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Bambino is 2 weeks old!
Hi from the other side of the first two weeks!
We survived.
It was a lot harder than expected.
Bambino loved sleeping when I was pregnant, but here in the real world he loves to eat and play and hates to sleep. Thank goodness for the recommendation to get The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD (thanks Rookie Moms) because it saved us. The Sleep Sheep is helping too.
Trig is a great daddy already and loves diaper duty (right baba?). I hate diaper duty but I think it’s just because of all the parts there are to coordinate. I don’t mind the poop so much. It’s really hard to keep bambino calm, cover his private area with a cloth so he doesn’t become a human fountain, wipe him, throw away his dirty diaper, and keep his clothes from getting messy all at the same time.
I am doing well. My only complaint is that I am exhausted. I never knew I’d be able to function on only 3 hours of non-consecutive sleep. It is amazing what the body can do. I am going to write a whole post on my recovery in a few minutes, so I will elaborate more on all of this!
Right now my focus is on feeding my boy and then getting him to sleep. Days and nights run together as the two of us figure it out, and slowly but surely I am getting to understand his cues. Most important thing I learned is to pick him up and change him as soon as he stirs a little bit. It is a lot easier to get him to eat enough when he is not frantic or exhausted from crying.
Apparently breastfeeding is going really well as in 8 days he grew way more than an inch and gained 9 oz too. I feel so proud! He is starting to have a bit more awake time now, but I am having trouble figuring out how long to let him play before turning it into naptime. If I let him stay awake more than 1o minutes after a feeding he is really crabby until the next one. When should I expect him to be awake a bit more?
I am the cow that feeds my son every 1.5-3 hours. Sometimes he seems to want to eat forever with no break in between, and then just when I think my chest is going to fall off he sleeps for 3 solid hours. I’m lucky that I haven’t had any pain, but it’s exhausting and I can’t get anything done during the day. Even writing this post has been an incredible feat.
We haven’t started cloth diapering yet and we don’t plan to start until 3 months or so. I tried a cloth diaper on him one day just to see how it looked, and it looked like the diaper ate him. He is still way too small.
At the same time, he is already so big. His coming home outfit that was so big on him just two weeks ago now fits him. It is so sad but so incredible at the same time.
And just like his mamma as a baby, he has a mohawk and little chicken legs.
I love him.
PS- On Babycenter today I discuss lots of scary firsts.
37 Responses to “Bambino is 2 weeks old!”
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WOW! I love that you admit that it is hard. I love the sunshine and rainbow posts but the truth goes a long way! Hang in there honey! He will get on a schedule soon!
@Kelly, agree kelly. thanks for the honest. love the baby center post as well!
i love him…he is too cute!
happy that everything is going so well! the first six weeks are the toughest with the fussiness…..try Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child…it talks not only about how to put the baby to sleep but how long a baby should be awake and all of those kinds of things.
They grow so fast we just purged all of Sloane’s baby baby clothes all three months and under…it is really sad!!!
@Kate,
i DEFINITELY recommend this book it saved my dd’s sleep and many of our friend’s babies sleep as well. Other is completely worth the money.
@Emily,
completely not other. Typing one handed on my phone while bfing. ..
Aw!! He is so adorable. I’m glad everything is going well for your family and the baby. 🙂
It is refreshing to read a real post. Of course there are everyday joys with children but it’s an adjustment and it’s not always easy. You are doing great though. I’m thrilled that your breastfeeding experience is going so well. When my little ones were babies I had dubbed myself “The Dairy Fairy”. Incidentally my youngest was “The Nipple Ripper”…ouch!
@Gina, These nicknames are hilarious!!
Glad to hear things are going well! Especially breast feeding (yayyy!). I only had a chunk of pain on one side and its totally gone now. They do grow so amazingly fast. I have already started a pile of clothes that don’t fit Kaylin any more!
So glad to hear things are going well. He is so adorable and I’m so glad you all are so happy. What a blessing 🙂
Sabrina, you’re doing great. It IS amazing to see a baby grow and change…makes all the hard work worth it! When you look back on these days in 3 months or so, you’ll be amazed at YOURSELF, too, for making it through and getting into a routine that almost feels easy 🙂
Congrats! it only gets easier!
good work, mama!
You are doing great 😉
don’t worry so much about sleep schedules at this age — Bean was asleep A LOT in the first few months — I would take him on walks totalling 5 hours over the course of the day while he napped. He normally always fell asleep after eating and would wake up for a few minutes before wanting to eat again — and like you, it was about every 1.5-3 hours. Eventually, they space out their feedings, but when they are so little like this, they need to fill their tiny tummies more often!
Just follow his cues and you’ll be just fine. Sooner or later you’ll have a schedule, but for now the little guy will pretty much eat and sleep all the live long day!
@shannon (the daily balance), Thanks Shannon. At what point DO you worry about schedules? And how did you manage to go on so many walks? I would love to do the same and yesterday I almost emailed you to ask! I remember you would walk for hours and hours- I want to know how you make it happen!
@RhodeyGirlTests,
You can’t do much to influence their schedule until after 6 weeks. Before that their sleeping and eating is biological. This is the hardest stage…it onlyu gets better from here!
you are alive! and in love 🙂 so, it´s not too bad 😉
I appreciate your honesty and hope it will get easier with time, but I am sure it will. One of my girlfriends just had her baby and the first 2 weeks were super tough, but now they have found a routine and really got the hang of it.
OMG! He’s waving to us! So, so, SO cute.
I’m thankful for this straight-forward post. I don’t want any sugar-coating when preparing myself for what I’m about to be in for.
You are doing a beautiful job.
I hope you get some fabulous rest soon!
This is such a good post. I am glad that you are writing abou the good and the hard stuff – it’s nice and refreshing to read! Bambino is such a cutie!
