Friday, November 22, 2013

3 Weeks Old!

Hey guys! Sorry I'm a little late on this post. I actually took these pictures on Wednesday, but we had quite a busy (and fussy) 2 days and haven't gotten around to posting them until now. So here are his 3 week old pictures: 



And some from his 3rd week of life: 
Fist Pump

First Bath


Forest is a whiz at breaking out of his swaddles





Retroactive 'First Halloween' pic, since he was in NICU on actual day
And I'm aware that this is quickly becoming a 'mommy' blog, but this newborn phase is quite the consuming endeavor. Our biggest challenge has been napping. All 'the books' say that at 3 weeks old, Forest should be taking 1.5- 2 hour naps after every feed. Hahahahahahaha. Forest laughs in the face of naps (well, actually he cries). 
I'm trying to find some sort of validation that his lack of napping is normal, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. All my friends say that their babies did nothing but sleep until they were 8 weeks old or so. It's quite discouraging. So if any of you have an encouraging words about how my child will not be developmentally damaged because he's sleeping about 6 hours less than the recommended daily amount and sometimes stays awake for 6 hours straight (they aren't supposed to have the capacity stay up more than 2 hours in a row,  apparently), please share your survival stories with me. 

In other news, he slept for 5 hours straight last night...so I'll try to keep my complaining about daytime naps to a minimum...

8 comments:

  1. He's beautiful!

    Sebastian was a horrible napper. I mean, it was ridiculous. I was literally going crazy from the lack of sleep. He was crying all the time because he was exhausted. I feel you. I was reading everything I could on sleep and it seemed nothing was working like it should. I was barely making it.

    We both needed more sleep. Sleep is as important for their well being as eating. It's important to make sure they get that sleep. Once we figured it out and Sebastian was sleeping 13 hrs each night and taking 2, 2 hr naps his whole demeanour changed. Everything about him was different. We were all so much happier and he could focus on playing and lots of other developmental changes because he was well rested.

    If you ever want to know what we did just ask. I hate to offer unsolicited advice! I remember how much I hated it {and still do!!}.

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  2. Definitely ask Mary how she did it! Luckily, both of my girls have been decent sleepers, but I certainly don't remember naps 1.5-2 hours long at that age and neither of my girls "slept through the night" for ages. My advice (unsolicited, I know) would be to try to not to stress too much about it at this point. I am sure there are loads of things out there that you could try and something might click, but don't exhaust yourself trying to fix the "problem". Try to enjoy the precious moments you have with Forest at this stage because he will grow up SO quickly! Not sure that was at all helpful. I wrote this AGES ago, but maybe there is something helpful there? http://masteringtheartofmommyhood.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/sleeping-through-night-myth.html

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  3. Sorry he's not napping much during the day, but if he's sleeping longer at night, maybe he will be one of those babies that sleeps through the night earlier, so you can rest too :) Have you tried the swaddle pods/sacks? Riya was also breaking out of her swaddles most of the time and she would wake herself up because of that. I started using that and it really helped her sleep better. Then I finally learned how to keep her in her swaddle, so now I alternate between the two. Hope this helps. You're doing great! Forest is a cutie pie:)

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  4. It's not consolation, I know, but you were a good mapper. No justice

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  5. Mommy Blogs are just fine :) And you will forever cherish reading back your words, your excitements, your STRUGGLES, someday. I already love looking back at mine and the boys are still so little it seems.

    Is Forest hurting after he eats? Maybe reflux or something like that is the issue. My advice, never be afraid to call your dr. and ask questions. don't just assume everything is "normal" or a bothersome question! Doctors give valuable advice other than just medicine :)

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  6. James was not a napper and moms need nap time as much as baby. Baby swing worked.

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  7. Hope you're enjoying everything about motherhood so far! Looking good Forest:)

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  8. I'm sorry that I don't have the experience to give you advice, but I can say that I know you must be doing a great job. It's wonderful that you worry so much about him being healthy and about meeting his needs. What a great mom you are! Keep your chin up, and keep asking for advice, even if it's from calling a doctor/nurse. You'll figure something out! I'm enjoying all of the pictures of him. I need to set up a coffee day (I can bring over) with you soon so that I can meet him!

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