Arian came a month earlier than expected. I was not ready, physically, mentally or emotionally. I knew the last few weeks were going to be crunch time for me, and thought I could be ready by the time he was supposed to arrive which was December 3rd. He arrived November 6th!
The first couple days I was so happy and so in love. He was so perfected and everything I had expected and much, much more. Spending time with him, cuddling him, kissing him and just staring at him was all I could think about.
We were all set up to move to our new home on November 10th. Arian was not supposed to arrive for another month, so I figured nesting would kick in and all would be good. Alex and his friend moved all of our things into our new home, but we didn't really have time to set it all up.
Arian on moving day!
"Make sure you have a heater," my dad told me. "It will be cold since you don't have all your furniture yet," he continued. In my head I was thinking "OMG, he's so dramatic! We are in San Diego!!! It is never cold here." That night we went to sleep as usual and it did not feel cold at all, just another regular night in sunny San Diego.
I woke up shivering at 3 am. Never had I experienced so much cold before. My mouth was trembling and my entire body was shaking. I checked on Arian and touched his little chubby cheek and it was a little cold, not too much. I immediately woke Alex up and told him we needed a heater.
Alex is warm blooded, lol, he is always so warm and I always steal his heat. That night was no different for him, he didn't feel cold at all. He got up and said he would go and buy a new heater at 3 am!!!! I told him maybe he should just bring our heater from our old house, so at 3 am he was on his way to get our heaters.
Once he left I stared at Arian and just started bawling my eyes out. I was so sad, I felt like I had failed as a mom by not keeping Arian warm. I continued shivering even after putting on layers and layers of clothing and cuddling under our warm blanket with Arian.
It was the saddest feeling. I started thinking about how he had been so well sheltered, fed and protected for eight months in my belly. And now, he was out in this world exposed and needing our full protection.
I then realized baby blues made a lot of sense. When you become a mother everything that used to worry you before intensifies because you are no longer just looking out for yourself but also for your tiny little baby.
You also start thinking about all the changes that will come with motherhood. Your body is not the same, your emotions are out of control, you can't sleep, you are hungrier than ever (especially if breastfeeding), and it is no longer just you and your partner. Reminiscing and worrying about the future are what makes baby blues so common.
I still worry every day, who doesn't? But thinking you can protect your baby from everything and everyone is unrealistic. So I have decided being prepared for what may happen is the best I can do to help me worry less and enjoy a little more.
Alex has been the greatest at understanding all my worries. Sometimes I ask, am I being dramatic? And he responds "No babe, you are a mom." He then continues to reassure me everything will be alright.
Remember if you are feeling extremely sad/depressed/anxious seek help. Help is out there as long as you seek it you shall receive it!
Thanks for reading :)
Arian came a month earlier than expected. I was not ready, physically, mentally or emotionally. I knew the last few weeks were going to be crunch time for me, and thought I could be ready by the time he was supposed to arrive which was December 3rd. He arrived November 6th!
The first couple days I was so happy and so in love. He was so perfected and everything I had expected and much, much more. Spending time with him, cuddling him, kissing him and just staring at him was all I could think about.
We were all set up to move to our new home on November 10th. Arian was not supposed to arrive for another month, so I figured nesting would kick in and all would be good. Alex and his friend moved all of our things into our new home, but we didn't really have time to set it all up.
Arian on moving day!
"Make sure you have a heater," my dad told me. "It will be cold since you don't have all your furniture yet," he continued. In my head I was thinking "OMG, he's so dramatic! We are in San Diego!!! It is never cold here." That night we went to sleep as usual and it did not feel cold at all, just another regular night in sunny San Diego.
I woke up shivering at 3 am. Never had I experienced so much cold before. My mouth was trembling and my entire body was shaking. I checked on Arian and touched his little chubby cheek and it was a little cold, not too much. I immediately woke Alex up and told him we needed a heater.
Alex is warm blooded, lol, he is always so warm and I always steal his heat. That night was no different for him, he didn't feel cold at all. He got up and said he would go and buy a new heater at 3 am!!!! I told him maybe he should just bring our heater from our old house, so at 3 am he was on his way to get our heaters.
