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Longish parenthood update
Sep. 15th, 2005 09:40 pmMy husband has our daughter, so I have some ... time to myself! Yes! Time in which to write a parenting update.
First, I'd like to protocol today, so that I have a reminder of what life was like when she was 5.5 weeks old:
( life with a tiny baby )
Parenthood is so strange and wonderful. All the bits I dreaded are less bad than I thought. I've been spat, shat, weed and dribbled on, and I didn't mind a bit. I need to clean up after her because she can't do it herself, period. Being on duty 24/7 is much less daunting than I anticipated. The key ingredient here is a husband who will fix dinner when he gets home, look after baby while I do chores or relax, and massage my feet when I give her the last feed of the night. Girls, if you ever get married, that's the kind of man whose babies you want to have. But it also helps that she is just so fascinating. I stare at her a lot, interact with her, talk to her. She is very close to me and close to my heart. Finally, the crying. It is incredibly tiring to hear your child cry. Even so, from a source I can't quite fathom, I usually get enough strength to talk to her and reassure her that I am there for her. When I'm really stretched, I just sit with her and hold her. I figure that if she's already lost it, it won't help if I lose it, too. Poor wee soul is just starting to make sense of the world, after all.
Everything is filtered through the baby lens now. When I'm out and about, I have this sixth sense with which I scan the world around me for potential danger. I worry about things that might happen to her. I am more conscious of the environment, of the heritage I'll leave my daughter. I eat more healthily.
Oh, and routines? My girl doesn't have a routine, but she's predictable in other ways. When I'm out with her in the sling, she will sleep for 1.5-2 hours at a time if I leave her in it. If not in the sling, she'll sleep 1 hour max at home during the day. Her cycles now are eat-activity-eat-sleep, with some more activity-eat thrown in if she's snuffly or awake or cluster-feeding in the evening. When she gets hungry and I'm not at home, I grab the nearest convenient seat and whip out my breast. I hope that I have discreet breastfeeding sorted by now; being able to feed my girl wherever whenever in public is one of the greatest advantages of breastfeeding.
First, I'd like to protocol today, so that I have a reminder of what life was like when she was 5.5 weeks old:
( life with a tiny baby )
Parenthood is so strange and wonderful. All the bits I dreaded are less bad than I thought. I've been spat, shat, weed and dribbled on, and I didn't mind a bit. I need to clean up after her because she can't do it herself, period. Being on duty 24/7 is much less daunting than I anticipated. The key ingredient here is a husband who will fix dinner when he gets home, look after baby while I do chores or relax, and massage my feet when I give her the last feed of the night. Girls, if you ever get married, that's the kind of man whose babies you want to have. But it also helps that she is just so fascinating. I stare at her a lot, interact with her, talk to her. She is very close to me and close to my heart. Finally, the crying. It is incredibly tiring to hear your child cry. Even so, from a source I can't quite fathom, I usually get enough strength to talk to her and reassure her that I am there for her. When I'm really stretched, I just sit with her and hold her. I figure that if she's already lost it, it won't help if I lose it, too. Poor wee soul is just starting to make sense of the world, after all.
Everything is filtered through the baby lens now. When I'm out and about, I have this sixth sense with which I scan the world around me for potential danger. I worry about things that might happen to her. I am more conscious of the environment, of the heritage I'll leave my daughter. I eat more healthily.
Oh, and routines? My girl doesn't have a routine, but she's predictable in other ways. When I'm out with her in the sling, she will sleep for 1.5-2 hours at a time if I leave her in it. If not in the sling, she'll sleep 1 hour max at home during the day. Her cycles now are eat-activity-eat-sleep, with some more activity-eat thrown in if she's snuffly or awake or cluster-feeding in the evening. When she gets hungry and I'm not at home, I grab the nearest convenient seat and whip out my breast. I hope that I have discreet breastfeeding sorted by now; being able to feed my girl wherever whenever in public is one of the greatest advantages of breastfeeding.
