Keeping an Eye on the Ball

Baby A, passed out on his ball.

If my last post wasn't a big enough indicator, then I should probably go ahead and spell it out for you. I've had my baby boy.

Actually I had him about 12 weeks ago.

Whoops.

I thought the first couple of weeks would be easy. Newborns mostly eat, sleep, poop, and cry, right? So while I'd be busy with the feeding, the changing, and the comforting, I'd at least get to write when the baby slept, right?

Ha!

Newborn babies do not sleep very predictably. Don't get me wrong; they sleep a lot. Up to 20 hours a day. But they don't do it all at once. Or even in spans of longer than about 2 hours. And that means that I, as the all-encompassing food source, did not sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. So when the baby finally fell asleep, I should have been getting my own rest, right?

Ha!

Sure, sweet Baby A loves to sleep. And he's good at it. Sleeps through loud noises, parties, adults talking, movies, anything you throw at him, he can tune out to sleep. But for the first month or so, he would only really sleep in someone's arms. He wanted to be held, swaddled, cuddled, comforted, nursed, and settled snug in your arms at all times. You could lay him down in his bassinet for a little while if he was really deeply sleeping, but within thirty minutes to an hour, he'd come out of deep sleep and realize no one was holding him. Then he'd cry until someone came to rock him, dance him, and soothe him back to sleep.

Part of this was because he was just so uncomfortable. It seems our sweet thing had a bit of an underdeveloped digestive system and had persistent uncomfortable gas. And he couldn't get it out. The kid couldn't burp properly, and he couldn't manage to work it out the other way either. We tried everything to help him: prolonged burping sessions, baby massage, gas drops, gripe water, you name it. He just couldn't let it go.

Until we discovered our secret weapon: the yoga ball. Just a few minutes of vigorous bouncing, and Baby A would release that gas and be all smiles until he settled down for another nap. It's amazing. Just cradle him in your arms or set him on your lap and start moving, and the kid would grunt a bit and then relax.

If you have a baby who just can't seem to settle down, who seems to be uncomfortable for no discernible reason, or who cries whenever he's laid down on his back, try bouncing him for a while on a yoga ball. It has done wonders for us.

Now that he's a bit more developed, he sleeps like a champ in his own crib in his own room. It's wonderful. He even naps thanks to a brilliant schedule suggested by my sister (more on that at a later date). What that means is I finally have time once again to take care of myself, clean my house, cook dinner, and, joy of joys, write!

With any luck, I'll be able to resume updating here and keeping a better log of Baby A's development and my journey as a new mom.