My Life as an African Gypsy

Well Anaya is now 2 weeks old, and Mommy feels like we've been doing this for ages, both in good and bad ways.

I am just about back to normal, with most of the soreness having subsided, and the lovely hemorrhoids gone. (TMI, I know, but someone has got to be honest! That is some hard pushing to get a baby out of there!) Breast-feeding is no longer painful, and the cramping from my uterus shrinking back to size has stopped. Hallelujah.

I spent the majority of the first 5 days in bed, taking slow little trips to the toilet or kitchen. I breastfed in bed and Anaya stayed by my side in her bassinet. I had heard the first two weeks should be at the baby's disposal, so Anaya got whatever Anaya wanted. I don't regret this time, though it didn't last a full two weeks.

About 9 days in I realized we needed to started putting some effort towards a flexible schedule. Anaya was not taking full feedings, falling asleep at the breast, sucking for comfort, and taking multiple cat naps, which meant this Mama was getting tired. I blasted through reading 'Baby Wise' and 'Baby Whisperer' and came to the conclusion that we needed to focus on full feedings and order of activity. Anaya needed to sleep, eat, and then stay awake, whereas she was currently sleeping, having some awake time, and then eating, only to fall asleep at the breast.

To make napping easier, I decided she needed to nap in her own room. She did great, but when it came to nighttime, we had a little meltdown. I concluded it was too many changes too fast, so we are continuing to let her sleep in our room for the nights. Feedings are going MUCH better. I make more a concerted effort to keep her up, and with her more structured/longer naps, she seems to be a bit hungrier. She is not a 30 minute eater. I tried, since I wanted to be sure she was getting enough milk, but even awake, she stops when she is done and refuses the nipple. I consider it a blessing that she won't suck, just to suck.

Our late afternoon naps have been a little difficult. Yesterday I let her get too tired, and didn't comfort her soon enough in her crib, so she got beside herself. It was awful for both of us. We finally found peace in the sling with a pacifier, which she had never taken before. What I learned is that I need to go in and comfort her a littler sooner, so she doesn't get to the place of no return.

This morning was our shot to try it out. She woke up crying after a few minutes. I went in and after some cuddling, patting, and shhhh-ing (taking 5 minutes or so), I laid Anaya in her bed, still awake, but this time she had calmed completely down and eyes were tired again, and she fell asleep. I feel like it was a small success. 1 nap at a time! Haha!

So this is my current life. Anaya has become my #1 ministry and all attentions are on her. If I do a good job now, my hope is that our lives together will be structured enough to re-incorporate hospital ministry soon.