Video of Meadow
I now completely understand why people's blogs focus almost exclusively on their children once they have them; my life has been almost exclusively devoted to Meadow since she was born, so she is all I can think to blog about!
I have good news about the fussiness - we haven't had a fussy night since my last blog post! I'm not quite sure what did it, but at least one of the following things helped. First, many people suggested that the baby might be sensitive to certain foods I eat that get passed on in my breastmilk. Ceasing the consumption of chocolate seems to be correlated with a decrease in fussiness. Second, Meadow's awake time has shifted to be during the day instead of at night - hallelujah! Finally, I have given in to holding her all the time, even when she sleeps. It helps that I can just put her in the baby wrap and leave my hands free. She wants to be held all the time, but I am told this is pretty normal behavior for newborns - they were used to feeling bodily warmth and hearing your heartbeat 24/7 in the womb, so anything different is scary. Anyway, at least one of those things (probably all three combined) has really helped the situation. It's still difficult to get used to the erratic sleeping schedule of a newborn (which is also my erratic sleeping schedule) but at least it is no longer punctuated by bouts of inconsolable crying!
Most of you will find this video incredibly boring, and that is okay. I thought I'd post it anyway, mostly for the benefit of relatives and baby-hungry friends. Watching it is completely optional! (SPOILER ALERT: It is a video of a two-week-old baby doing baby things, like looking around, crying, and spitting up. Riveting, I know. A few interesting points - you can see in the first clip that she definitely has a dimple on her right cheek, and the second clip shows off her very flat head, which I have been told by every nurse who sees her that it is indicative of her breech status in the womb.)
I have good news about the fussiness - we haven't had a fussy night since my last blog post! I'm not quite sure what did it, but at least one of the following things helped. First, many people suggested that the baby might be sensitive to certain foods I eat that get passed on in my breastmilk. Ceasing the consumption of chocolate seems to be correlated with a decrease in fussiness. Second, Meadow's awake time has shifted to be during the day instead of at night - hallelujah! Finally, I have given in to holding her all the time, even when she sleeps. It helps that I can just put her in the baby wrap and leave my hands free. She wants to be held all the time, but I am told this is pretty normal behavior for newborns - they were used to feeling bodily warmth and hearing your heartbeat 24/7 in the womb, so anything different is scary. Anyway, at least one of those things (probably all three combined) has really helped the situation. It's still difficult to get used to the erratic sleeping schedule of a newborn (which is also my erratic sleeping schedule) but at least it is no longer punctuated by bouts of inconsolable crying!
Most of you will find this video incredibly boring, and that is okay. I thought I'd post it anyway, mostly for the benefit of relatives and baby-hungry friends. Watching it is completely optional! (SPOILER ALERT: It is a video of a two-week-old baby doing baby things, like looking around, crying, and spitting up. Riveting, I know. A few interesting points - you can see in the first clip that she definitely has a dimple on her right cheek, and the second clip shows off her very flat head, which I have been told by every nurse who sees her that it is indicative of her breech status in the womb.)