Well Cedric and I are 10 weeks into the process going from life in the womb to fully functional person and its time for an update. The two biggest things that I've been grappling with are sleep and dealing with the reality of having a baby.
Let's start with sleep because its what everyone seems to be asking me about. "Is he sleeping through the night?" Is the question I get asked all the time. The short answer is no, he is not. But I never thought such an innocuous question would irk me so much. I realize that when people who do not have kids ask me this, its their way of making conversation. They know that babies have a reputation for not sleeping and its their way of showing concern. Much they same way that people ask you "How are you doing?" And in the same way that most of us would respond either "Fine, thanks. How are you?" or "You're never going to believe what happened...." People who don't have kids usually just want to hear that its also fine when it comes to sleeping. I'm not sure what to make of it when other parents ask if Cedric is sleeping through the night. The child is only 10 weeks old, why would anyone who has had kids think that he is even close to sleeping through the night? But I must keep in mind that my definition of "sleeping through the night" is different than others'. To me, sleeping through the night means 8-10 hours of consecutive sleep. I hear that some parents will count a 5 hour stretch when it is dark as "sleeping through the night." My words to those parents, is that you're kidding yourself. If you are getting up in the night to feed, comfort, or change your baby you are not sleeping through the night. So when parents ask about Cedric's night time sleeping I've become unsure how to respond because it feels like its become a competition or a judge of parenting skills. Or maybe its because I'm still desperately waiting for Cedric to sleep in consistent 5 hour blocks at night that sleep has become a sore spot for me. Or I could just be moody because last night I never got more than 2 hours of consecutive sleep.
But enough about sleep...on to sacrifice!
Two weekends ago was the UMR 35th CCF alumni reunion. Zach and I attended and brought Cedric with us. Zach got to spend most of the evening with old CCF'ers talking, eating and reminiscing. I spent most of the evening in a dark nursery feeding Cedric, comforting him because he was very overstimulated and trying to get him to fall asleep. Before that though we had gone to visit our old campus minister Allen and his family. It was really great to see Allen and he seems to be doing well at home. His fancy wheelchair was pretty cool and I think he is making amazing progress since the accident. While we were there I needed to feed Cedric, which I did in their daughter's room. After eating a fabulous meal a la Mom, it was necessary to change his diaper where I proceeded to experience the worst blowout of my entire life! Poop had literally exploded out of the back of his diaper, up his back and out of the neck of his shirt. It was horrible! Zach came to my rescue with fresh clothes but there was nothing we could do to hide the poop on the bead spread. I wiped it up the best I could but I had to tell Chrissy and even though she was so sweet and understanding, I couldn't help but be utterly mortified. Chrissy made the remark that when Lilly, her daughter, was that little there were many times that she felt like she had sacrificed her life on the alter of the changing table. She said it with a smile which gives me hope, because those words were like a soothing balm to my soul. It was so comforting to hear affirmation that motherhood is a tough profession.
But I would be remiss if I didn't say that I do love being a mom and most of the time Cedric and I have a lot of fun together. Watching him grow and change is something truly extraordinary and most of my struggles come from ignorance rather than him being a "bad baby."
Here are Cedric's stats from his 2 month checkup.
Height: 24 3/4 inches long (95th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs (97th percentile)
No comments:
Post a Comment