When I had littleBee1, I had no idea what I was doing. I remember the same phrase enter my mind…, “What was I thinking?” because my life had changed so drastically. I had wondered how I made it through life never hearing how hard it was to be a mom. I even asked another mom why she didn’t tell me how hard this was. She said, “if we told non-mothers how hard it was, you’d never have kids!” It was like there was some secret society of moms that vowed to never tell another women that was planning to have kids, what it was really like. Having a baby was very hard for me, for many reasons.
- my husband and I had been married for 10 years and kinda had things figured out (so we thought)
- I was 38 and wasn’t the I-must-have-kids kinda girl
- I worked full-time and liked my job
- I love to go out to eat
- I loved to shop and buy nice things
- We loved to hang with friends till all hours of the morning
- And although I didn’t want to admit it… I was selfish!
So now I’ve got this little beautiful baby, that requires all my time, and energy and I was a stay-at-home-mom. Theadjustment was horrifying! I was a mess! I cried, she cried and I just couldn’t imagine being able to adjust and overcome these feelings.
Upon her first few Dr. appts, her pediatrician was very stern and specific about how to get on a feeding schedule. He sold it to me by asking me if my relationship with my husband was important. Well of course, so wide eyed, I listen intently to his suggested feeding schedule and followed it, pulling my hair out along the way.
Finally I did it. The feeding schedule was in place, and within a month and a 1/2 she was sleeping through the night. But she still cried so much during the day. I remember hubbyBee getting home and rocking her in her car seat so she would stop crying and hopefully fall asleep. I also remember having to do the circuit so we could eat… you know the one: play mat, swing, activity seat, play mat, swing, activity seat, etc…
I was breastfeeding so I constantly wondered if she was getting enough to eat. The pediatrician advised me to pump and see how much milk comes out. Well it was plenty, and she had a dry diaper, and maybe she was colicky, but maybe not, so what do I do now?
I drove through the Morton Arboretum a lot! She, like most infants, liked the movement. When I wasn’t driving through, I put her in the BOB Revolution and pushed her around the trails, but she still cried when we got home.
Then one day at a Dr. appt., the pediatrician asked me what time she naps in the morning. NAPS? WHAT? How could I have not know that I was supposed to put her down for a nap?
So he scribbled a schedule on a piece of paper and told me to follow it and I did and the crying stopped. Yep, she cried because she was so tired. Who wouldn’t thought?
Gotta to go, I'm on a very tight schedule!
So as time went on and it was time to start her on solids, and I received another schedule to follow. Now, I knew how to introduce solids, and in what order. To this day, I follow the same schedule. Yes, it might seem like I’m being a Nazi to some people, but I bet they don’t have 2+ hours of alone time after breakfast and again after lunch each day. In the beginning these 4+ hours gave me time to nap and recover from my triplet pregnancy, and an undiagnosed thyroid issue (more on that later). My 4+ hours now give me time to watch a movie, write in my blog, and get some marketing work done, laundry and even get dinner ready.
So schedule-Nazi or not, I still have a little time each day to be selfish and that is what makes me happy! Here is to all the moms out there… you can be happy and selfish too!
Follow this link or click on the image below to download a copy of the schedule. http://www.4littlebees.com/?attachment_id=279
Sue
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