For the first couple of weeks with our new baby, Judah, I was lucky to have tons of help from family, friends, and co-workers. For the first week, my mom stayed during the day and helped out and cooked meals. My grandma also came for a few days. On the second week, my in-laws came in from out of town and stayed nearly the whole week and helped out playing with the baby while I got some sleep! My principal at the primary school where I work made dinner for us one night, and my fellow co-workers had dinner sent to us another night.
Even with all the help, by the third and fourth week I was wiped out. By then my husband had returned to work (the second week) and I was left alone to figure out how to care for that little one all day and all night. I thought I would never figure out this baby business! I also longed for a night when I could sleep through the night without being woken up numerous times, feeding and rocking, feeding and rocking! I was beginning to wonder if I was really cut out for this!
If you are a new mom, or expecting your first, let me assure you there will be days, nights, weeks even, when you are ready to give up. But, eventually you will get the hang of it and the baby will find his groove as well. It is week six for us and I am amazed that we already have some semblance of a schedule. The baby definitely has found his pattern. I am even more amazed that what I was stressing out about (thinking I would never be able to get this baby to stop crying) I finally figured out! It is like I know exactly what his cries mean and I know exactly what he needs. I’ve even figured out a few tricks for when he is inconsolable. For example, when he is really upset in the evening I can put him in the bath tub and he immediately starts splashing and cooing. Or, when he starts to wake up I can pat his back and he drifts right back to sleep. And, my favorite, when he wakes up in the middle of the night – WIDE AWAKE – I can place him on my chest and he’ll snuggle right up and sleep another three hours (instead of having to get up and rock him when I feel like a zombie!).
It is amazing how much that little baby will change in just a few weeks and it is even more amazing that you can become a GOOD mommy almost instinctively in that same, short amount of time. I never knew I could love another human as much as this little one. My favorite part so far… he smiled at me and melted my heart!