Friday, February 22, 2008

More pictures and a look at reality

For those of you that aren't fond of babies, well, find another blog to read. :)

Iain is doing really well! He's putting on weight like a champ; he gained 10 oz. in a week! I guess I must be doing something right. :)

I have to admit, I had NO IDEA how much work babies are. Really, I can't believe I've gone through 26 years of life in such a blissfully ignorant cloud. Fortunately, the days are becoming more manageable, as I'm getting more sleep, in patchy 2-hour increments. It's the nights that I dread, though having cable TV has been HUGE blessing; at 3 am, sandwiched between 76 channels of info-mercials, there are usually 1 or 2 channels with movies or news that help keep my eyes open as I stumble through Iain's hour-and-a-half+ routine.

Iain's routine:
- Baby cries, waking mom who sleepily looks at watch and assesses that he's probably hungry
- Baby falls asleep as soon as he's picked up (but starts crying if put down)
- Change baby's diaper in attempt to fully awaken baby so he'll eat well
- Nurse baby and try to keep him awake for a good feeding
- Estimate how much formula baby needs
- Warm bottle while changing stinky diaper
- Give baby the bottle, S-L-O-W-L-Y (I learned that lesson quickly, after watching my poor little son vomit ounces and ounces of milk all over everyone and everything.) :(
- Burp baby and decide whether or not he needs another bottle
- Possibly change another diaper, and probably use 2 in the process, because he's peed all over the dry one before I can get it on properly.
- Change an outfit and/or mop up pee which is soaking baby's(freshly-washed) hair.
- Give a little more bottle, in attempt to calm baby who is hysterical from baptizing himself with the golden fountain.
- Burp baby some more, trying not to wake him
- Bundle baby, trying not to wake him
- Place baby in crib, turn off all lights, go to bed myself
- Lay in bed and listen to baby's grunts, groans and cries
- Thank the Lord for my selfless husband, as he stumbles out of bed to pick up our cranky needing-to-be-cuddled baby, who isn't ready to be out of the womb yet, let alone across the room from his mom, in his own bed.

My better judgement aside, I've begun letting Iain sleep next to me in bed in the mornings, as this seems to be the one way to assure that he'll actually sleep (no fussing), allowing me to get some rest. (Yes, I keep all the pillows and blankets away from him, and he's not near Mark or the edge of the bed.)

...and Mark wonders why I don't respond with equal enthusiasm when he says "Iain's so fun!"

Here are a few more pictures of Iain (and one with me, resting between the chaos.)

Mom and Iain:
"Hey guys, I'm still hungry!":
"I'll let you guess, am I hungry, or am I just awake? I'll never tell...until you try to do something that you can't do while feeding me, like eat your dinner, at which point I'll let you know that I'm actually really hungry.":

7 comments:

Jesse Ray said...

I am fond of babies and blogs about them. It is more fun than you realize since I can to think about how my kids sleep through the night now...unless we have a bed wetting accident...(oh brother, more to look forward to).

amycb said...

Hey Betsy - he's an adorable little munchkin! I too was blown away by the work it takes to care for a baby. I now think how on earth did my mother have 6 of these? Fortunately it's getting a little easier but he's still one of the most crabby babies on the planet.

Heidi said...

Blog away! Nice to have someone march ahead and let me know what the terrain looks like before I get there (nope, not pregnant yet). Anyway, just wanted to say that I think this Little Man is oodles cuter than your last one. Very serious looking, though. But perhaps 0 years old is a little young to have much of a sense of humor? Love to all of you!

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Kate said...

He's sooooo cute! I love reading your posts and seeing the pictures of him. Love you :)

the observer said...

Oh my... what a cutie!!! You have done well, Betsy! The nights sound way too familiar... but they do get better! Michael is 9 months old and he only wakes up twice a night now! Oh wait... that's not so good. But most babies are sleeping through the night at his age, so you will be well-rested again at some point in your life, I promise!!! Lots of love from me... call sometime!

Meghan said...

I love reading your blog! You write with such a wonderful sense of humor! Babies are so much fun to hear about. I think Iain gets cuter and cuter with every picture you post--he is soooo cute! You will get more sleep eventually. Your dad told me once when I wasn't getting any sleep "This too shall pass." And he was right.