Once he left I stared at Arian and just started bawling my eyes out. I was so sad, I felt like I had failed as a mom by not keeping Arian warm. I continued shivering even after putting on layers and layers of clothing and cuddling under our warm blanket with Arian.
It was the saddest feeling. I started thinking about how he had been so well sheltered, fed and protected for eight months in my belly. And now, he was out in this world exposed and needing our full protection.
I then realized baby blues made a lot of sense. When you become a mother everything that used to worry you before intensifies because you are no longer just looking out for yourself but also for your tiny little baby.
You also start thinking about all the changes that will come with motherhood. Your body is not the same, your emotions are out of control, you can't sleep, you are hungrier than ever (especially if breastfeeding), and it is no longer just you and your partner. Reminiscing and worrying about the future are what makes baby blues so common.
I still worry every day, who doesn't? But thinking you can protect your baby from everything and everyone is unrealistic. So I have decided being prepared for what may happen is the best I can do to help me worry less and enjoy a little more.
Alex has been the greatest at understanding all my worries. Sometimes I ask, am I being dramatic? And he responds "No babe, you are a mom." He then continues to reassure me everything will be alright.
Remember if you are feeling extremely sad/depressed/anxious seek help. Help is out there as long as you seek it you shall receive it!
Thanks for reading :)
“Say goodbye to sleep!” I can’t even count how many times I heard this during my pregnancy. People would ask “ohhh how far along are you?” then almost every time they would follow up with “Sleep while you can!” “No more sleep for you!” …. Alex and I would just look at each other with the saddest face expressions lol. Who doesn’t love sleep?
I remember we would always talk about how we would do our best to get Arian to sleep at night. The last months of my pregnancy I was not really sleeping at night anymore. I was uncomfortable, hot, cold, hungry, had to pee, wanted sit up, wanted to walk… pretty much everything else BUT sleep!
During my sleepless nights I would be up researching all about motherhood, parenting, babies, and most importantly GETTING BABY TO SLEEP AT NIGHT!!!
The first few days with Arian were hard. Getting adjusted to a little, fragile baby living with us, tending to all his needs, and making sure we were doing our best while still recovering from labor, trying to get some sleep, and dealing with the baby blues!
We would put Arian down at around 9 pm, he would wake up at around midnight, then again at 3 am and he would be up by 6 am.
At six weeks we decided it was time to start a night routine for him. My mom would always talk about swaddling and how magical it was for babies. We had only swaddled him the first few nights but then stopped.
I decided to give swaddling another try! Our night routine would start at around 8:30 pm and it consisted of:
- Change diaper
- Change into pajamas, during winter it was any of his sleep and plays now we just use Gerber’s white onesies.
- Clean face, neck and hands
- Swaddle using the swaddle blankets
- Hold and feed Arian
- Brush his hair while feeding
- Burp him in between
- Continue feeding
The first night we tried this, Arian slept through the night!!! I couldn’t believe it. He went down at 9:30 pm and woke up at around 7 am, 9.5 hours!
Of course we continued doing our perfected night routine.
Few things have changed. At around 3.5 months we decided it was time to stop swaddling him. He started rolling over so we knew he needed his arms free.
I was so scared for this transition! We had perfected our routine and he was sleeping through the night, I didn’t want to mess it up and have to start from scratch again.
I decided to try out the Zen Sack from Nested Bean, which allowed his arms to be free but still gave that swaddling feeling. The first night of our transition, Arian was a little confused during feeding. His hands were free so he kept moving them and touching everything at reach.
To help with this, I tucked his arm closest to my body under my arm and would caress his other arm during feedings.
Arian once again, slept through the night! He has been sleeping through the night since six weeks and he is about to be six months! He also wakes up with the biggest smile every morning. I have not woken up to a cry in the morning in months!!!
Now Arian is bottle fed, I use the Dr. Browns level 2 at night, and the Comotomo during the day. I have noticed the Dr. Browns have a slower flow so this helps put baby to sleep.
Key points to take away if you are trying to get baby to sleep through the night…
- Have a night routine
- Differentiate between day naps and night time sleep. I do this by turning off the lights for night sleep and turning off the TV/music/etc.
- Stick to the night routine… consistency goes a long way. Even if you’re out and not at home keep the same routine for baby.
