sleepless

For the first time in a while, The newborn is sleeping on his bassinet so my arms are free and it is still 8am meaning the toddler is still sleeping. I have my free time!

He is three weeks old now. And interrupted night sleeps is still the norm. He breastfeeds almost every hour. His growth spurts seem to occur at dawns for he wakes up around 4 or 5 am and is hard to put to sleep. At daytime, he still sleeps on my arms and even though he is in deep sleep, I am scared to put him on the bassinet as he might wake up and I will go back to square one of soothing, dancing, and feeding him. He seems to use my nipples as a pacifier.  He is inconsolable sometimes.

Therese is boisterous as usual. She is very playful and acts like a grownup sometimes. She says a big HI when she walks into a room. She jumps on the bed oblivious of falling. She makes me laugh.

With Liam, I notice that I am much calmer. His cries do not send me to the edge or want me to pull my hair or throw my head on the wall. It is not as loud as therese's. He shouts with all of his might that his face turns red and his tongue curls up onto the roof of his mouth. It sends me to panic mode to quickly soothe him. But it is not that loud. Sometimes I could not hear him cry from the outside of the room.

But with therese as a newborn, her cries were truly erratic and loud the whole neighborhood could hear it. It paralyzes me. I remember one time my hands would be shaking when I change her diaper as big tears would roll on her eyes and her screams just go on the high pitch.

Every baby is different truly.

Overall, having experience truly made a difference. I now know that milk spit-ups, hiccups, and vomiting are normal in a newborn due to their yet immature digestive system. I know better now. Sleep when the baby sleeps (except for now because I want to blog!)

My husband. Oh my husband. He works hard and goes to work in this cold winter time. When he gets home, he still helps with the toddler and newborn. He puts our newborn to sleep at nights. He plays with our toddler and you know how toddler playtimes are, you 'cook' and pretend to 'eat' almost endlessly.

My in-laws are a big help too. They cook and take care of our toddler. I cannot imagine how it would look like when they leave at the end of the month. It means I go back to cooking, entertaining the toddler, and cleaning the house all on my own. All the while taking care of the lil baby.

It is now 9am and I should probably sleep. The baby would wake up anytime now. Better catch some zzzzzs.