Little Bug is 16 weeks old today. Much growth and development has occurred over the past 10 weeks since I wrote the first post on this new blog. It is amazing how much an infant grows and changes over the first three months of life.
Week 1 of Little Bug’s life was spent in the NICU. Her birth mom was on methadone and Little Bug had to go through withdrawals. As awful as what she went through was, it could have been a whole lot worse. They told us the best thing for her was as little stimulation as possible. So our NICU routine consisted of feeding her, changing her diaper and putting her right back in the isolate to sleep. And sleep is mainly what Little Bug did. After 5 days in the NICU, we brought Little Bug home. She was 7 days old.
Weeks 2 and 3 were spent with family in and out of the house, which was WONDERFUL. My mother was with me the week Little Bug came home from the hospital. Then, the third week of Little Bug’s life, my aunt was here for a week. It was absolutely wonderful to have my mother and my aunt’s help in those first 2 weeks of having Little Bug home.
Week 4, reality hit. It was the first time I was home all day with Little Bug by myself. And it. was. hard. VERY HARD. Harder than I ever imagined. You see, I’ve been taking care of babies all my life and I just assumed (very wrongly) that caring for my OWN BABY would be a cinch! I quickly discovered taking care of a newborn round the clock is very hard work. I like to refer to those days as living in “Survival Mode”! That is essentially what you do – just survive each day.
I remember there was a time that I couldn’t get dressed, brush my teeth or go to the bathroom without knowing Little Bug would cry and I’d have to go tend to her. I would have to time getting dressed when she was sleeping or else I’d be listening to her cry while I got dressed.
Those were also the days that I spent trying to figure out Little Bug. What she likes and what she doesn’t like. The turning point was around July 10th when I watch the video Happiest Baby on the Block and learned of the Miracle Blanket.
The Miracle Blanket became my best friend in one night flat when Little Bug was 6 weeks old. Little Bug had been waking often in the night and wasn’t sleeping peacefully. The very night I started swaddling her in the Miracle Blanket she did a 5 hour stretch and then a 3 hour stretch. That became the norm from that night on! I have since let two other mothers borrow our extra Miracle Blanket and they are hooked too! 
Weeks 4, 5 and 6 were probably the toughest for me during that Survival Mode time period. I had to learn to RELAX and go with the flow and do whatever worked for me and Little Bug. I was too focused on trying to get Little Bug on a routine! Newborns don’t do routines. I had to be patient and wait for her to grow and mature before starting her on the EASY Routine from The Baby Whisperer.
Week 7, I began to feel like we were over the hump of Survival Mode. We went on vacation that week and it was nice to be with family and have help all day long!
Week 8 was my mom’s first week of no work after retiring! What a blessing that has been. We are able to spend so much time together. We had so much fun running errands together, going to lunch and just spending time together. I started going over to her house on Tuesdays and Thursdays since we eat dinner there on those two nights every week. Sometimes, she would take Little Bug and let me nap, read or write blogs. Then on Friday, she would come to my house and take care of Little Bug while I did laundry and got my house cleaned! I know I am tremendously blessed to have my mother be able to help me so much.
When Little Bug turned 12 weeks old, I started letting her nap on her belly in whatever room I was in at the time. She napped so well that way – for about 2 weeks! It is interesting how when you find something that works, it isn’t long and it no longer works anymore because babies grow and change at such rapid rates. (The Miracle Blanket is the only thing that has worked for a LONG period of time.)
When Little Bug turned 15 weeks I started noticing her waking up in the middle of a nap and wanting her paci. I would go give it to her and she would sleep for a little bit longer and then want it again! This way of napping was no longer working since Little Bug wasn’t getting the uninterrupted sleep she needed. I decided it was time to let Little Bug cry it out and start sleeping in her crib for naptimes.
I started on September 9, 2009. The first time she cried for almost a hour. It was so hard to let her cry, but I knew it was for her good, so I stuck it out. I know some people do not think you should let a baby cry it out. They feel it is cruel and even abusive. The book Babywise has a very bad reputation out there, especially among mothers who chose to do Attachment Parenting.
I decided to read the book Babywise myself and form my own educated opinions after having read the book cover to cover.
After reading that sleep is crucial to a baby’s proper growth and development and that sleeping is a skill you can expect your child to master, I decided letting Little Bug cry it out if I know she is fed, diapered and sleepy, would be the best thing for her.
There is a chapter in the book Babywise that talks about how critical good sleep is for a baby/child. It talks about how a baby goes through light sleep and then deep sleep cycles every 30 – 45 minutes. Often times when a baby is transitioning between the two, they start to cry and mom or dad assumes baby is ready to wake up. But really, the opposite is true. Baby is just trying to transition to deep sleep. If you leave baby alone, she will transition into deep sleep and get the rest her little body needs to be able to grow and mature properly. A baby that cat naps all day is not getting the deep sleep they need.
As I said, the first time Little Bug took at nap with no paci she cried for almost an hour before going to sleep. Then it was a 20 minute or so cry. It wasn’t long and Little Bug was crying for only 5 minutes or less when laid down for a nap. Sure enough, 30-45 minutes after getting to sleep I will sometimes hear Little Bug stir. Instead of popping the paci back in her mouth, she has learned the art of putting herself back to sleep. Little Bug wakes up so rested and SO HAPPY, which Babywise says you should expect from a baby getting proper rest.
We are on week two of napping in the crib and crying it out if necessary. Little Bug is doing pretty well. She has had a couple days of insisting on crying for 15 minutes every nap! That is hard to listen to but she does go to sleep and takes a good nap every time. Today has been good. She only cried 10 minutes this morning and just now she only cried less than 5 minutes.
It’s a learning process. Some days will be better than others. But the outcome will be GOOD for all. A baby who takes naps on a routine and Mommy who knows she will have some down time during naptime!
So, here we are at 16 weeks! I can hardly believe Little Bug is going to be 4 months old at the end of this month.
Motherhood is definitely an adventure. An adventure I waited almost 28 years to experience. It is amazing how one little girl can have such a huge impact on my life. I did not expect my life to be completely changed from one day to the next when we brought her home from the hospital!
But my life has changed. Completely. Life is that much sweeter now. Yes, life is way more chaotic than it used to be with just me, Pup and Daddy Bug in the house.
But I am finally a wife and MOTHER. My dream my entire life. I know I am tremendously blessed to be a stay-at-home mother to Little Bug.
And I am learning to roll with the punches of motherhood.