Hey Sabrina + Bambino!! Good to hear from you! Glad things are going well 🙂
I just had a baby girl in June and it gets easier once you get the baby on a schedule. I always let her play for a little bit after she ate and then would swaddle her and put her down for a nap. The happiest baby on the block saved us too..always swaddle them for sure!! She will be 4 months old on the 15th of this month and is rolling over and grabbing things already. It’s crazy how fast they change. Try to take at least one nap a day…it makes your brain feel better and the sleep deprivation goes away soon! Good luck and enjoy every moment!
He is too cute!!! And I promise you it all starts getting easier around 6 weeks – the feeding, the sleeping, everything. It’s like a magic switch!
Bambino is just too too cute, such a sweetie pie and he has the cutest face ever, I just want to pinch it! 🙂
Glad to hear things are going well and thank you for being honest with us about the hard parts, it’s great to hear what it’s really like! And I’m looking forward to the recovery post too…and thank you as well for updating us on your new and exciting journey! 🙂
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this despite your exhaustion. As you know from an earlier exchange, I’m gearing up to do all of this with my husband in January, and we have a lot of the same excitement and worries that you do. We, too, are planning on cloth diapering, and it’s a relief to hear that it’s ok not to do it at first. I’ll be really eager to know what type of cloth diapers you decided to go with and how your whole system works. We’re planning on doing the snap Bum Genius pocket diapers, one size. I’d also be curious to hear what products you find useful as far as breastfeeding goes. I have a very large chest, so I’m a little extra worried about this.
Bambino is so adorable, and you’re doing great! Congratulations and enjoy every moment, as I’m sure you are. 🙂
@Tammy @ Palm Trees and Manatees, Hi lady! How are things going?? My best item for breastfeeding is the my brest friend pillow. It makes nursing so muc easier, especially at first!
@RhodeyGirlTests, I am great! And it sounds like you are, too (even if a bit tired). 🙂 Thanks for the tip! I’ve heard great things about that!
ADORABLE! I am so thankful you posted this! While we’re still awaiting our little girl, it’s nice to hear what someone has been going through the past 2 weeks. I expect it to be completely crazy + insane the first few weeks (although, I’m pretty sure my hubs thinks nothing will change except there’s a crying baby in the mix). I’m glad you’ve survived and things are going well! He is just precious!
@Kristen @ The Concrete Runner, haha my hubby thinks the same thing. I’m sure we’ll both be in for a surprise at how draining it is.
Thanks for taking the time to write! I was thinking of you JUST today and wondered and hoped that everything was going smoothly. Big hugs as you learn the ropes of being a new mommy!
I have a six month old and the one thing I had to keep reminding myself was that in the first few weeks my only job was to raise my baby. If you house is a bit dirty and you don’t have a chance to shower it won’t matter in the long run. I had a hard time sleeping in the day b/c when my baby was asleep I felt that I should try to clean the house or prepare dinner (I go crazy when my house is untidy), but when I did sleep with her, I felt so much better. A well rested mommy is a happy mommy! Now she has an hour nap in the morning and a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon so there is plenty of time to get things done!
I started cloth diapers at 3 months as well and love them, but there was no way I could have started much earlier. The amount of laundry I was going through on just my baby’s clothing was overwhelming. By three months everything started to “normalize” and I felt like my life was under control again!
He’s beautiful. Enjoy the snuggles!
I’ve never posted before (I’m a fellow former Rhode Islander 🙂 but he has your eyes!! Congratulations!
Thanks for the update, Sabrina! I have been following your pregnancy from the beginning to learn what to expect (I’m due Jan. 1) and the newborn days seem to be the most mysterious to me right now. I am hanging on every word! haha.
I still reference this chart https://docs.google.com/document/d/11GHo4keUb2TVJUlSL1kD6HQcEgaNFBmzoQoOzcpcyas/edit?authkey=CPXE1bsO&hl=en_US&pli=1#. It’s been really helpful for sleep guidelines and expectations based on age. Good luck honey! You’re doing great!!
I love him!
Oh I remember this all too well. The first 6-8 weeks were really really difficult for me. Ella eating every 1.5 hours, nursing forever. I couldn’t even get up to go to the bathroom the first couple weeks she never wanted to be put down. [In addition I didn’t feel great]. But I LOVED the snuggle time. She would just lye on my chest for hours and hours and hours. I wasn’t working and we would just fall asleep together and snuggle. Ugh. Bliss.
It gets SO much easier as time goes on with everything else. Everyone told me that and it’s true.
They do grow fast!!! And yey for everything going well for you guys!
Sleep Sheep was our savior! I took the sound box out and would bring it everywhere with us! I also downloaded a sleep sound app on the iPhone so it wouldn’t suddenly stop but I didn’t love the idea of putting an iPhone next to baby’s head for hours.
Sabrina,
Another fan of Dr. Weissbluth here. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child is our sleeping bible around here, and Summer is now a GREAT sleeper. I way underestimated how much sleep babies truly need, and the first 4 months or so, it recommends putting the baby down after no more than 2 hours of awake time. I thought that sounded crazy, but when we tried it with Heablet, I finally realized that we were mistaking tired signals for what we thought were hunger cries. Everyone told me I would know the difference, but honestly, I didn’t, and we refer to that period of her life as “operation overfeed”. Hehe. Anyway, not everyday was perfect. There were many times when I felt like she did nothing but catnap here and there all day, but eventually things fell into place. We basically followed all of Weissbluth’s tips and advice – and we now have a very happy and well rested baby…and mom and dad get plenty of sleep as well.
So happy to read you’re doing well and adjusting to life as a mom. You sound like a natural, and your love for your little bambino shines through in every word.