I didn’t want to do a regular blog but I think in
coordination with his 9 month health and progression check, I figured it would
be nice to take some notes, so that in future I can look back and remember.
They say
that you never forget the first time you lay eyes on your baby; and boy are
they right. A million and one thing’s rush into your head, including:
‘That’s my baby!’,
‘That’s MY baby??’, ‘How precious and beautiful!!’, ‘A whole other person just
came out of me, how is that possible?’ ‘I love him so much!’ ‘He’s really
slippery and warm, hope I don’t drop him’, ‘What do I say? Quick say something’
- “Hey buddy!”- ‘The first thing you say to your son is “hey buddy”? What is
that? You could have said something more affectionate’. ‘Ah who care’s, I’ve
got his whole life to talk to him’. ‘I can’t believe he has ears, a nose, eyes,
a mouth and everything is all there in working order. I didn’t tell my body to
do any of that, it just happened without any instruction from me!’ ‘What a
precious gift God has given.’ ‘Thank you, I don’t deserve this I didn’t pay
or order him, you gave him to us freely. ’
The atmosphere in the room when having a baby is not like
anything I’ve experienced before. I can tell you that there is most definitely a
spiritual side to it. On reflection, it made me in awe of God’s creation more
than ever before. I felt a peace in my spirit throughout. Even though
physically my body was a in the heat of battle, I knew God had me in the palm
of his hand. It’s a peace that passes
all understanding.
From being focused on only yourself and partner to having
this tiny precious life to nurture is a shell shock. Nothing can prepare you
for that.
Once you’ve started to figure out a routine that works,
things get a lot easier. I know for us, having a couple of hours at the end of
the day and before bed is crucial to our sanity. Not that being a parent sends
you insane, but each person needs that time to have to themselves.
A rough routine outline for Seth in the first 3 months was:-
Eat every 2-3 hours (breastfed), sleep, poop, be awake for
an hour or so, feed, sleep, poop, awake and so on. After 3 months he was waking
every hour of the night- a very very hard time indeed. At this point you get
used to the lack of sleep, but then taking it to every hour was horrific. That
lasted 2 and an half weeks. Then he started sleeping better at night, waking
2-3 times a night for a feed. At 6
months he started sleeping through the night totally and was weaning onto
solids. At 7-8 months he was waking once or twice for feeds, and now we are
sleeping right through from 7.30pm-7.00am.
He is such a good baby. So laid back, takes life as it
comes. As long as he has some sort of routine he is a very happy boy.
As far a parenting techniques goes, every baby is different.
We found what works for us. He slept in his own room from 6 months and as a
family that was the best decision. We started getting our sleep back and Seth
slept properly for the first time. Some parents
will disagree, but we trained Seth and allowed him to learn to Seth self sooth.
He knows how to comfort himself to sleep, rarely cry’s himself to sleep and mainly
babbles and talks to himself before drifting off. Sometimes I will sing and
rock him to sleep or nurse him to sleep but not often as he expects it every
time he goes down for a nap. He knows we are there and lets us know
when he needs us. We don’t have him in
the bed with us anymore and haven’t since he’s been in his own room - apart
from morning time when it’s time to get up. I bring him through to us and we
get cuddles as a family and wake up slowly together. If he wakes in the night,
I’ll feed him in the dark and he will go back down without a fuss (feeding in
the night hasn’t happened for a while).
Seth loves to eat. Food has always been a hit with him,
whether it was my milk or actual food. He could just eat and eat. We’ve started
using portion control with his 3 meals a day. He is part infant lead, part baby
food. An example of a normal day is half a jar of 7months + porridge, my milk
between breakfast and lunch. For lunch he will have a piece of toast with a bit
of butter, some banana, sometimes his organic crisps or quavers and then his Heinz
baby biscuit. My milk again between lunch and dinner. Then for dinner he can
have a bit of what we are eating, veg, mash, meat, etc. If I feel he hasn’t had
enough, I’ll give him half a jar of 7+ food and then a pudding i.e .rice pudding, custard or a rich tea
biscuit.
He has become his own little character now and pushing
boundaries, moving everywhere, shaking his head when he doesn’t want something
and staring at the stuff he does want. He cuddles when tired and whinges when
teething. He is hard to please when teething and it’s slobber city. Currently he has 7 teeth and the 8th one is pushing through. He LOVEs cleaning
his teeth with his Shaun the sheep tooth brush and bathing with his ducks and
empty bottles. When getting him ready to bath, he squeals and
squeaks so much, and soon as he sees the water he’s diving off me wanting to be
in the water NOW – infact Deryck has to help because he’s so adamant and strong.
He copies noises that he hears now i.e. when calling daddy
and the phones ringing or if I’m singing then he’ll try imitating the same
sound and note. Talking he says ‘nama’ for me and ‘bada’ for dada’, ‘iiiiiiiiiiiii’
for hi, ‘Raarrrrahhhh’ when he roar like a lion at him. Actions he know- shakes
his head for no, waves to say hi, can do ‘hi-five’, when he wants food he will
keep bringing his fist to his mouth and look at me. We are getting the hang of
the milk sign. If he wants to touch objects or explore he will mainly go for it.
If he’s not sure, he will look at me to see if it’s alright.
Anyway, Seth has certainly turned in to a toddler, from the
moment he wakes up his brain is busy. One lovely thing at the moment is in the
morning when he wakes up in his cot, he doesn’t shout for us or cry, he sits in
his cot playing with his blanket or hands waving around the room at no one. We
only know he’s awake if he’s playing his own game and chatting or giggling to
himself. Sometimes I have to go in and see if he’s awake coz he so quiet.
Supporting other mum’s who are in the same boat or taking guidance
from more experienced mums is also what I love about being a mum. Sometimes it
is hard and at first they don’t tell you about the diarrhea nappies, projectile
vomit that land in your husband’s mouth, or about changing their clothes 20
times a day, the broken cups and ornaments, the heaps of food that seems to end
up on the floor rather than in their bellies, the endless washing, the days
when you don’t have a conversation with another adult and not being able to wear
your hair down as they end up swinging on it and pulling most of it out. Networking
with other mum’s is a laugh and to share your experiences with them is part of what it’s
all about. It bonds women together in a way that is different than anything I’ve
known before, and for that I am grateful.
I love Seth, being mum, and Deryck being a father; he love’s
him more than anything. I am so blessed to have the two of them.
I may do another update at a year old in July to keep
as a memory.
Until then :)
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