At the age of 17 I became a mother to a beautiful little girl named Eliza born on November 4th, 2014. Having an emergency c-section, we stayed in the hospital for almost a week.
While in the hospital my baby couldn't latch onto me and the nurses refused to let me pump or give my daughter formula. After 2 days I had to demand that I get formula for my baby. Soon after getting home I discovered she couldn't have my breast milk anyway.
The first day home I was in an immense amount of pain and almost went back to the hospital. It wasn't my incision that killed me, it was my back. My boyfriend (Brady) had to give the baby to my father and call my sister. I was screaming and couldn't stop. After my sister (who has had 3 c-sections herself) came over and my dad yelled at the pharmacy for taking 2 hours to give me my pain medication I was fed my pills and my back was gently massaged to help me walk again. I still needed assistance when I peed for the next two hours but the pain faded.
For me the baby is not stressful. You learn their cries, the faces they make for each problem. Once you know the cry and face you fix the problem You find out what they like when they want to learn or play. For example, my 2 month old daughter loves her plastic keys jingling above her face or mommies hair gently brushing her face. Most times she enjoys playing peak-a-boo with a light blanket or watching mommy sing and dance to Shania Twain. The most stress I get from taking care of my darling daughter is entertaining her all day every day and the "I'm tired but I don't want to sleep" cry she does 3 times a day.
Even though doctors say the baby MUST eat a certain amount of ounces every so many hours Miss Eliza doesn't. My 14 pound bundle of joy will wake up around 4-6 and eat 5-6 ounces in the morning and falls back asleep for 2-4 more hours. For the rest of the day she will eat 2 ounces at a time, sometimes 4. When she was first born she demanded 2 ounces every 2 hours.It all depends on the baby. I know a woman who's first new born would only eat every 5 hours whereas my boyfriend and his twin had to be fed every 30 minutes through a tube in their noses after being born 2 months early.
Once I told Eliza's pediatrician about her eating schedule she started acting like I was an awful mother. She told me that it is bad habits for the baby and recited to me the same things I have been doing for 2 months such as always have your baby buckled up in the car seat and wipe under their neck to prevent yeast. I was also being shamed for not forcing my baby to take the breast milk she could not have. Not every doctor knows what they are talking about and none of them know your baby like you do. You do NOT have to take everything they say to heart.
When your baby is screaming and crying and giving you the look of "help me I am in so much pain" because they have a terrible tummy ache what do you do? The doctor told me to never give my baby water under any circumstances because it WILL cause seizures and coma. Let me tell you, this is total bull. My parents gave me water as a baby, their parents gave them sugar water. a 2 month old baby can have up to 4 ounces of water a day. Now I am not saying give your baby water, that is your choice. I give my daughter 2 ounces of water a day but not all at once. I give her sips through the day to prevent another tragic tummy ache.
What every parent should know is to follow your instinct. It is YOUR baby. If you choose to give your baby formula or breast milk that is YOUR decision. Do NOT let anyone put you down for how you raise your child. If they are healthy and happy then you are obviously doing something right.
-Ms. Green
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