Amazing how slowly days seem to go with a new baby, yet how quickly they go when looking at my blog. I guess this blogging biz will remain just a monthly outlet until my Skylar becomes more predictable. There’s only so much I can spit out during her 10-minute to 3-hour-long naps. 🙂
What was reportable about month three? Well, after the tongue tie fiasco (which isn’t as rare as I had thought! Sky’s dentist said 40 percent of babies have some degree of tongue tie), things got scary again. I thought her tie was reattaching, but I guess it was just scar tissue that needed loosening. Paranoid New Mom started to settle down as Skylar’s weight steadily climbed.
Life is really an ebb and flow of paranoia and contentment. “Oh, she’s smiling so much today– such a happy, healthy girl!” or “Shoot, she’s fussy after feeding…she’s starving, her tongue is pinned again, we have the most difficult child in the universe!”
I have dreams about Skylar not gaining any weight. In one such dream, I was surrounded by my friends with babies. All of their babies were chunky and laughing and peaceful. They were all able to sit, independently, in adult chairs. I looked over at sweet 6-lb., fussy Skylar in a carseat and started crying. No, Skylar is NOT 6 lbs. in real life. She’s climbed passed 13 lbs! She’s far from a chunk, but she’s (hands down) the most active baby I’ve ever beheld. I’m convinced she could pump her legs for 20 hours of each day. Every day is Leg Day for my bulging-quaded viking girl.
Skylar and I embarked on our incredible journey to San Antonio on Sunday, January 29. Matt was in South Dakota for a clinic, so I was on my own with Sky. I packed for a ridiculous amount of time, fearful I’d forget something integral to Skylar’s survival. Really, I’m the only being integral for Sky’s survival at this point (no pressure, breastfeeding moms!). I guess diapers are sort of important, but those are just a formality. 😉 Don’t worry, I didn’t travel with a bare-butted baby. After loading up my Jeep and feeding my gal, we were off.
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| Faking confidence at the PHX airport. |
I had the day mapped out in my head as I would a 100 breaststroke at a big meet. This is what I need to pack, this is what I’ll do to prepare in the ready room (the airport) and this is how I’ll efficiently move through my race (the flights). I was stressed out, but faked confidence…
I took my seat beside a man who immediately said, “I have three kids. You’re fine!” He read me like a book. We chatted about his kids and he did a good job ignoring screaming Skylar when she was having trouble locating her fountain of milk beneath a nursing cover.
Timeout: Let’s talk about nursing covers. I hate them. I don’t want to get dirty looks for “freeing the nipple” but I know my daughter is not a fan of pecking around in darkness. Matt has told me he’d prefer I not be the one to attempt to un-sexualize breasts. 🙂 But I totally understand the nursing mother’s advocacy for a society less shocked by breastfeeding. It’s how we’re designed! I’m nourishing a human being and I’d prefer to not do it blindly. Rant over.
So Skylar screamed for a full 30 seconds of our 5-hour travel day. The guy behind me on the second flight (PHX to SA) got up after we landed and looked at me shocked, “Whoa, I had no idea you had a little one there. Impressive!” I was pretty impressed too! Helps to have two baby pacifiers as part of my anatomy. 😉
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| The best welcome to Tejas from the Mimster. |
Major mom lessons learned this month:
– A healthy baby does not necessarily mean a fat baby. My lactation consultant reassured me several times, “Annie, she’s perfect! She’s just growing at her own pace.” She doesn’t need to be in the 99th percentile in every category to be perfectly healthy.
– Colds suck for adults, but they’re way worse when you have one and are empathizing with your helpless baby with a cold. Skylar gave us quite a scare with her 2 a.m. hacking fits. The poor babe is on the mend, but I wish I could use our Nose Frida to suck every bit of her sickness away.
– Nursing in public only sucks (pun intended) when your baby is frantic. Otherwise, nursing Skylar on an airplane was no big spectacle.
– I need someone to teach me how to not engage every neck, back, arm muscle while nursing. I used to swim tense; used way too many muscle groups at once. Now I nurse tense. I guess it’s a workout? Static baby hold? And yes, I do laid back nursing when possible…but how about on a plane? And no, I’m not willing to carry a pillow with me.
– My sleep expectations are forever changed. We were a 9 to 10 hour per night household. Now I wear an activity tracking watch that also monitors sleep patterns…it’s better if I just don’t check it in the mornings.
– Enduring baby’s cries doesn’t get easier. It gets harder. Every week, a new layer of Skylar’s personality is revealed. Her crying hurts me more as she grows out of her fourth trimester/still-very- much-a-fetus stage. I planned on being that sleep training mom who had no problem with the CIO method…I’m not that mom. When she starts sweating from crying I just want reassure the heck out of her. I’ll never leave you, little love!
– Naps are integral. I went to a BF support group where one over-tired new mommy said, “Aren’t newborns supposed to sleep during the day? Is it OK that mine doesn’t? I’m just…really tired.” The LCs present said, “Some babies don’t. They’re their own people and that’s OK.” I wanted to whisper in the new mom’s ear, “You’re going to go nuts if baby never naps…” Skylar refused to nap when she was a starving, tongue-tied girl and I broke down once every few days.
I’ll let Skylar fuss a little now before napping. I’m trying to make it so she’s not up for more than an hour or two at a time after feedings. But we have to work for her naps. She’s not one of those will-doze-when-tired babes. She likes a vigorous bounce and will fight her heavy eyelids constantly to make sure mom and dad are still close-by. If given a choice, she wouldn’t nap. And we wouldn’t get nearly as many Sky smiles. Everyone has their opinion on this, but I know my girl needs to nap. She doesn’t want to, she needs to. And mommy needs her to. I’m a better mom when she naps.
Wow, this has totally turned into a mommy blog. Funny how things evolve. I think I started this while working at Anthropologie– I was going to try to be a fashion blogger. Now that’s funny. You should see my style now– today I’m sporting fleece-lined socks, men’s sweat pants, a nursing tank (which I also wore yesterday) and, of course, no makeup. I did, however, brush my teeth and put deodorant on. I’d post a pic, but I’m sure your imaginations will paint a prettier picture.
