Re: ok moms, tell the truth

It was brutal...then to top it off DD had colic

DH and my sis helped out though.

As brutal as it was I'm ready to do it again.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

The first six weeks were horrible for me. I was having trouble BF'ing and seeing a Lactation Consultant who instructed me to bottle feed, nurse for 5 minutes each side and then pump for 15 minutes to build supply, every three hours. It was brutal. I felt like I was on merry go round. By time I finished pumping, rinsing the parts and putting the milk away, I felt like DD was ready to wake up again.

Then BF'ing clicked and DD started sleeping more and the cloud was lifted.


I will say that there were only a few days that I felt really tired. I was very anxious the first few weeks and so I didn't suffer as much as DH who needs his sleep.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

The first few weeks were pretty tough, I think I was sleep deprived because I dont remember much

After about 5 or 6 weeks or so Kaila was settling into a routine.. so I would get 5 or 6 hours of solid sleep which was BEAUTIFUL!! It got better with time.. now sometimes I keep her up later just to spend time with her

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

Message edited 9/3/2008 1:14:47 AM.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

terrible with the first one, very little with the second.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

Well, honestly, the first few months I was like a robot. Jacob was coilic from the minute that he was born and was up 24/7...and so was I It did get better though...by 4 months he was sleeping almost through the night.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

exhausting, but not impossible.

DH and i take turns with EVERYTHING at night. none of that garbage that he goes to work--i am working with our son. that makes things SO much easier and we both sleep a lot at night, just not in long stretches

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

for me, there was nothing you can do to prepare yourself. It really depends on the baby, some babys sleep well, wake up to eat/change and go back to sleep, others are criers. I think the best thing to do is take a nap during the day when the baby is sleeping. A lot of moms try to be wonder woman and thats how they get burnt out.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

ABSOLUTE HARDEST PART OF BEING A PARENT I THINK! I remember day waking up in the morning crying because I was tired and could barely see straight. Thank god I had DH and my mom to help so I could sleep. A few days DH had to call in sick after I got no sleep all night.

Message edited 9/3/2008 8:33:57 AM.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

Posted by ABCiverson

Posted by dm24angel



No matter how good a sleeper your baby is, they wake every 3 hours to eat at that age unfortunatly. Thats the hard part where you get no sleep.

Thats not true. All 3 of mine slept great from the DAY they were born. My second baby actually woke up only once and slept from 10 pm to 10 am.

None of my babies woke up every 3 hours, not even my DD that I BFed.

I actually would wake up my DD 2-3 times a night for the first couple weeks and make her eat because my boobs hurt and I was too tired to pump

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

Okay I had two but it was HORRENDOUS. I was in a fog for months. Closest I ever came to having a nervous breakdown.

Funny Story...the Jeffersons use to be on at 4AM on channel 11 and every night i remember being up with one of them watching the show. I have come across it 2 or 3 times since then and I actually shutter at that show because it brings back all the emotions.

Also, one day it got so bad that i left a pan on the stove with the burner on for a good 5 hours! One night my mom came over to make me dinner and asked me what i would like to eat and I started screaming that what I would like is a few hours of sleep but apparently my children won't permit that. She put me to bed and stayed the night. She said I scared the crap out of her.

Day by day is the only way to get through it and then all of a sudden it gets better.

Message edited 9/3/2008 8:41:14 AM.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

It was bad. I only slept for about 2 hours at a time. When she was colic, I would not sleep all night. But the good news is that it gets better. Just remember to sleep whenver you can.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

It was so bad really bad.... I was bf so maybe that is why...but ya know what I'm just so use to the little sleep I get I guess your body just adjusts its self.I have accepted it !

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

It was really bad for me. I don't kow how I functioned. It all seems like a big blurr to me. I honestly don't remember a lot. I would have periods where I would just burst into tears if you looked at me funny.

ETA: I also remember feeling like it was going to be like that for the rest of my life but it does get much better!

