my baby is 9 months old in two weeks. this makes me feel wise and seasoned. my neighbor had a baby a few weeks ago and we talked shop for a few minutes the other day. the poor love, she's in the middle of it, you know? it kind of makes me shiver with happiness that it's her and not me in that situation. yes, even after all i went through to get the nub here i say this.
i guess i say it because newborns are hard. they are wonderful and perfect and smell amazing, but they are HARD. 8.5 months old=no where near as hard and so.so.so. much fun. i am so there right now and enjoying every second.
it really does get better, i assured my exhausted neighbor
really? she asked hopefully
the thing is, even when someone tells you it'll get better you don't really believe them. it's like everyone who told me nursing was hard. how could something so natural be so hard i stupidly pondered.
hard? laugh a long with me now at how dumb i was.
turns out it was my everest and sherpa lop sing ting left me halfway up without an oxygen tank. but holy crap i somehow survived and lived to tell my story now didn't i?
my poor neighbor, bless her overwhelmed heart. it's amazing how those tiny bundles of flesh and poop can mess with your head so bad. before she really knows it she'll be a seasoned war veteran just like me, dishing out advice and nodding her head in sympathetic understanding to the next new mother tearing her hairs out in frustration.
my poor neighbor, bless her overwhelmed heart. it's amazing how those tiny bundles of flesh and poop can mess with your head so bad. before she really knows it she'll be a seasoned war veteran just like me, dishing out advice and nodding her head in sympathetic understanding to the next new mother tearing her hairs out in frustration.
like i said, babies are hard, the entire process of it all is hard. the planning, the trying, failing at trying, succeeding at trying, gestating, birthing, feeding, not sleeping, everything. it's enough to send you over the edge. but we as women and mothers keep trying, we keep doing, we learn by living and that's what makes it all come full circle.
the day will finally come when you've got a grasp on things. you might be barely hanging on and it won't always stay that way but it still counts. these things have a way of working themselves out to perfection. trust me, i've got a chubby little man with seven brand new teeth and a penchant for tickles as proof.
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So true, Miss Kalli. Newborns ARE hard. One of the reasons I've been waiting so long to have another one!
No one ever tells you the crappy part about your mind messing with you and how sometimes you want to die. But seriously, life is SO much better after they are six months old.
Well said! Shar and I were just talking about this this past weekend.
No one ever tells you that when you have a baby you wonder if you'll ever be normal or sleep again. Or that you'll think that you've just totally ruined your life, and you'll never be able to have fun ever again. I did.
Some people LOVE newborns. I am not one of them. Get me to 6 months, and I'm great (although, Laine is proving to be pretty enjoyable...after the first 6 weeks were over).
Then you get all comfortable when your first gets older, and you lose all of that weight...and then it's time to have another.
I've been told, "Newborns are a piece of cake compared to teenagers." Time will tell.
Amen. Need I say more?
Are you going to kick me if I say it's actually been easier than I thought? Maybe I just had expectations of it being REALLY hard and so I was pleasantly surprised that it was just sometimes hard. I don't know. Or maybe it's that I've totally let myself off the hook when it comes to keeping my house clean which frees up a lot for time for things like naps and blogging.
I'm still in shock that your baby has slept totally through the night consistently since 8 weeks old. Even during teething? If so, that is magic. The longest my baby has slept without a feeding is 9 hours.
i won't kick you katrina, maybe a soft slap but no kicking :-)
i think your plate is plenty full so an easy baby is exactly what you deserve!
Kalli I'm scared.
Really scared.
I know I've done this before, but it doesn't seem like it. Is it okay if I cry for a little bit now?
Amen and Hallelujiah.
i like you, kal. the nursing thing has been a scourge for me, too. Like truly brings tears to think about nursing future children - hardest thing about a new baby, hands down (for me).
but everything else has been heaven. i'd have ten children if they could appear magically in a pastel-colored egg and not need to be nursed :)
Here's the good news: The next newborns you have will be so easy you won't believe it. Greg and I laugh at how clueless and pathetic we were with Ethan. The girls were a walk in the park. Seriously.
I find it so refreshing when moms are so candid and honest. I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for the newborn stage. I did the trying, failing, trying again thing and now that we succeeded I have moments of panic. I was shocked by how the crappy weeks 6-12 of pregnancy have been, so I'm trying to get it in my head that months 1-5 or 6 of life with a newbie will be crappier. . .
Thanks for saying it like it is, yet again! Babies are hard...but worth it! Congrats again on the new calling :)
Oh, and p.s. it wasn't 6 months for me, it was about 2 weeks ago...and she's one next week :)
thanks Kalli, I needed to hear this!
My favorite stage is the newborn stage. It is pure bliss for me. The whole first couple of years are. I love it.
What is really hard for me is the way I feel during the newborn stage. Really uncomfortable in my skin, leaking copiously above and below the equator...Extra pounds, sore everywhere, tired, tired, tired. Nursing was hell with my first baby because she was premature. Nursing was heaven with my second, but both times took at least two months to get off the ground.
It took us five years and four miscarriages to have our daughter. I had our son 18 months later, then lost two more babies. I went through a lot of heartache to get my children here, and sometimes I feel guilty for not being totally happy all the time about having them. They are 9 and 8 now, and the challenges are just different.
It is still HARD!!
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