Right now I feel like that. The good news is, I've reintroduced coffee to my life. Yes, the caffeinated kind. The bad news is I need it desperately. I didn't drink coffee throughout my pregnancy, and except from a stolen sip from Tom here and there, I haven't had any since she was born. This morning I sat down and drank a whole cup, and it was magnificent. I feel like I could conquer the world. I was actually going to go for a walk but Tom went out with my keys by accident. I feel like it can't be worse for Leila than having her mother who is so sleep deprived she can't function normally without bursting into tears.
The bad news is that Leila has decided she does not need sleep. The past couple of nights she has refused to go to sleep before 10pm and then has slept for a couple of hours and has woken up thrashing around like a mad baby. Rinse and repeat every half an hour. Last night Tom drove her to Squamish and back so I could get some sleep. She was hysterical because she'd only taken one short nap and had refused all my attempts to get her to sleep. Around 8pm I was holding her on the bed rocking her back and forth sobbing, "I just want you to be happy baby, I love you so much, please just be happy." Fortunately, Tom stepped in told me to go to bed, picked her up and took her down to the car.
She did wake up in the middle of the night again, somewhere around 1am. She was kicking and thrashing and trying to nurse, but then pulling her head away. I tried swaddling her and she just wriggled out of it like an pissed-off caterpillar. I've never been angry with her before. I always manage to divert my frustration onto poor, long-suffering Norton or Tom or a pillow.When she is freaking out I will snap at one of them, but last night in the middle of the night I was furious with her. I picked her up and I was taking her out of our room and I was going to put her in the cradle in the living room and leave her there even if she cried. I didn't care. As soon as I put her down in the cradle (and woke up a bit more) I realized what was going on, she was drawing her legs up to her chest and then kicking them out like she does when she's gassy. My anger evaporated and I scooped her up and took her over to the couch where I held her on her stomach and patted her back until she was gas free. Then I made some "stomach calming tea" (fennel, cammomile, and peppermint) that is suppose to pass through my milk into her stomach and help her relax. After an hour or so she'd pooped, eaten and was feeling much more pleased with life. I swaddled her up and again and brought her back to bed, where she fell asleep instantly.
It's hard somehow not feel angry when I don't know why she's upset. I would do anything for her, but I can't do anything if I don't know what to do. Yesterday I missed Tom's mom so much. My mom is stuck in Iceland waiting for a flight home and there was seemingly no one I could call for advice on what to do. My friends with babies are all in the same boat as me, figuring out what works and what doesn't, and I really needed some sage grandmotherly advice. Even if it was just to tell me that, "this too shall pass."
The even better news is Tom's mom is coming for a visit in less than a month. When I am awake at night and can't fall back to sleep I count down the days until her next visit. Twenty-two, in case you were wondering.
A rare moment these days.
Hi Jocelyn,
ReplyDeleteI think you are doing an awesome job. Where are you living now? I would love to talk to you. I have all inclusive long distance. If that appeals, post your phone number. My email is lonijane99@hotmail.com
love, Loni
ps - the baby is gorgeous
Sorry to hear about the lack of sleep Jocelyn, must be so hard.
ReplyDeleteThe "wriggled out of it like a pissed off caterpillar" is a hilarious image. I like.
Also, Jocelyn, you are doing a great job of something that your society does not value very highly at all. It only pays lip service to mothering. Women who have the guts to do what you are doing are marginalized and isolated in the west. People will say you are "wasting your education" and "letting your brain atrophy" But there are pockets of people doing the same thing as you, and even publishing magazines. It really helps to hang out with them. So I wonder where you are living now...I should remember..... Loni, who can;t make her wordpress ID work with this blog.
ReplyDeleteAbout trying to nurse and pulling away...I had baby do that and I know lots of other who also do that. It is often because you have so much milk that they are having trouble coping with it for the moment. Walking the baby and waiting till the let-down subsides can help. Sometimes I just had to take everything off both of us and get into the bath to calm the baby down. They swallow air sometimes with this and it can be very uncomfortable. And even if you can't do anything, if you still hold her and walk her and jiggle her - whatever - at least she knows that you did not abandon her when she needed comfort, even if you couldn't figure out how to "fix it". But you have to be good to yourself in order to have the "stuff" to be able to do that for her. So I hope that at least you are napping when she naps. again, love, Loni
ReplyDeleteThanks Loni,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely bunch of comments to wake up to. I'm so glad Ashleigh showed you this. Last night was much, much better, we actually got some sleep for longer than two hours.
I think the latching and pulling away thing has to do with her being gassy. She seems to be looking for comfort, but then her stomach bothers her so much she gets distracted. Though she does favour the one side with the slower flow so I will bare that in mind for future reference, thanks again!
Love
Joss
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like my imagery, my English degree has to be good for something right?
J