The First Six Weeks

Well, our little man recently turned six weeks old, marking the most tiring and happy six weeks of my life. I never realized how much being a new mom would change my life...I also never realized how much people never tell you about what to expect! Along the way I met lots of new people who helped me through some tougher aspects of new mommying, and picked up some tricks and great tips, or else figured some things out myself the hard way.

For starters, I never knew how hard it was to breastfeed. It looks easy, and no one ever really talks about how hard it can be in the beginning. Sure, I've heard about classes teaching you how to breast feed, but until I actually started to do it, I didn't realize there was a whole world that included terms like proper latch, engorgement, and clogged ducts; nor did I realize for that matter how much a part of my daily vocabulary these words would become. I've seen a lactation specialist, tried different positions, different pumps, used creams, and more, and finally (after SIX WEEKS) feel like I'm falling into some kind of a routine with little man regarding feeding.

We have no such system regarding his sleep schedule, however. A great piece of advice I was given was to sleep when my baby sleeps. Did I listen? No. I used the opportunities that he would sleep to do things like clean, cook, catch up with well-wishers, etc. (silly me) and then couldn't understand why I never seemed to get some sleep. It took over a month (and my husband finally basically ordering me to rest) for me to realize that other things can wait, and I needed to sleep...for my health, to make milk, to be able to properly care for little man. Now, when he sleeps, I really try to get some shut eye as well, even if it's two in the afternoon and my food is getting cold.

Another thing I learned is that not all diapers are the same. It took trying out several brands before finding one that didn't require me to change my son's outfits three times a day because everything kept leaking. I finally found one that works for us (it apparently depends on things like gender, weight, body shape, etc...there is a diaper for every baby, you just have to sort of wade through the field of brands until you find the right one for you.

My son loves his mobile. Unfortunately, it has to be wound every three minutes. Very, very frustrating. He doesn't like any other toys, musical dolls, rattles, colorful objects, etc...all he wants is to look up at his dinosaur mobile as it turns and tinkles its lullabye. My husband, out of pity for me, went to Toys R Us and bought me a remote control mobile that runs for 20 minutes at a time, so that I can rest while my son is entertained by his mobile. My mom (who has asked me not to talk about her in my blog, but I'm breaking her rule today) has been immensely helpful, as has my dad (who will watch my son for a couple hours, just so I can sleep a bit). I don't know what women who don't have grandparents around to help do.

Finally, I love the "bicycle" advice. After we fed him, changed his diaper, played with him, gave him a pacifier, and found he was still fussy and unhappy, someone suggested we rotate little man's legs as though he were riding a bike. This way, if he was fussy because he had gas or was constipated, it would help alleviate this. Well, this tip has worked out pretty well, so I wanted to pass that suggestion along as well, in case it may prove useful to other new moms. After riding his pretend air bike, little man would have an easier time pooping and the fussiness would pass as well (and any pain he was in as a result).

As a result of these weeks, I have an new, enormous, indescribable respect for women who have had children, multiple children under age five at once, who have children and have to work, who have children and no parents around to help them, etc. It wasn't until I became a mother that I realized the patience, love and sacrifice involved in raising little people into wonderful, happy and healthy human beings, and I just started my adventure!