Bassinets and Baby Steps

As we prepared our entrance in matching outfits, Hubby wisely told our son:
"You're Captain America, and your mom and I will always be your shield." Aww.

It's only Wednesday (Baby's 7-week birthday!) and already this week has been filled with more excitement and challenges than we've had in quite a few days. After posting about how things get a little easier with time, Baby blessed us in the wee hours of July 21 and 22 with two nights of about two hours total sleep (right when I was getting used to six...). He wasn't in pain or sick. He cried, but not that much more so than usual. Mostly he just couldn't fall asleep after hours of trying the things that usually worked. New things didn't work either--we attempted to introduce a pacifier (our third attempt) to no avail. And he'd wake up the moment we tried to move him to a bassinet. I kept thinking of the phrase "one step forward and two steps back" as I rocked my nearly 10 pound infant in my arms. My back was killing me.

But, after two frustrating nights, we had some baby steps forward. First, a couple of positive visits with family. My mom was able to rock Baby to sleep during the morning while Hubby was at a dentist appointment. I got a tiny bit of day sleep, and it was nice to see he could fall asleep with someone other than his parents. That night Hubby's parents and aunt came to visit and Baby entertained them with adorable smiles that could have been gas twitches, but he's getting to the age where a smile might actually be a real sign of enjoyment, so you never know! Then later he slept for almost four hours--not six, but better than two!

Our next baby step forward was trying something new. At Hubby's strong recommendation, we decided to purchase one more bassinet that might be the miracle we needed to get Baby to sleep for a decent amount of time, and in his own bed instead of on us. We had recently learned about soothing techniques from Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block (a book and DVD of tips). It turns out he also sells the Snoo bassinet that implements most of his tips and has extremely positive reviews (I'll definitely post more about it if it ends up working).

Though pricey, we had some money saved that could cover it, and my husband doesn't ask for much (he does change all the diapers, which our friends continue to tell us is rare for a husband), so I pulled the trigger and now await its arrival. This will be the fourth bassinet we've tried, but the others were less expensive and won't go to waste. Our parent babysitters will be able to use the larger ones when we go back to work at the end of summer, and our co-sleeper bassinet will work perfectly for travel. Travel, however, will likely be in the far, far future given all the steps it took just to go on an outing with baby yesterday.

In the morning, we had a lactation consultant appointment so I could learn how to use my breast pump in preparation for going back to work next month. Though we still have a few weeks left, storing some milk ahead of time couldn't hurt, and we want to make sure Baby gets used to the bottle before we're gone. The only problem was that on our way to the appointment, Baby had such an explosive diaper that the poop leaked straight through to his car seat. Cleanup took quite a bit of work and time to get the car seat and the baby completely poop free. It's something we should have expected, but honestly, we hadn't experienced such a messy incident in seven weeks with our baby. No wonder we weren't prepared! The worst part was that he ruined the onesie we had coordinated with him (matching Captain Marvel outfits) because we planned to visit Hubby's coworkers after the lactation appointment (and they all know what big Marvel fans we are). All was not lost, however. Since Hubby wasn't needed while I learned to use the breast pump, he rushed home to get new outfits for us all--Baby needed it the most, but we were still able to coordinate now with matching Captain America shirts instead.

Hubby also stocked the car with extra baby outfits, plastic trash bags, extra wet wipes, and more to be prepared for the next step of our outing. Between that stockpile and setting up the stroller to take to Hubby's place of work (the public library), I realized just how much it takes to take a baby anywhere.

Thankfully, after the stressful, messy morning, visiting the library went great! Our son was just awake enough and calm enough for everyone to meet him for most of the visit, and when he started to get fussy again, Hubby came to the rescue with a new diaper and his baby whispering powers that got our son to drift off in his arms. He did sleep through getting his first library card, but the photos still came out cute, and he woke up in time to hold his library card on the drive home.

Now that we've used our stroller for the first time, we have more upcoming baby steps to experience, such as trying out his carrier sling, graduating to size 1 diapers (they just about fit him now!). The new bassinet should be an exciting experience as well. In the meantime, perhaps because he was tuckered out from his busy day, Baby threw us a bone: three hours of sleep at night from 11:15 pm to 2:15 am, and four hours of sleep in the early morning from 5 am to 9 am! These steps forward (plus the extra sleep) make me feel wonderful and recharged. It can be hard running on what I call "mommy juice," which is probably just adrenaline and sugar from all the ice cream I consume to keep up my calcium and calories for breastfeeding. Don't worry, this week also marked a baby step forward for me: I managed to jog for the first time in months--twice! Just about 10 minutes around our neighborhood while Hubby kept our son occupied, but it's a step in the right direction to help me lose the last of my baby weight (20 pounds off, 10 left to go!) and get me used to leaving my baby at least for a little while. As Baby grows and we get closer to the end of our leave from work, I expect we'll be able to develop more routines and do more in general to feel like our lives are a little back to normal--but of course, the new, wonderful normal that a new baby brings. Just imagine when that next baby step forward is Baby's actual first steps!

First stroller ride! I've been dreaming of
pushing a baby in a stroller since I was
a little girl playing with dolls!

Baby's first library card! He must be
daydreaming about all the books he's
going to check out soon.