I have to say that it is amazing to me how two very different babies can come out of the same set of parents :) Sadie is soooo much different than Lily was at this age. I like to say now that Lily is my "textbook" baby. Sadie most definitely is not. She really is not doing a whole lot by the book except eating about every three hours and gaining quite a lot of weight. Every day at some point before noon and also at some point after 4 p.m., she has these periods of very marked awakeness, usually accompanied by a lot of crying (especially during the evening awake period.) She won't eat well at these two time periods, she will fuss a lot and refuse to sleep. Then, the rest of the day, and overnight (thank God!), she will eat and sleep exclusively with no wake time in there. It is because she is up for six or more hours during the day without sleep that I think it tuckers her out and she sleeps so much more the rest of the time.
Benjie and I are a fan of the book Babywise, and for those of you who read my blog who are familiar with the Babywise schedule, Sadie will not do the eat, wake, sleep thing at all! She eats on a very set schedule, but definitely does not follow the eat, wake, sleep cycle. And she cluster feeds during her wake periods in the morning and in the evening, and there is nothing I can do about getting her to take a full feeding at this time because when I put her to the breast, she screams when the milk lets down and then I have to hear her cry for an hour or more. It is a mystery to me...and very frustrating as well.
Currently, I am on a strict dairy, soy, and gluten-free diet to see if she has food allergies. Otherwise, I just don't know. It is so difficult to sit and listen to a three-week-old cry and fuss for hours and also deal with a tantrum-throwing toddler at the same time while being severely sleep deprived. Life isn't always so rosy......
I am a completely normal woman, wife, and mother of three who is re-defining what bravery looks like.
5 comments:
It is funny; how they can be so different. I love you and I am praying for you. Take comfort in the fact that God knows your daughters even better than you do. Even when life feels like it is spinning out of control and your have no idea what to do with your kids; just know that God does.
You poor thing. While I don't know exactly how you feel I have an idea and I'm sorry. Sleep deprivation is not good for patience and grace :) It's an amazing thing to see how God can make two totally different people from the same two people!
I went through that as well. Stuff that worked for Kale did NOT work for Kate. It seemed so much harder. And it probably was to some extent. Not because Kate was harder necessarily, but because I had both her and Kale. The first one has all our attention and patience. With two it's divided. Keep praying for wisdom with Sadie - God will most definitely give you the tools to take care of her best.
Babywise is not a lost cause. It just gets tweeked a bit :) It's happened 3 times now for me. It will get better. I guess God says to us "No two kids of mine are alike - why should yours be?" And I have to smile and say, 'because I don't have the unending patience that God has. I have to use his :)' Love you girl! I will be praying for you.
Megan, you are such an awesome Mom. There is so much to be learned during this time. You won't see it now, but you most likely will understand it later. Just as God stretches us in our own personal lives, he stretches us and molds us with our children. As Moms... we are being prepared on the biggest adventure yet... grace and mercy are something we need to learn and practice. Our patience and understanding is sharpened and the nurturing heart of an awsome Mom is built. God bless you young Mommy... you rock. Sleep when they sleep, and rest when they rest. Play when they play... lv, jen
Wow, megan sounds like quite the challenge! My friend also had a baby like this who would cry a lot and what they did was buy some drops that you can put into her bottle that help with gas... because gas pains can be horrible. And I myself cry when I have bad gas pains! ;) It worked like magic for them. I'd give it a try!
Thank you for being so vulnerable. Sadie sounds alot like Abigail, although Ab didn't sleep during the night either. She just didn't sleep. Now, 30 years later, I learned in a parenting class for Isaiah's adoption (of all things) about massage for high-need babies. Although the class was very basic, all I could think was, "Wow! I wish I had known this when I had Abby". So for whatever it's worth, I would definitely read online about it or your pediatrician and see if she knows someone who knows how to do it. In the class they said that it relieved stress (you know how stressful it is to be a brand new baby - sleep, pee, eat, poop, - LOL). But seriously, I would try it! I will continue to pray! You are loved!
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