Day One: 31 Days of Being A New Mom

Olive is 7 weeks today.. 7 weeks of growing, developing, learning. She's become quite a character already too. She's full of smiles, giggles and happy yells. Especially in the morning.

One thing about being a new mom is, patience. You need lots and lots of it. Because the first couple weeks aren't easy, even with an extremely easy baby, like Olive. 

She only wakes up once at night now, has been on a eating/sleeping schedule since she was 4 weeks, and is usually always a happy camper. 
But whenever she is cranky.. I get frustrated. Because if she's having a cranky day..nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to change her mood. Her cranky day consists of being fussy, eating and sleeping. And even when she's eating or sleeping, she's still fussy. 

And I never realize it at the time, that my frustration is irrational and that I need to be patient. That she's really not that bad. But hey, like I said earlier, I'm new at this. 

It's not easy to be patient when your kid just won't stop crying. No matter what you do, or how much you hold, hug, and love her, she doesn't calm down. And having a kid that isn't normally a fussy gal... Well, I'm pretty much at a loss when she gets to being a crank. And I get frustrated because I feel like I'm doing something wrong, that I'm being a bad parent. Even though that's not true, at all.. a fussy child just makes your brain go somewhat loopy. 

But, I've been learning to be patient. One step at a time, I suppose. On those rare cranky occasions I've been doing and trying different things. Eating different meals, cutting out different foods. Just to see if it's something I'm doing. 

I've also developed a routine during those days, where Vaughn tries different things for a while so that I can go off and unwind for a bit. It really helps, to be honest. Just being away for that short amount of time, 10-15 minutes max, is a god send. Because in that time I reevaluate things and try to come up with a reason as to why she's being fussy, that way I can find a solution. 

Working as a team is one way to definitely master patience. Because, as a team, you come to find the solution faster than just doing it by yourself. And, you end up not getting as frustrated and aggravated as you normally would. Which, in time, makes you more patient.