- Time: we mostly put Arian down at around 8:30 pm, but if we are out or driving and get home later we still do the night routine at whatever time we are able to. DON’T SKIP IT! Sometimes I even wake him up when we get home just so I can do the routine and put him back down. So the time hasn’t really made a difference for us.
- Make sure baby is fully fed. A hungry baby will always wake up to eat!
- Find what works for baby. I’m sure you have heard not all babies are the same. This might take some trial and error, but once you find what works it will be worth it!
We will be transitioning Arian to the crib in the next couple days. Will definitely have a blog post about our experience, wish us luck!
Please let me know below if you have any questions and share your experience!
Thanks for stopping by:)
“Say goodbye to sleep!” I can’t even count how many times I heard this during my pregnancy. People would ask “ohhh how far along are you?” then almost every time they would follow up with “Sleep while you can!” “No more sleep for you!” …. Alex and I would just look at each other with the saddest face expressions lol. Who doesn’t love sleep?
I remember we would always talk about how we would do our best to get Arian to sleep at night. The last months of my pregnancy I was not really sleeping at night anymore. I was uncomfortable, hot, cold, hungry, had to pee, wanted sit up, wanted to walk… pretty much everything else BUT sleep!
During my sleepless nights I would be up researching all about motherhood, parenting, babies, and most importantly GETTING BABY TO SLEEP AT NIGHT!!!
The first few days with Arian were hard. Getting adjusted to a little, fragile baby living with us, tending to all his needs, and making sure we were doing our best while still recovering from labor, trying to get some sleep, and dealing with the baby blues!
We would put Arian down at around 9 pm, he would wake up at around midnight, then again at 3 am and he would be up by 6 am.
At six weeks we decided it was time to start a night routine for him. My mom would always talk about swaddling and how magical it was for babies. We had only swaddled him the first few nights but then stopped.
I decided to give swaddling another try! Our night routine would start at around 8:30 pm and it consisted of:
- Change diaper
- Change into pajamas, during winter it was any of his sleep and plays now we just use Gerber’s white onesies.
- Clean face, neck and hands
- Swaddle using the swaddle blankets
- Hold and feed Arian
- Brush his hair while feeding
- Burp him in between
- Continue feeding
The first night we tried this, Arian slept through the night!!! I couldn’t believe it. He went down at 9:30 pm and woke up at around 7 am, 9.5 hours!
Of course we continued doing our perfected night routine.
Few things have changed. At around 3.5 months we decided it was time to stop swaddling him. He started rolling over so we knew he needed his arms free.
I was so scared for this transition! We had perfected our routine and he was sleeping through the night, I didn’t want to mess it up and have to start from scratch again.
I decided to try out the Zen Sack from Nested Bean, which allowed his arms to be free but still gave that swaddling feeling. The first night of our transition, Arian was a little confused during feeding. His hands were free so he kept moving them and touching everything at reach.
To help with this, I tucked his arm closest to my body under my arm and would caress his other arm during feedings.
Arian once again, slept through the night! He has been sleeping through the night since six weeks and he is about to be six months! He also wakes up with the biggest smile every morning. I have not woken up to a cry in the morning in months!!!
Now Arian is bottle fed, I use the Dr. Browns level 2 at night, and the Comotomo during the day. I have noticed the Dr. Browns have a slower flow so this helps put baby to sleep.
Key points to take away if you are trying to get baby to sleep through the night…
- Have a night routine
- Differentiate between day naps and night time sleep. I do this by turning off the lights for night sleep and turning off the TV/music/etc.
- Stick to the night routine… consistency goes a long way. Even if you’re out and not at home keep the same routine for baby.
- Time: we mostly put Arian down at around 8:30 pm, but if we are out or driving and get home later we still do the night routine at whatever time we are able to. DON’T SKIP IT! Sometimes I even wake him up when we get home just so I can do the routine and put him back down. So the time hasn’t really made a difference for us.
- Make sure baby is fully fed. A hungry baby will always wake up to eat!
- Find what works for baby. I’m sure you have heard not all babies are the same. This might take some trial and error, but once you find what works it will be worth it!
We will be transitioning Arian to the crib in the next couple days. Will definitely have a blog post about our experience, wish us luck!
Please let me know below if you have any questions and share your experience!
Thanks for stopping by:)
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