Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Four Weeks For Real...



Elijah will be four weeks old tomorrow, I cannot believe it has been four weeks since Eli entered into our lives and changed them forever. It has really just seemed like one super long day. He is getting so much bigger each week, his cheeks are getting chubbier and his little legs are getting fat rolls- he is so precious. And despite that he is a little boy we call him beautiful and gorgeous all the time! We will transition to words like handsome when he is older.



Being a mom has been the most amazing experience of my life, it has also been the most challenging. Adjusting to all that my body went through in pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum- I have never experienced such emotional changes. I consider myself a pretty even tempered person, so dealing with so many emotions in a short period of time was hard for me. And you considering the physical changes my body is still going through, it’s weird because Eli was pretty heavy to carry and since I have delivered him it feels like I should just ‘poof’ be back to what I was pre-pregnancy. Of course that’s not how it works. I have lost half of my baby weight but there is still so much more to go, and I am so anxious to see it gone. I look at my regular clothes and just feel like I will never fit in those again.



Another challenging part is the lack of sleep and keeping Eli on a routine. We have not really mastered his routine yet; there have just been so many people around. And no one cares too much about the routine he needs when they are just there for a few minutes. Our little family has not had one day since Eli was born that someone hasn’t been by to visit or come to stay. I am absolutely ready to be home and set our family’s schedule without considering who will be coming over or if Eli will be over stimulated. Over stimulation has been one of the biggest challenges for our little man I think. It seems that people feel if his eyes are wide open then he doesn’t need to go to sleep yet- and when he misses that small window of perfect timing for a nap the next cycle is ruined. Eli has also had a hard time transitioning through his sleep cycles; it is also called the 45 minute intruder. At that point he needs to be soothed back to sleep; otherwise he cries and is wide eyed again.



I apologize if my tone seems negative, I don’t mean for it to be. I am blessed beyond measure with a beautiful healthy baby boy, a husband that goes beyond expectations to take care of both our baby and me, family that adore our son and help at every opportunity, and so many people that truly love us and want to love on us. And on top of that I love being a mom, but I don’t wanted to be honest with the challenges I have had, because I know that from the friends I have that read this ya’ll might have some wonderful insight.

7 comments:

Jessica said...

First, LOVE the pictures.... adorable.

Second- thanks for your honesty. I can totally appreciate that, & can relate to some of it.

Third- I will try to call you tomorrow. We should talk.

Love you!

Maria said...

Crysty,

Great post!

1. You are completely NORMAL with the emotional stuff. I cried for about 4-6 weeks after several times a day....tears of joy, tears of thankfulness, tears of frustration, tears of sleepiness, tears of whatever!

2. Schedules are HARD at this point. My doctor told me that they are in their 4th trimester and adjusting to this world - it's hard. Despite what the books say and others may say, it is OK to just hold and LOVE that baby....beleive me, you won't spoil him or create any bad habits! Around 7-8 weeks is when they seem more adaptable to a schedule...at least that was my experience.

3. Love the pictures! I think he looks a lot like John.

These are just some of my thoughts. Everyone is different. Hang in there! One thing to keep in mind is that as soon as you get in a groove, he will change and you will have to find the new groove....but each stage is so FUN!

Unknown said...

I think you have done an amazing job sticking to somewhat of a schedule while having so many people around at all times (including my many visits). I'm praying that you gain all kinds of mommy wisdom in the next 3 months so you can be a wealth of knowledge for me and Chris when little Anabelle comes in September. :) I love you!

Team Purser said...

crysty,
the pictures of you guys and elijah are absolutely beautiful! so i just realized that elijah and caroline are exactly 3 weeks apart (both born on a wednesday!) so i will be checking your blog to see what i have to be looking forward to 3 weeks out :)

Anonymous said...

Repeat after me: "This too shall pass"!! With every phase they go through you will think you can't take one more day! Then they fall right into the routine!! Praise God! I think it's very smart to try to get on a schedule. I've seen parents that have no schedules in place at all and their babies "rule the roost" so to speak. I mean going to bed at 10 at night, no naps during the day.... awful! Babies love to know what to expect. Trust me! 8-10 weeks is a great time to really "work" on the schedule. That's what worked for us. Until then just hug on Eli, sleep when he sleeps, and try to not stress too much about things. I know that's easier said than done. I too experienced crazy emotions after delivery and was all alone with Harper all day. It was very hard. But like I said, as soon as I thought I couldn't take one more day, we would have a break through on sleeping, or eating, or whatever, to get me to the next day, week, month. Time has flown by now and we have been so blessed! Keep your head up girl and feel free to reach out if you need advice or just someone to listen. We love you guys and it was great to see you last week. -Heather-

Miss G said...

Crysty, I just came over to your blog from Jenny C,'s. My little guy is 10 weeks old today and I can hear so many of my thoughts in what you've written here. I didn't believe that we would ever get to a place where I would stop stressing out about the schedule/cycle but things have gotten a lot better in that dept. for us the last two weeks. I pray that your little man sleeps really well tonight so you guys can too and that your days are smooth and God keeps guiding you as you learn this new role as mama. Amen.

The things that our bodies/minds/emotions are called to go through during all of this are crazy! Hang in there! Kelly

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