u/grapesgrapes29

My partner has incredible instincts, my tired mombrain is blown. Ever since LO turned 8 months, we’ve had just the worst sleep. Last night was so horrible I thought maybe it’s finally teething time (still not ruling it out though) but I was nearing the brink of a mental breakdown.

Then we went to the store because we were out of diapers and husband casually asked if we needed 3s now that she’s 16 lbs. I initially said no, she’s still in the 2s size range, but he insisted. And I’m so glad he did. In retrospect, the fact that her diaper would weigh like a brick in the morning from pee should’ve been my first clue but I guess tired brains just don’t think as efficiently?? I’m actually going to try pampers overnight diapers now too since they start at size 3.

LO slept over 5 hours. I can’t believe it. She stirred briefly to feed, and I think it’s only because I got up to pee and it might’ve disturbed her but she nursed and quickly stayed sleeping. Who knows how long she’s going to sleep now. Idk why I’m awake typing all of this but I’m so happy.

Anyways I hope this helps at least one person and their little one. Stay strong mamas

Oh man this brutal. Baby has her first fever (just a couple days away from turning 8 months) and likely she got it from my husband who was also sick this past week. I feel so bad for her, I’ve never seen her face look so small and she doesn’t usually cry at all.

She kept waking up every two hours last night and only slept on top of me, we gave her Tylenol and changed her into a fresh onesie. Thankfully i have both of my parents here to help because my husband has work all day today. They took her in the morning so I could get some rest and i slept for a straight 4 hours.

I’ve been nursing her nonstop and keeping her comfortable, it seems like all she wants to do is eat and sleep. She’s making wet diapers and doesn’t seem to have a cold/ cough/ or any teething symptoms. I’m going to take her to a walk-in clinic tomorrow.

My mental health is hanging by a thread. I spent the past week taking care of baby while husband was recovering and distancing himself and was hoping to do something fun for myself this weekend or do a Sunday cleaning reset but I’m in bed browsing movies while baby sleeps with a cute little leg thrown across my torso. My hair is unwashed, my clothes smell like old milk, and i desperately want to wash all the sheets. I wish I could enjoy the cuddles but I’m just bracing myself for the next crying wake up. My poor darling…

My 7-month old EBF baby sleeps with me in bed all night from 8 pm to 8 am. I’ve been having terrible sleep lately.

She stays sleeping until the morning usually, like her eyes are closed, but she stirs and screams and cries out in her sleep pretty much every 2-3 hours. The lower end of it is that she just stirs and starts aggressively rubbing her face, and the more exhausting instances are when she stirs and suddenly escalates by crying out loudly with tears running down her still-shut eyes.

When she cries out, I pick her up and put her over my shoulder and rock her in bed until she melts again and I put her down. When she does the face rubbing hands, I nurse her. I usually just offer the boob whenever she stirs and she settles down after a few minutes but other times she pushes it away and keeps crying. Sometimes she takes big gulps, other times she just sucks but keeps a tight grip so I don’t unlatch.

I feel like whenever I’ve fallen back asleep, I get like a little block of peace until I’m awoken again and have to quickly problem solve and do trial and error. That’s the part I find so draining. There’s times when she even just settles with a hand on her chest.

Is this normal? Is there a method to what I should be trying first? I appreciate any help since I’ll be going back to work soon and need to figure this out lol 😅

Just wanted to share my story of deciding to be OAD and how actually the family dog influenced that decision! Any similar stories please feel free to comment.

I had my baby last November. Two years prior, my husband and I adopted a young velcro dog (also my first ever dog). My husband and I have always talked about having 3+ children.

During my pregnancy, which felt long and anxiety-ridden (I’d had two super early miscarriages already), my sweet dog cuddled me every night on the couch and slept at my feet, sometimes right up against my bump. She sat on my lap all the time, and I’d whisper to her, “stay close to mama, mama loves you.” All summer long, I’d take her into the backyard in the morning and pick her up into my arms and bring her home and my husband would playfully roughhouse with her. My camera roll was filled with her face. Every Sunday, I’d do her care routine and put new a different shirt on her.

Then I had my baby, and we moved into my parents home and the pup chose grandma as her comfort person since she chills on the couch in front of the tv and I’m always with the baby. I feel like I lost a lot of connection to the dog, though she’s happy and well adjusted and not a puppy anymore. She still comes to me at night to sleep at my feet or for treats now and then, but it’s more so because I’m there.

I have to remind myself to buy new clothes for her, or bathe her, or to even let her out into the yard to run around and bond with her. I have to make an effort to take new photos of her.

I love my daughter so much. She was born healthy, happy, and beautiful. I’m obsessed with her and spend most of my time with her all day. She’s high energy and needs a lot of attention. My body also more or less returned to its baseline in 5 months and I feel very lucky since childbirth was kind of awful. Mentally, I’m happier than ever.

I can’t bear the thought of my baby getting “sidelined” like my dog did, even temporarily. I also don’t want to go through the arduous process of a nine-month pregnancy and a year of breastfeeding again. I simply don’t.

I’m very surprised at how strongly I feel about being OAD now after having a child. I think my family of 4 is complete!