It’s only fitting that Halloween is right around the corner because I’m pretty sure nothing comes closer to a real-life zombie than the parent of a newborn. For the past four weeks, I’ve been stumbling around in a sleep-deprived stupor, moaning and groaning my way through the days and nights. And while I haven’t started consuming human brains just yet, I’d probably eat pretty much anything else you put in front of me that I didn’t have to prepare myself.
The first month has been a bit on the rough side. Don’t get me wrong, Tanner is an awesome baby with a very sweet disposition. He only cries when he wants to eat…but therein lies the problem. He’s the hungriest little hippo on the block! (Not sure why I expected anything less from my “little big man.” He did weigh 9 lbs. at birth!) Anyhoo, piggy pants pretty much wants to nurse every 1.5-2.5 hours. As you can imagine, this non-stop feeding frenzy leaves very little time for sleeping or attempting once-taken-for-granted mundane activities like showering and brushing my teeth.
And then there’s the added challenge: my precocious, noisy, on-the-brink-of-terrible-twos toddler, Jorryn (aka Peep). At 20 months, she knows what the baby is, loves saying “baby, baby!,” and seems generally enthralled with our new addition. The flipside is that she’s very jealous when I’m feeding and tending to baby and when I’m not looking, she consistently tries to poke his eyes out and put a dent in his soft spot with a variety of toys and household objects. It’s not malicious, she just doesn’t know her own strength when she’s “loving” her brother.
I try to keep a level head and a modicum of patience by reminding myself that her world has been turned upside down, but it’s tough for everyone involved and I’m fairly certain Peep’s still trying to figure out when the baby is going to go away and things will go back to normal.
Speaking of “normal,” we’re still trying to figure out exactly what that means. Juggling a toddler that needs attention with a newborn that needs even more attention while dealing with sleep deprivation, recovering from surgery, and tending to super-sore boobies, is definitely challenging. Fortunately, I’ve been extremely blessed to have my mom on hand much of the past month as well as help from various friends and family members in the form of meals, visits, and phone calls that have helped to restore and maintain my sanity. I’m beyond appreciative of all the love and support from those close to us and will try to keep everyone posted on our journey as we find our groove as as a family of four. Happy (almost) Halloween, everyone!
