Week 3 - November 12, 2010
Alexandra is 3 weeks today. Between week one and now has been an unbelievably hectic learning and getting-used-to experience that confused our sense of time, tested our common sense, pushed our patience, revealed our survival instinct in our struggles to function with little sleep. Most importantly, as Curtis says, we have reacquainted ourselves with our humanity: what it means to protect, care for, feed, rest, and be aware of bodily functions...not only for Alexandra's but our own, each other's. We have felt joy and helplessness. We've been annoyed and mesmerized. And we've become overwhelmed by a profound affection for the most simple gestures and sounds that baby Alexandra reveals -- we create our own narrative about what these could mean and we respond in our attempts to communicate and share with her.
"You can't spoil a newborn!" - These words have resounded in my brain after a day of attempting to 'train' Alexandra to a particular schedule for sleeping and eating. At this stage of her development it appears that anything goes. We learned that baby Alexandra is much too young to be forced into a particular timetable, feeding style (bottle, breast, pacifier), or sleeping pattern. The pediatrician at the hospital did tell me this but for some reason we had conflicting advice from various sources that confirmed patterns needed to be established now. Once we adopted the idea that a newborn could not be spoiled (made sense to us) and that instead we must respond to her cues, we learned to understand her more. She sleeps nicely at night and wakes once for feeding (3 or 4am) which papa has taken up to do every night with formula in a bottle. During the day she breastfeeds every other hour. And at times she doesn't want to eat but simply enjoy the feeling of a pacifier (I told myself I would NEVER give my child a pacifier...ha!).
My bad days are decreasing. I haven't taken advantage of the cool weather to walk around the neighborhood as I should. My medication intake has decreased as well. My biggest complaint now is the soreness that develops from milk production. But the extraction of the milk makes the soreness well worth enduring...being close to Alexandra as she eats to her heart's content is truly a tender experience.
"You can't spoil a newborn!" - These words have resounded in my brain after a day of attempting to 'train' Alexandra to a particular schedule for sleeping and eating. At this stage of her development it appears that anything goes. We learned that baby Alexandra is much too young to be forced into a particular timetable, feeding style (bottle, breast, pacifier), or sleeping pattern. The pediatrician at the hospital did tell me this but for some reason we had conflicting advice from various sources that confirmed patterns needed to be established now. Once we adopted the idea that a newborn could not be spoiled (made sense to us) and that instead we must respond to her cues, we learned to understand her more. She sleeps nicely at night and wakes once for feeding (3 or 4am) which papa has taken up to do every night with formula in a bottle. During the day she breastfeeds every other hour. And at times she doesn't want to eat but simply enjoy the feeling of a pacifier (I told myself I would NEVER give my child a pacifier...ha!).
My bad days are decreasing. I haven't taken advantage of the cool weather to walk around the neighborhood as I should. My medication intake has decreased as well. My biggest complaint now is the soreness that develops from milk production. But the extraction of the milk makes the soreness well worth enduring...being close to Alexandra as she eats to her heart's content is truly a tender experience.
1 Comments:
Thank you for posting, Mary! It is indeed impossible to spoil a newborn. Enjoy your closeness and your meta-awareness of humanity. Sending hugs your way, Mariana
PS: Know that we are here for you but don't want to overwhelm you...so call if/when you want or need! :)
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