We are quickly approaching the 8 week mark...2 months already?! How is this possible? The time has flown by and I can't believe how much I have learned in the past couple of weeks. I'm definitely hoping to blog more frequently then once a month, but not pressuring myself into that. I would love to record every little detail of our babe, but I'm also realistic on the expectations of my own time.
Something I wanted to discuss this post was the topic of attachment parenting. Surprisingly, when I was pregnant, I did not go into information overload. I am definitely a Type-A personality and have bought books upon books, as well as researched many of topics that have come up throughout my adult life. But while pregnant, that was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to experience things on my own without others opinions or unneeded information clouding my own judgement. Of course when things popped up, like my Group B Strep test results, I researched enough to fulfill my own needs, but again tried not to overload on the information. (my husband might have a different opinion on that last statement)
This was also true with how we were going to parent our new baby. I knew I wanted to breastfeed, and we had registered for a bassinet so the baby could sleep next to us the first few months. But other then that, I guess we wanted to see how things went before committing to anything.
I had heard of co-sleeping, and always thought to myself, "aren't the afraid of rolling over onto their baby, or SIDS, ...and what about how it effect the relationship with their significant other???" I had also heard of baby wearing, and had registered for the baby k'tan as I had heard good reviews. We had friends who raved about wearing their babies throughout the day, how much easier it made their lives, and despite other's opinions of their children becoming "clingy" it was actually quite the opposite.
Once Charlotte got here and we attempted breastfeeding, I was quick to learn it was just easier to keep her in bed with us as we were feeding on demand rather then trying to set some sort of schedule. She always seemed to wake up when I tried to put her back into the bassinet after nursing; and when she woke up and wanted to nurse, I could more quickly attend to her needs if she was already in the bed with us. Less crying = happier baby and mama (and daddy).
I haven't been the best at wearing Charlotte. Her favorite position is over the shoulder, and the only position I had learned to put her in the sling was the "Newborn Kangaroo" position. She didn't really like this as her favorite position is being high up over the shoulder to explore. As she's gotten older we have been able to adapt to new positions that I think will work better for us, and she actually ends up falling asleep while I do dishes or laundry, which is great!
Keeping Charlotte so close all the time has helped nurture our bond. I feel like I am more able to efficiently meet her needs as it has made me more attentive and I've learned to interpret her nonverbal cues. For example, I know when she whines and doesn't really cry or get red in the face she usually needs a diaper change. If she's smacking her lips or eating her hands she's hungry. If I don't catch those cues fast enough and she starts to cry and get red in the face I know she's hungry. So I would say we naturally fell into attachment parenting.
The thing I didn't expect was thinking I'd be judged on these techniques. I'm always hesitant to tell people we're co-sleeping, and I think that's because I was quick to judge others prior to having my own child. I've learned throughout this process to be willing to be flexible. This works for us now, but it may not in a few months. We'll just have to wait and see.
In other news, mom and baby are doing well. I'm still not fully healed but I have been cleared to do some light exercise. I am so ecstatic about this, and know it will also help me mentally. We are currently breastfeeding with shields. Our lactation consultant would like me to gradually stop using them and attempt nursing without, but I'm addicted. It's just so easy to put them on and she latches right away. Without is...well, it's work. I feel like they're my crutch and I just need to put them away for a few hours and really try. Maybe that'll be my goal for the rest of the week.
Charlotte is amazing! She is so much more alert, I can tell her vision is improving as she will track things that are further away from her. She is doing really well during tummy time and is keeping her head up off the play mat a couple of inches for a minute or so at a time. She is starting to coo and her voice is getting louder. She does this little yelp as a warning cry before she gets really mad, which I think is so cute. She smiles so much more during the mornings, especially when I'm changing her diaper. We got my mom an iPad for Mother's Day and have been face-timing a couple of times a week.
I'll add some pictures soon of our many adventures...
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