Message edited 9/3/2008 9:08:48 AM.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

The first two nights were the worst for us. I was exhausted from my c-section and not getting any sleep in the hospital. Here DH and I are, trying to figure out this little person who is just screaming and screaming. By the second night, we were almost ready to bring him back to the hospital because we were convinced something was wrong. DH called his mom who came over at 4 AM and helped us. Thank God for her! It turns out DS was just hungry because he wasn't getting enough from me while BF so we had so supplement with formula.

After that, the first couple of weeks gradually got better. By the end of the first month, we were in a routine and it was fine. A few people had told me to sleep when the baby sleeps, everything else will get taken care of. I wish I had listened to that advice more.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

For me it was ROUGH! However, I prepared my friends who were having babies after me for it....turns out, I had it the worst! Some babies sleep for 4-5+ hours at a time right from the get go. My son? Not so much! BUT it was only a few months of that and then he'd sleep about 7-8 hours straight.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

It's completely exhaustive, but you will get through it. Just make the baby the priority ... and forget about everything else. Showering, doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc ..... all will get done in time. If you just concentrate on the baby and rest when he/she rests, you will be fine. Just don't try and be super Mom when the baby sleeps. If other people offer to help, LET THEM!

You'll do great!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

I'm still exhausted (but DS isn't a great sleeper).
The first few weeks I honestly asked DH to watch me for PPD b/c I was crying and having difficulty functioning - then I realized I was just freakin TIRED.
But, it gets easier to get through the day and you learn to deal without the avg. 7-8hrs of sleep - survival!

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

you cannot fully appreciate how tired tired is until you are there. It is a world unto itself. All you want to do is get a few solid hours of rest.
I remember even between feedings I would jump up and check on the baby because I was so afraid something was going to happen to him. I don't think I slept more than 1/2 hour clips at a time in the beginning. Even now, if I sleep more than 2 hours, I wake up in a panic and check on him (via the video moniter, I make myself stay in bed.)

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

i was a walking zombie!!! the key is to sleep when the lil one sleeps, which i'm sure you have heard many people tell you ....although i was still a zombie! but no matter what time it was i would wake up look at the lil munchkin smile and give her a kiss and proceed with the feedings...the hardest part is trying to stay awake during the feeding!!

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

For me it was awful, pure torture, I cannot fullly describe to you how bad it was for me.

And since he was our first I just could not see the light at the end of the tunnel, I though this would be our lives from now on. DS did not become a good sleeper till about 10 months old.

I must say its the one thing that scares me about havig another child ( not that it would keep me from doing it) just that I need to prepare myself to go thru it again.

But you know what, the beautiful baby staring back at you makes it all worth it.

Good luck

Message edited 9/3/2008 10:22:22 AM.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

It was bad although just when I was about to crack, he would give me a couple of nights of decent sleep. I really need my sleep. I don't think I will ever completely recover from the experience though. I am the type of person that I don't want to ask for help, so the second someone seems the least bit bothered by helping I pretty much tell them to go to he l l and leave me alone. I also really wanted to do everything myself for the experience of it. Next time I'll hire a baby nurse for a few weeks so I can get some sleep.

If you are planning to BF it is really really really hard the first month or two. My mom kept saying to me that this was just a very small period in my life and it would be over soon. At the time it annoyed me, because i was so tired that my whole body physically ached, but around the 6 month mark he started consistently giving me 10 hour blocks of sleep. Now if he wakes up in the middle of the night I know something is wrong. I still don't get a ton of sleep because he's up by 5:30 every morning but I have the option to go to sleep at 7 when he does now! I look back and it really was such a short time out of my life. I'm glad it's over now - he is 7 months and so much more fun. I don't really like the newborn phase.

Don't worry, you get thru it. It is the hardest experience of your life but after about 4 months or so it will start to get so rewarding.

Re: ok moms, tell the truth

I didn't think it was bad at all!!