Surviving and thriving....and the myths of parenting

THRIVING:  Ashley, or AJ as she's also known, is thriving.  She has caught up a little with her weight, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs even at 6 weeks, and is a big fan of eating.  If you take too long burping her mid-feed she lets you know with a scream louder than when she first let you know she was hungry.....so she is a fiesty young lady, and rather impatient!  Shes holding her head up pretty well and smiling ALOT - so that is a pretty accomplished 7-week old

SURVIVING:  Me and Pete are doing well, although it often feels alot more like surviving.  The lack of sleep was really grinding on us, and I was starting to think she was colicky.  So on her 6 week birthday, after about 9 hours of crying intermittently throughout the day, I called the doctor.  They told me to give her gas drops hold her more (more?!? is that possible) since that seems to soothe her.  They did say I could call back on saturday if I really wanted to have her seen still.  So saturday rolls around, and my devil baby is still crying alot, no fever, and seemingly mad both before, during and after feedings...so to the doctor we go.  Of course at the doctor she is acting rather angelic.  They said she might just be a fussy baby, or she might have acid reflux, so sent me away with some tactics on managing the situation - involving feeding her upright, keeping her upright for at least 30 min after feeds, holding her MORE, etc.  And that if it didnt resolve to call back in a week and we could try out acid reflux meds.....So a week goes by, I call for a prescription and although she still is a spitfire, its like we have a different baby!!!  She is taking axid, which is a liquid antacid, something i will also call a miracle worker.  After 24 hours on this stuff, she went from waking up every 1.5 hours at night, to going to bed at 930p, and sleeping for almost 4 hours, a quick feed, then another 3-4 hour stretch....which brings me to my next topic - the myths of parenting

SLEEP WHEN THE BABY SLEEPS - this expression was made up by a group of nink-um-poops, or by people who havent hung out with a newborn in a while, or possibly by people who just want yougn adults to continue pro-creating so they tell you this to reassure you it will all be OK.  Because although at night, I agree you should sleep when the baby sleeps, if its 11a on a tuesday, you havent showered since sunday night and you have no clean nipples for the bottles what should you do???  In theory you should sleep, but in reality you need to shower, or at least brush your teeth and pull together a ponytail and some deoderant, half-heartedly clean the bottles, maybe get yourself a bite to eat...and then you can put your head on the pillow just in time for AJs nap to be over

SO IS SHE SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT YET?  OK folks, so if my baby was sleeping through the night, believe me you would know.  We would have a party, post it on facebook, maybe even make time for a personal phone call to each of you.  But, she is not sleeping through the night....although getting better....so unless you hear otherwise from us, no need to inquire....or to share stories about how your neighbor's kid or your niece started sleeping though the night at 4 weeks....nor do i want to hear about how your kids didnt sleep through the night til they were 4 years old - either way, i might cry!

DO YOU HAVE HER ON A SCHEDULE YET?  This is another expression made up by silly people who either have one of those angel babies who also sleep through the night, or who have never met my child.  If you believe it is possible to get us on a schedule, i invite you for a weeklong stay at the Soens Resort in Palatine, IL (known as our home), all expenses paid to do it....if you fail, you owe us our money back and 2 extra nights where you do nightfeedings and we sleep and dream of a scheduled lifestyle....the kind meghan relishes in, where the blackberry buzzes so gently in her pocket when its time for the next activity

OK well more next time....we have her 2 month checkup coming up soon!