on having a newborn.

My babies are never to the books, if you know what I mean. The first time around I read a lot of books, books that were suppose to prepare me for having a newborn. How they ate, slept, played, even how to tell what type of personality they would have. I had this image in my head of how my newborn was suppose to be, I even had a whole routine planned out for my newborn.

Then my newborn came, my first-born, and all my baby prep was pretty much thrown out the window. I was flabbergasted when she didn't nurse every two-three hours. What? That is what the books told me. Then why is she nursing again after only an hour. She is only sleeping in increments of thirty minutes. What? The books told me she should be sleeping in long periods of time. She is suppose to sleep, eat, play. That is her routine, at least according to the books. Then why does she sleep after I nurse? I got so caught up on what the books told me to do, that often times I got frustrated with myself and thought I was failing, when in reality, I just needed to listen to myself and do what felt right.

Now I have another newborn. I didn't even bother to refresh on the baby prep books*. I'm so much more relaxed. I'm just listening to her cues and doing what I'm suppose to do as a mother. With that being said, I went to  Audrey Naomi's (I do this like five times a day, mix up their names)  two-week checkup yesterday and was drilled with questions from the doctor about her you know, routine. [Which by the way, she is doing fabulously. Already gained a pound since birth and I'm one proud mama that it all came from me.]

Doc: How often is she nursing? Me: Uh, uh, every two hours I suppose.
Doc: So when do you typically nurse her? Around noon? Me: I'm not sure, I nurse on demand.
Doc: How long is she sleeping for you at a time? Me: She wakes about every two hours. Doc: Okay, well, she should start to give you four hours at a time.
Doc: When is her best sleep time? Me: During the day. Doc: She should start to distinguish between night and day now. Me: (Trying to make up for the last answer) Well, she was up today from 9:30-12:30 this morning.

My point in all this? I'm okay with my babies not being to the books or having a routine (yet). Hello, they are newborns. And even though I am very much sleep-deprived right now, I'm not letting it get to me as much this time around because I know this newborn stage is short and I want to soak up all the squishy-ness and gassy smiles and quirky hand movements and grunting in her sleep noises. [But if I could sleep for a day straight, I totally would.]

Having a newborn rocks. It really does.



*By they way, I'm not saying reading baby books is a bad thing. Some books out there are very insightful and useful. But, I am just pointing out that not all newborns fit to the mold, you know.