Three Weeks and Counting (almost)...

The first week CRAWLED, but for some reason the last week and a half have flown. I can't believe Luke is almost 3 weeks old! His 2 week checkup went well...I guess. Okay, it really didn't, but that was just because he also got his circumcision at the same time and it was extremely traumatizing for him and me both. But he is healing up great and now I can put that hell behind me!

He now weighs 8 lbs. 12 oz., which is a lot more than I was expecting, since at his 4-day checkup he'd lost almost a whole pound since birth. His pediatrician and I were pleasantly surprised! He is also 21 inches now, 1 inch more than he was at birth. So he is thriving and getting plenty of mama's milk!

Today is one of those days I just want to sleep, cry, vent, etc. But don't worry, I'll only scratch the surface. Of all the 19 nights since Luke was born, all involving about only 3 hours of sleep on average, last night was by far the worst. On top of his usual constant nursing and fussiness, I'm pretty sure he's going through his 3 week "frequency days," or growth spurt, because ever since yesterday afternoon, he has been eating CONSTANTLY. And not the normal, fussy, I-have-a-tummy-ache-so-I-need-comfort nursing. He's actually eating a lot. For the first time ever, he sucked me totally dry last night, which is a huge surprise, considering I have an over-supply of milk usually. So last night consisted of feeding, feeding...feeding. Then trying to get him to sleep. Then crawling into bed. Then just as I was drifting to sleep he'd wake up again and...feeding, feeding, feeding. All night. Every hour. I literally didn't get more than about 30 minutes of sleep.

And it's all catching up to me. And I'm too tired to care about anything, and all I feel like doing is crying, but I'm even too tired to do that. And then I feel like I can't vent to my wonderful husband because his automatic response is that I should let him "cry it out" so that I can get some sleep--an idea that I completely, utterly disagree with at this young newborn age. So to Dave, I bring it on myself (in a nutshell) because I shouldn't let the baby "manipulate" me and shouldn't be coming at his every beckon call, or even feeding him as much as he needs.

Basically, the way he feels is completely against everything I feel and believe in my heart and that makes this all the more difficult. I went through this with Baby Josh, too, and unfortunately during his newborn months, our marriage was rocky because of how opposite our newborn parenting styles are. I'm the nursing mom, so in the end I get the say, but it doesn't make it easy. While I know it is important for babies to have their crying time, I also know it's important for them to know at this age that their parents will be there to comfort and protect them. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to see eye-to-eye with a spouse whose parenting opinions and styles are completely opposite from your own??

At least I know that once the newborn phase is over, we will see eye-to-eye again, since this is the only area we disagree in. Anyway, here's a great article on the LLL website that supports my opinion on the subject and gives a little background and explanation. There are also a billion other helpful articles on this website to anyone else who shares similar views.

Anyway, I love my supportive husband dearly, and am SO grateful for my family and my beautiful children. I cherish them and know how extremely blessed I am. Everyone needs to vent sometimes though, right?