Working Hard at Hard Work
My baby is nine months old.
It's been a pretty rough nine months.
He had pretty extreme jaundice when he was a newborn. Maybe because of low milk supply? I don't know. He was always one who wanted to nurse. A LOT.
He got his first two teeth when he has only four months old. He's had two flu-like sicknesses (one may have been corona, but I really don't know) that left him coughing and coughing. And his mama had surgery, so for quite a few weeks he was only brought to me to nurse and then taken away because it hurt too much for me to hold him for long, which resulted in separation anxiety once I was actually able to care for him mostly by myself. That was not fun. He had been away from me so much, he suddenly didn't want to be away from me for even a moment.
I know it could have been a lot harder, and I get that many people go through much worse things than I do, but it's been hard for us!
It feels like I've only been able to experience the little guy's "normal" happy baby personality for like a week (maybe two) at a time before something else would happen.
Except for this past month. This past month has been so nice!
His breastfeeding is more efficient so we aren't spending SO much time nursing. He's really enjoying solids. He loves his siblings and will want me to put him down to play with them. He is sleeping more on his own and taking consistent naps. He is doing a lot of smiling and babbling and moving himself around the room.
It's not all sunshine and roses. He is still hard work to take care of (I am not fully healed yet, and he fights sleep like his life depends on it), but the progress we have made is making life a bit more enjoyable.
Why am I telling you all this?
Well, I know that you go through tough times with your kiddos, too, and I just want to encourage you with the thought that this trying stage will not last forever.
Your baby will eventually sleep through the night. That tooth will break through. Your toddler will be potty trained. Your preschooler will learn that throwing tantrums doesn't work. Your grade schooler will get the concept of multiplication, eventually. Your preteen will stop rolling her eyes. Your teen will realize what an amazing mother you are.
Challenges come and go, and are replaced with new ones. We are always being humbled, learning, and then being humbled again. Life is a journey with many ups and downs. But that's what makes us strong, mamas.
You are doing an amazing work. It is work. But it is work with such a worthwhile purpose.
Keep up the good fight, mama!
Lee
It's been a pretty rough nine months.
He had pretty extreme jaundice when he was a newborn. Maybe because of low milk supply? I don't know. He was always one who wanted to nurse. A LOT.
He got his first two teeth when he has only four months old. He's had two flu-like sicknesses (one may have been corona, but I really don't know) that left him coughing and coughing. And his mama had surgery, so for quite a few weeks he was only brought to me to nurse and then taken away because it hurt too much for me to hold him for long, which resulted in separation anxiety once I was actually able to care for him mostly by myself. That was not fun. He had been away from me so much, he suddenly didn't want to be away from me for even a moment.
I know it could have been a lot harder, and I get that many people go through much worse things than I do, but it's been hard for us!
It feels like I've only been able to experience the little guy's "normal" happy baby personality for like a week (maybe two) at a time before something else would happen.
Except for this past month. This past month has been so nice!
His breastfeeding is more efficient so we aren't spending SO much time nursing. He's really enjoying solids. He loves his siblings and will want me to put him down to play with them. He is sleeping more on his own and taking consistent naps. He is doing a lot of smiling and babbling and moving himself around the room.
It's not all sunshine and roses. He is still hard work to take care of (I am not fully healed yet, and he fights sleep like his life depends on it), but the progress we have made is making life a bit more enjoyable.
Why am I telling you all this?
Well, I know that you go through tough times with your kiddos, too, and I just want to encourage you with the thought that this trying stage will not last forever.
Your baby will eventually sleep through the night. That tooth will break through. Your toddler will be potty trained. Your preschooler will learn that throwing tantrums doesn't work. Your grade schooler will get the concept of multiplication, eventually. Your preteen will stop rolling her eyes. Your teen will realize what an amazing mother you are.
Challenges come and go, and are replaced with new ones. We are always being humbled, learning, and then being humbled again. Life is a journey with many ups and downs. But that's what makes us strong, mamas.
You are doing an amazing work. It is work. But it is work with such a worthwhile purpose.
Keep up the good fight, mama!
Lee
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