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Last Saturday Mr. Man left me. Not for good, mind you. Only for about 2 ½ hours. But the fact remains that for a short moment, after he left to take my Mom to the airport and left me alone with my four children for the very first time – I panicked. Granted all three boys were sleeping to begin with, but still, every possible, though unlikely, scenario floated through my overly-active mind and instead of lying down to sleep with them… I panicked. Gratefully they didn’t ALL wake up crying and needing to be held at the same time, nobody needed to be rushed to the emergency room in the small car I was left with while Mr. Man had the van, and really there was nothing eventful at all. I survived. We all did.
This week (my first week without any mother or mother-in-law to rescue me and allow me to nap whenever and wherever I please) there have been moments where that feeling of, “how could he leave me here alone with four children” has struck, but mostly we’ve done really well. Having to get out the door and get Big J to school before 9 every morning has been a blessing in disguise. I have showered at least every other day, and we’re all dressed (some better than others) and outside getting fresh air before the morning blues can even think of creeping in. It’s a good thing.
My sweet baby has decided he needs to be held all the time… and only by me. We are going to be checking out baby carriers and slings this week… but in the mean time I have relied on love and patience – both my own and that of my children. Now that my legs are up and working, it’s a bit ironic that my arms have been incapacitated! He’s also a gassy guru, and I’ve basically stopped eating and drinking anything that resembles food of any sort – it seems to be helping.
Yesterday Mr. Man and I watched the lunar eclipse – it was neat to see… but I have to admit I’m even more excited that my book “Eclipse” finally came through for me at the library. So amidst walking Big J to and from school, getting at least a few meals into my kids and nursing and nursing and nursing… I’ll be happily reading about vampires once again!
Here are a few of my favorite babysitters:
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5 comments:
Renee--you can borrow my Baby Bjorn for as long as you want--I'm not using it!
What a precious little guy! I love the stripes on his hat and outfit. So glad you are doing pretty well. It can be exhausting to take care of so many people, especially when one needs to nurse all day and night.
Renee- I feel for you! These emotions (minus the 4 kids part) are fresh in my mind! I don't know what I would've done with first-my swing (Elise still naps in it), and second -"The Happiest Baby on the Block" - tight swaddling, shhing, rocking and the occasional gas drops, were the only thing that would calm Elise sometimes. Whenever I hear newborns crying I always want to tell the mom to tightly swaddle her baby and use the 5 "S's" from the book - they really work! You're doing so well so early! Keep it up.
Baby is so beautiful and seems to be surrounded by adoring siblings. I tried to comment before but was having some strange problems in that my computer wouldn't let me. So I wanted you to know that I have been thinking of you and am so relieved you are doing okay. I gasped while reading about the birth.
I recommend borrowing your friend Camie's baby bjorn as it automatically seems to burp and relieve babys gas by just the way they hang there. Also it is relatively comfortable with decent support and allows you to have both hands free. Anyways, worth a try. A fun way for baby to relieve gas and I have the other Mommys around me doing it too is singing wheels on the bus while moving babys legs and folding his legs to his tummy etc- usually you get some farts and alot of smiles. One last gas advice is baby massage. Put a bit of oil on your hands or his skin. Around his belly button begin with the right hand side and stroke downwards spelling "I", next do an upside down L so the top of the "L" is above the bellybutton and the vertical part again strokes the right side, finally do an upside down "U"- starting from the bottom left side, bottom of "U" above naval and finish with the right side. Hope this makes sense. Easy way to remember is just look at him and say "I, I, I" "love, love, love" "U, U, U" while doing the strokes.
Sorry this is long- you have way more experience than I in the baby category.
Sending your family love at lightening speed from Japan :)
Your little family is so cute. Sometimes I wish I had something to force me out of the house in the morning. You know I had to go on a really strict diet with Cambria because everything irritated her stomache. I pretty much lived on carbs, water, clacium supplements, bananas and green beans. Chocolate, Dairy, eggs, fruits with citric acid and veggies that cause gas were all out of the question. Don't use generic gas medicines eiher. They have a higher content of citric acid that of course irritate the stomache. Stick with Mylicon.
Good luck.
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