicine: meaning that although at his seven-week visit, Gabriel weighed in at eight pounds, a mere five ounces above his birth weight, she suggested that I supplement my diet rather than supplement Gabriel with formula (all without making me feel like a terrible mother). Also, I have felt zero pressure or disapproval from her based on J.R.'s and my decision not to have Gabriel receive immunizations at this time; rather, she supports our decision.

In closing, I wanted to post some photographs of Gabriel, however, J.R. has yet to convert the files or teach me to do so, thus internet viewing of them must wait. J.R. is busy working, often tired, and dealing with allergies right now, so I wait (somewhat) patiently - but I would like to show off pictures of our growing baby still. Especially the adorable photos of him smiling, the cutest milestone yet.

The Move

Moving everything (and setting up to some degree) into our first apartment the week before our wedding was a little difficult, and kept me very busy. It took awhile to settle in. Moving with a six-week-old baby, however, was many times more difficult. I really hope that J.R. and I are able to manage getting our new, larger apartment, with an even greater number of possessions, set up before the holidays (we are raising a newborn here, so no need to set the goal too close and risk complete failure at reaching the goal).

Moving has seemed to mess up Gabriel's sleep schedule. No matter what time Gabriel went to bed at night, I could plan on him waking up for the day at slightly before 7:00 in the morning. Now, however, I am dealing with as early as 5:30 wakings. It has been only a few days though, so I am hopeful that I will be able to shift his schedule so that we can manage no earlier than a 6:30 wake up. Once we can get a little more agreeable sleeping schedule set up, I will try to resume blogging with some coherence and frequency.

One Month of Life with Gabriel

After having completed one month with Gabriel, I am feeling semi-confident about motherhood. Gabriel is growing (though still wearing newborn attire), he is sleeping about as well (at least at night) as the mother of a newborn can hope for, and he reached the developmental milestone of lifting up his head and looking around at less than a week old. We are starting to manage a schedule, and I can manage short errand-running trips without feeling overwhelmed completely.

I credit my ability to feel like I actually accomplish things (albeit not much) most days to two basic reasons:
1. Gabriel is just plain a "good" baby. Sure, he gets fussy when he is hungry or tired (don't we all to some degree?), but he has had a natural tendency to get most of his sleep in during the night since the beginning with short wakings for the most part. He does not usually get much sleep in during the day (and as I result many people, including J.R., perceive him as a rather fussy baby boy), but he and I are getting much better about making sure that he gets more sleep during daylight hours.
2. My reading of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. Obviously, I have not had a chance to apply many principles from these books yet, but both have provided me with valuable insight already.

Again, I would really like to include some photos of Gabriel, but I am waiting on J.R. to convert the files still.