Being Snowed In With Cutest Little Terrorist You Ever Did See...
We're 2 weeks in.
We're establishing patterns. The problem is that I don't particularly love the patterns we're establishing.
Both of us love to research problems and fix them. We love to read up on things, figure them out and then find the best approach. This is problematic when dealing with a newborn's nervous system which is by definition on the fritz. We can't troubleshoot the situation and it becomes very very difficult. Every night we have a period of 2-4 hours where this little lady "winds down for the evening" by crying and screaming inconsolably. It's rough. It's hard. And I am a little bitter that nobody really covered this in classes or in books. This is the stuff that I'm utterly unprepared for. And two parent overachievers aren't really good at being unprepared. So it's hard on our egos and it's hard on her. Every time we call the doctor or consult with nurses we're told that this is just something normal that will pass within the first 6 weeks or so... but 6 weeks is a long time when you're dealing with screaming for multiple hours on an already sleep-deprived nervous system.
It's also really hard on my DH. (I am using that term sarcastically... those mommy forums are out of control). He is putting in way more time with her screaming her head off because he feels like it's what he can do... but that takes a toll on anyone. Having a little person and trying to soothe them with every known thing and then having it not work is hard. It's hard.
Two days ago I was really sympathizing with the moms that leave their babies at the fire stations and police stations and truly understood why such places exist. It's for everyone's safety. And then something switched. I don't know what it was. I don't know when it happened specifically... but two days ago around 3:30 in the morning when she made this pirate sound as I picked her up to feed her after her repeated clacking... I simply resigned myself to the situation. It is what it is. She's doing her best. We're doing our best. And that's all that can be asked.
So we'll continue on. I won't drop her off at a drop-off center. She's safe. But boy oh boy am I getting this stuff down so that later when she is a teenager... I can guilt her hard. :)
We're establishing patterns. The problem is that I don't particularly love the patterns we're establishing.
Both of us love to research problems and fix them. We love to read up on things, figure them out and then find the best approach. This is problematic when dealing with a newborn's nervous system which is by definition on the fritz. We can't troubleshoot the situation and it becomes very very difficult. Every night we have a period of 2-4 hours where this little lady "winds down for the evening" by crying and screaming inconsolably. It's rough. It's hard. And I am a little bitter that nobody really covered this in classes or in books. This is the stuff that I'm utterly unprepared for. And two parent overachievers aren't really good at being unprepared. So it's hard on our egos and it's hard on her. Every time we call the doctor or consult with nurses we're told that this is just something normal that will pass within the first 6 weeks or so... but 6 weeks is a long time when you're dealing with screaming for multiple hours on an already sleep-deprived nervous system.
It's also really hard on my DH. (I am using that term sarcastically... those mommy forums are out of control). He is putting in way more time with her screaming her head off because he feels like it's what he can do... but that takes a toll on anyone. Having a little person and trying to soothe them with every known thing and then having it not work is hard. It's hard.
Two days ago I was really sympathizing with the moms that leave their babies at the fire stations and police stations and truly understood why such places exist. It's for everyone's safety. And then something switched. I don't know what it was. I don't know when it happened specifically... but two days ago around 3:30 in the morning when she made this pirate sound as I picked her up to feed her after her repeated clacking... I simply resigned myself to the situation. It is what it is. She's doing her best. We're doing our best. And that's all that can be asked.
So we'll continue on. I won't drop her off at a drop-off center. She's safe. But boy oh boy am I getting this stuff down so that later when she is a teenager... I can guilt her hard. :)
Comments
Post a Comment