When I was struggling hard during that first week with our newborn girl, everyone would hug me and say, “The first week is the worst and the first three months are bad. After that, it DOES get easier.” And they were right. THANK GOD. So, on this #MomdayMonday, let's talk about that magical three month mark:
Those first three months really, really sucked. It was like an endless round of Russian Roulette – except you never had the opportunity to die and release yourself from the misery. It was just a neverending cycle of pooping, peeing, crying, screaming, nursing struggles, and no normal sleeping pattern. I mean, there were absolutely wonderful moments of sweetness, love, and wonder during this time but ugh – the other stuff was overwhelming. I think what makes it so… MUCH… is that you're so new at being a parent and the baby is new at being a person. It's normal for everyone to feel out-of-whack.
For me, it was the lack of a routine that threw me so badly. I could handle the crying and pooping and non-sleeping – IF I knew WHEN they were going to happen. But I didn't and so I spent a lot of time confused about what my baby girl was trying to “tell” me. And even though it's really silly, I felt so much pressure to know what was going on. So when people would ask me “What's wrong with her?” and I didn't know – it made me feel inadequate and frustrated.
The good news? Like a magical lightswitch, when Melanie approached that three month old mark – she settled down a lot. Oh sure, it's not all perfect. She still fights sleep during the day and spends part of her night in our bed with us. But! She does sleep in her crib a lot now and we're getting a bit more of a regular routine that we can anticipate and plan around. And that? Is SO awesome for this momma.
What changes happened when your baby hit that magical three month mark? Let talk about it over in my Instagram Stories – just search for #MomdayMonday.
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