Mommy thoughts

The Mommy here. Here are some thoughts on mommyhood:

-As a child, I remember being overly confused by Playtex drop-ins bottles. I mean, hello, they don't have a bottom. It just didn't make sense. I think the only thing that made less sense was the girl who brought a chicken to church (and sometimes a dog). But they are my absolute favorite. Yes, you have to keep buying liners, but there is SO MUCH LESS bottle washing. You just have to wash the bottles and rings every now and then, and wash the nipples. Much less hassle than constant bottle washing. Plus it's one of the few types of nipples Maya likes. Those and the Parent's Choice ones. They're the "standard" type of nipple but kinda thicker. She doesn't do normal standard nipples.

-I was set on doing Babywise. My child was going to get on a schedule and sleep through the night, goshdarnit. But then you give birth and though people have warned you you're going to be exhausted, you just don't understand at all until you've been there. There are no words to describe the sleep deprivation. And my mom took Maya in the middle of the night for the first week we were home. It was horrible (the no sleeping, not my mom :) She was a lifesaver!). It was part of the reason I gave up breastfeeding (but we'll blame it on Maya's quirky nursing habits. Seriously, getting her to take a bottle can be a major project, I can't imagine trying to get her latched on). Maya generally ate every 3 hours and was sleeping through the night- in her crib- on a regular basis by about 7 weeks. My genius baby. Even sick she's slept through the night in her bouncy seat. But as for eating, after awhile she gave up on that 3-hour schedule. She decided to take an ounce or two here and there. She sometimes makes a disgusted face when she doesn't want to eat, or take the nipple in her mouth and pushes it around with her tongue. It's almost comical, but mainly frustrating because it's like are you gonna eat or not?!? So the schedule thing got thrown out the window. And she is a horrible napper. Every now and then she'll take a long daytime nap, but those are few and far between. She sleeps through the night- usually averaging 7.5-8 hours, gets up and eats, then usually within an hour is asleep again for a good 2-3 hours, sometimes more. So I get to go back to sleep. Anyone who knows me knows I love to sleep in, so I like it this way. I can deal with her cat-napping the rest of the day. And even with Sunday night long naps on Tami's chest, Maya still sleeps through the night. So I can't complain. No training on my part and my baby is generally good natured and a good sleeper. If she ever ends up in daycare (heaven forbid) where they have scheduled afternoon naps, we'll work on that, but for now, things are just fine.

-I was super paranoid about some things that I'm totally over. Like being in people's gross houses. It'll be one thing when she's crawling around on the floor, but I guess breathing in some dirty home germs won't kill her. I was never paranoid about pacifier cleanliness. If it falls on the floor and no hair's stuck to it, it gets popped back in her mouth (though she doesn't take one anymore usually. And btw, my babies were NOT going to have pacifiers. HA! They're a life saver). I don't sanitize bottles or nipples (well, I do run them through the dishwasher sometimes). Some people are total germaphobes. We had a friend in Indiana who used instant hand sanitizer before nursing her own baby. A bit extreme in my book, but whatever floats your boat. Maybe I should be more germaphobey, but whatever.

-Speaking of paranoia, let's talk about SIDS. I don't want to get too harsh here because the older sister of a girl I grew up with lost her baby boy to SIDS a couple years ago and it's SO very sad. But seriously, everything causes SIDS these days. For years babies slept with comfy blankets, on their stomachs, with crib bumpers, no air circulation, too many warm layers, no pacifiers, ate from BPA-laced bottles (not that that's SIDS related, I'm just saying), and most were just fine. But because of the SIDS paranoia, I bought a ridiculously expensive monitor that goes under the mattress to sense movement. Because Maya is a bit psycho and moves around so much and gets to where the sensor doesn't sense her (it's only about the size of a sheet of paper and goes smack in the middle) it occasionally goes off, but doesn't totally freak me out because it's only for a few seconds then it's like "oh, okay, there is some movement" and stops. So I go in, yank her back to the middle of the crib, and she goes on sleeping. And I sleep, too- better than I would without knowing something is there to make sure my baby hasn't stopped breathing. If it weren't for all the SIDS hype, I'd stick her in there and have no worries. Then again, maybe not. I'm a true-to-my-Gardner-blood worry wort.

And I guess that's it for now. Time to go steam my baby. Okay, it's not as bad as it sounds. :) Close the bathroom door and run the shower 'til the hot water's gone and loosen the mucous in her poor little nose. I think she's finally getting better, poor little thing. And now I'm sick, too. It sucks. Happy Mother's Day to me.