Murphy's Law

Why is it when your 2 month old finally sleeps through the night for the first time, your 3 year old is sick and goes into a coughing fit every hour on the hour?! Oh, the life of a mother, ain't it grand. Gotta go, it's time for the milking.

Did I Sign Up For This?

We are coming up on the two week mark tomorrow and I am already starting to go a little bit crazy. Laina has been screaming her head off whenever she is awake for the past few days. She is either screaming or asleep, and usually asleep in someone's arms. I've been having visions of my nightmare first year with Chase when he wouldn't sleep unless someone was holding him. I remember sitting on the couch for three hours one day just so I could get some peace and quiet and so that he could get a nap. These thoughts were going through my head as I dozed in a chair while holding Laina on my shoulder, sound asleep after screaming for an hour. Thankfully my Mom is still here, otherwise I might just go insane!
My Mom and I were discussing if it might be colic so we went to the baby books to check it out. They say colic can be caused by a stressed out Mom. Well, how can you not be stressed out when your baby is screaming at the top of her lungs and can't be consoled?! Another factor can be over stimulation. How can a baby not be over stimulated with 4 other kids running around the house?! They are all fighting over who will hold her, running around like a bunch of wild Indians, and yelling at the top of their lungs. Yikes!
Thankfully the kids are all out of the house right now at the movies and Laina is sleeping in her crib during this quiet time. I can't believe my luck that I've had a little time to work on a project I've wanted to do.
The problem is that she seems like she gets so tired that she just starts screaming her head off because she can't figure out how to get to sleep. She gets really mad if you try to stick a pacifier in her mouth because she thinks she needs to nurse to fall asleep. Hello, I am not a 24 hr. all you can eat buffet! She often wakes up an hour after I've fed her and thinks she needs to eat again. The other problem is she has to burp all the time! Last night it took me an hour to get her to sleep after I fed her because every time I layed her down she had to burp again. Then I had to go through the process of getting her back to sleep, only to lay her down and find out she had to burp again! I went through that about 5-6 times last night. Frustrating!
None of my kids have ever been this bad. Yes, they had a fussy period in the evenings, but not this inconsolable screaming. Does anyone have any tips for a tired and frazzled Mom? I'm starting to wonder if I'm too old for this. This would have been a lot easier to handle when I had less children and I was about 10 years younger. I know this won't last forever, but when you are in the middle of it, the end is nowhere in sight.

One Week Old

I can't believe a week has already gone by. Mostly I've just been a feeding machine and trying to catch up on my sleep whenever possible. She has already been ousted from our room. That has to be a record. Usually my kids have lasted a couple of weeks, but I just can't get any sleep listening to all her grunts and groans. She's also just like the other kids when they were babies, she hates being swaddled. She's always finding a way to work her arms out of the blanket.

Laina is a doll and we love having her around. Hunter is always close by, watching her and adoring her. Whenever Aria is around Laina she proudly proclaims, "I love my baby sister." Chase is always asking when she is going to wake up so he can have a chance to hold her. And Michela is such a big help, she loves holding Laina whenever it is needed. She also likes to help me pick out which outfit Laina will be wearing that day.

Laina is staying awake more and more during the day. She loves looking around and listening to everyone talk. She makes the funniest faces and sounds.

She loves getting her hair washed but doesn't enjoy getting sponged off. She burps a lot! I forgot how much babies need to burp. She is so beautiful. I love her long eyelashes, little hands and feet, her soft skin, and all that lovely dark brown hair.

Along with new experiences this week I also have been experiencing all those things I had forgotten about having a newborn.

1. They are so tiny and easy to tote around.

2. They sleep a lot of the time, except of course when you want them to.

3. They look so cute in all those tiny clothes.

4. You get absolutely No Sleep!

5. Blow outs. Who knew those little bodies could create such big explosions?!

6. How much it hurts when you nurse. Ouch!

7. How fun it is to just watch them sleep.

8. How hard it is to get a shower.

9. How you have no time for anything but nursing, changing diapers, and putting them to sleep.

10. How absolutely Precious they are.