Motherhood Musings

It's funny how when you start blogging, there is this constant stream of thoughts on your head as life happens and you think about how you can blog about it. I've been thinking about this stuff for a while but I finally have a free moment while Chloe's napping and Chris is not home from summer school yet to blog about it. It's basically a list of things I said before I was a mother but have completely changed my tune on. I"m sure this is a never-ending phenomenon - which has prompted me to stop judging other parents because I never know what I might also do one day.

• pacifier - I swore I would not ever use one of these when I was pregnant - I even had a sign after Chloe was born on her bassinet in the hospital that said - "No pacifier". I had read ALL about how bad they are for a multitude of reasons and vowed to never use one. So, that lasted about 3 days - until I brought home a screaming baby who would hardly stop crying long enough to eat. Suddenly, Chris and I are ripping open packages that I planned to return of pacifier that were given to us pre-baby. Anything to make her happy. Then, I said, ok but we're giving it up at 6 months, that stretched to 9, then I said ok - but at 1 it' s gone for sure! Well, here we are at 13 1/2 months and STILL using the paci - but only at night and for naps, AND emergencies - like road trips or important telephone calls:). Seriously, by 2 it has to be gone.
• crying - I remember being at a friend's house when Chloe was about 3 months old and their little girl was about 9 months. The mom went to put the baby to sleep and (gasp) let her cry. I was shocked that this Christian loving mother would just let her baby cry herself to sleep like that and vowed I would never do that either. Fast forward a few months of NO sleep for me, Chris, and Chloe and we let her cry more than I ever thought I would. I'm still not great at this which is probably why Chloe still wakes up a couple times a night for a couple of minutes. Sigh.......... the list goes on of things I'll do different for the next one.
• no formula and only organic homemade baby food - well, when you are at the pediatricians office for the 48 hour check-up and your baby has not stopped crying since you left the hospital and has lost nearly a pound -you begin to re-think the no-formula rule. For a multitude of reasons - Chloe had a hard time breastfeeding at first so we were told we HAD to supplement pretty early on. (Even the La Leche people agreed that it was necessary for a while) I admit, it was traumatic to give her formula at first but seeing my baby finally content, sleep AND gain weight outweighed my guilt. I kept up an exhausting regimen of feed, then pump, then give bottle for almost 9 months. Just another thing I hope goes better next time :). We still do as much organic as possible but a few cheerios now and then won't kill her :). And, who was I kidding? It's really hard to work full time and make all of your baby food - I do the best that I can.

I could probably go on and on - and I'm sure you are all groaning at that thought but I think the little pumpkin will be up soon and I should clean something before then :).