It has been a little over 6 months of me being a new mom and let me just say… DAYUMM this is the hardest job I have ever had. I used to think waking up at 8 am on a Saturday was preposterous and nowadays I find myself PRAYING that I can sleep in that “late”. 
The first few months were rough. Friends and mothers used to tell me, “Make sure to get plenty of rest while you’re pregnant because you will need it after she is born…” my philosophy in life used to be: “I can sleep when I’m dead.” However, I soon realized Im not Wonder Woman and should’ve taken them serious.
When I was pregnant, I was running around, hitting the gym, doing chores, taking the dogs for walks, running errands…I pretty much kept myself busy ALL the time.
I remember the first few weeks/months after she was born, crying in the wee hours of the morning because I couldnt get her to sleep, no matter how much swaying, bouncing, soft singing or rocking I did. You just kind of lose it with all the missing hormones, lack of sleep and crying. My daughter is a mixture of her daddy (who is an early bird) and her mama (who is a night owl) so sleep seems to come rare for this girl. I remember when Frank would walk around the couches, rocking lil mama and humming until she fell asleep. We would tip toe back to the room, place her in her rocker (the only thing that she seemed to want to sleep in) and slowly creep back to bed. Naturally, she would wake up 2-3 hours later. We were lucky to get more than 3 hours a night.
rolling my eyes
I cried ALL the time. ALL. THE. DAMN. TIME. Sometimes for no reason at all. Hell, just looking at the back of her cute little head would set me off. Poor Frank didnt know what to do. Hormones man, they got me all messed up. I never realized how something so small could make such a HUGE impression on my life. I honestly never thought I could cry so damn much either.
Lil mama now sleeps in her room! I will admit it was a bit of a struggle bus at first.
Im not sure who it was worse for, me or her. Probably me. We tried putting her in her room at 5 months and she cried and cried and cried and cried – this mom just couldnt handle the crying anymore, so we moved her back into our room. She was progressing to 5 hours a night (thank God), but then she started getting this bad cough that was waking her every few hours. Found out she had contracted RSV – a respiratory virus she got from daycare. Apparently it is VERY easy for babies to get and extremely difficult on the parents.
She was sleeping MAYBE 2 hours a night. The coughing and fever just wore poor baby girl down. With proper medicine and love, she was finally making a breakthrough and getting better. She was starting to sleep better too, but with our barn animals scratching their ears and meowing at each other, she would wake up several times a night. Frank finally put his foot down and said, “its time for her to be in her room, she will rest better in the quiet.”
We have 2 dogs and 2 cats and we sleep with a ceiling fan and a box fan, so needless to say our room can get rather noisy during the nighttime hours. I gave in and said we could try it out a few nights while I was on Christmas break for school. Well, not only did she do AWESOME, she slept over 9 hours without waking. So Frank pulled the ol “I told you so” and we have kept her in her room ever since. The quietness mustve been all she needed because she has been sleeping 8+ hours a night. A part of me is saddened she isnt in my room anymore because she is growing up, but the other part is happy that we are all getting decent sleep. Not to mention I like being able to watch TV in my room again…haha.
I find it funny how as parents you will literally try ANYTHING once for your babies and once you perfect it, they change and you have to find something new.
She used to love having her momma put her to sleep, then decided nighttime holds are for dad.
So she started laying on Franks chest at night, with Luke Bryan on in the background. Then out of the blue she just kind of outgrew us. She used to FIGHT sleep and then one day she just decided that she is a big girl and can put herself to sleep.
Lil mama is almost 7 months now and sleeping through the nights, in her own room, without a battle. We have stuck to her routine like she was living on a military base! 6:00 – bath, 6:30 – playtime, 6:45 – bottle, 7:00-7:30 bedtime. Im glad we have dedicated our time to a routine because life has been so much easier and shes picked up on the schedule.
Life sure as hell hasn’t been easy, but its getting better day by day. I work TOO far from home and the drive is killing me. It was never a problem before, but you throw a baby in the mix and it seems that any and everything that isn’t within reach, seems to be a nuisance. I’ve been looking for jobs closer to home; you never realize how many things become a burden when you have a newborn. Like all things in life: it goes on so be ready for change.
Every time I think I know my daughters’ routine, she proves me wrong by changing. They grow up fast and Im trying my damnest not to blink.
No Drama, Texas Mama 