And so it begins...
Or "do not feed me coffee after tea time."
Early morning birth, small tear and subsequent surgery for the wife, long day and 1 night in hospital before the adventure even begins. 1 set of grandparents only a mile away so ready with cuddles and advice and so on.
Night 1, great. Cry feed down, cry feed down etc. Up the next day for a further go at it. So far so good for breakfast and lunchtime, Emily appears to like a lie in!
Had visitors the next day, the only aunt and uncle came along and as my brother is addicted to coffee I thought I would join him in a good one. Now I was sleep deprived after just that 1 night and the overnight shenanigans pre the birth of our daughter, so I spent the nights nappy changes and related squealing absolutely on edge and a tad worried.
I am not the most self confident person at the best of times so when the screams faded in my head and Emily was getting fed I came back to bed a maudlin mess and so unsure of how I wss handling things while my wife was so sure of herself.
Thankfully it has mostly faded for now. Until the next episode of course.
Moral of the story, like in gremlins, Never ever feed me (coffee) after teatime!
Anyone else have confidence issues and how did they get dealt with?
Cheers, Michael
Every new parent has doubts, it's a momentous thing that's just happened to you, a world shattering and life changing event!
Just work together, b e very kind to one another and talk about your concerns..you will laugh about these first few weeks, and before you know it you will be changing nappies and feeding Emily, whilst cooking dinner and checking your emails....multi tasking will become second nature!
your body will adjust to the sleep deprivation. You and your wife will work together hopefully to give each other a bit of a break - you can feed her at night sometimes, your wife doesn't need to be fully awake to feed, you can just plug your daughter on and then sort her out when she's finished, so you can take turns at night as well. It will get easier.
Most milk in least time makes Milady a bit uneasy
After the first days documented earlier you would think things may get a bit easier right?
To be fair I have moved past the confidence issue in that initial sense, however the heartstrings are being yanked at on a regular basis now and it is tough with the relative lack of sleep.
( I am fairly sure that all this is quite normal but for my own benefit and to document what is normal I will continue).
for the last 2 days poor little Emily has been mostly fine but come the evening she has been thoroughly unsettled. I had to sit up till after 2am ensuring dummy was engaged while the wife slept. felt a few bowel movements and she then went down, slept, fed and went down properly.
Same appears to be happening tonight. Is there trapped wind? What else could it be? Any tips on helping the baby through this?
she is a fast feeder and tough to wind. These factors may contribute.
Any help or advice?
On a positive note she had been almost perfect with an audience outside immediate family!
Memory is far too distant for me to remember the fine details, they are all different anyway and hopefully you'll find what's right for you all. Of course, any more recent fathers are more than welcome to give advice on their more recent experience to help you through.