Baby Lead Weaning

I have mentioned baby lead weaning a couple of times and I know its not a common phrase here in the U.S., although it is growing. It is a method of introducing babies to food that flies in the face of traditional American knowledge. The phrase itself (weaning) is British, as this process of introducing solids is called weaning in the U.K. So - what is baby lead weaning then and how is it different than the "normal" way of introducing food? I am going to do my absolute best to show both sides and separate the fact and conjecture. That said, as I chose Baby Lead Weaning, that bias is bound to show in this post.

Traditional American knowledge says that you introduce food around 4 months. This is typically started with rice cereal or some other single grain cereal being spoon fed. After this is introduced, parents then are encouraged to add pureed baby foods one at a time - spoon  feeding each food several times before moving onto more variety. [for absolute accuracy just want to add that more recently pediatricians have recognized that 4 months might be too early and many parents wait until 6 months for this entire process to start] Eventually the child should be eating all sorts of purees, and then be introduced to finger foods like teething crackers, cereal, etc. Solids are introduced later (I am not actually sure when), either by phasing them in starting with chunkier purees or other ways (again, I am not sure exactly).. The basic underlying ideas of this traditional approach are (1) the earlier you start babies on solids the more they will grow and better they will sleep (2) you need to introduce foods slowly to make sure babies are not allergic to things and (3) babies will choke if they are given solid foods too earlier. They need to practice with purees first.

In baby-lead weaning, you introduce solid table food when the baby is at least 6 months old, capable of supporting themselves sitting (either on their own or being held by a parent), and capable of bringing items to their mouths.  The food is typically either presented to the baby in large pieces that are easy to grab to begin with, or in soft forms like apple sauce, yogurt, etc. As the baby gets older you can present the food in a wider variety of forms (smaller pieces etc). You never spoon feed the child. They also are in control of when to reduce and give up breast feeding. The basic underlying ideas of baby fed weaning are (1) the baby should be in control of what goes into their mouth (2) babies should eat what the family is eating for the most part, and eat w/the family as part of the family (3) babies are designed to learn to eat solids at their own pace if they are allowed to do so.

Most American parents do not realize there is a decision to be made when it comes to introducing food. The traditional American method is very well engrained in the entire medical system and social structure here. But Baby Lead weaning is not some hippie alternative lifestyle. It is promoted by the National Health System in the UK and other European countries. Because the American method is so well engrained, if you do choose baby lead weaning you get a lot of questions and judgement from other parents (and even pediatricians!).

FAQ:
Won't your baby choke? -
Fact: A 6-8 month old's gag reflex is farther forward on the tongue than older babies and adults. Additionally, the jaw and tongue motions required to move a large piece of food from the front to the back of the mouth are the same motions required for chewing.
Conjecture: The gag reflex being farther forward discourages babies from putting things too far into their mouth and they will not be able to move big bites to the back of their mouth until they learn to chew. The forward gag reflex also gives baby a window of time to learn deal with solids without being as at risk for choking. If they miss this window, and get used to food being swallow-able without chewing, choking would seem more likely.

All babies will have to face a choking hazard at some point. There is no actual research/statistics on whether babies are more likely to choke if they start solids at 6 months or after months of puree at 9 months. The main precautions to take against choking at any age is to make sure the child is sitting upright while eating and that you always watch your child eat.

Aren't you worried about allergies?
Fact: Prior to 6 months, the intestine is not well developed and can have reactions to more types of food than at an older age.
Conjecture: Most of the fears concerning allergies are resultant from people starting babies on solids too early. A four month old may appear to have allergies to something because their intestine is underdeveloped to deal with it rather than because it is an actual allergy.

I guess my basic take away for this question is research shows food should not be introduced until 6 months, whatever method you want to use to introduce it. I cannot speak to the wisdom of avoiding certain foods until a child is older, but if you choose to do this, you can do it under either method of feeding. You also can easily modify baby lead weaning to introduce foods more slowly if you are more comfortable with it.

How do you know he is getting enough/the right things to eat? 
Fact: A study back in the 30s (granted, a long time ago, but as I said the research on this topic is very limited) allowed babies to choose their own foods from among healthy options for one month, and at the end of the month all of the babies had chosen a balanced diet for the course of the month and were healthier than at the beginning of the month. Also, a recent study in the UK showed baby lead weaning resulted in lower childhood obesity than other methods of introducing food.
Conjecture: Babies will crave what their body needs. If given healthy options to eat they will choose what they need. Also, as they are in control of how much they eat, they will learn from a very early age to judge how full they are and reduce over eating for their life.

There is not much research on exactly what babies need when in terms of calories and vitamins at what ages, but in terms of Baby Lead Weaning, as long as the baby is allowed to continue breast-feeding at will, they will be getting enough calories whether they be from food or milk. Regardless of feeding method, vitamin supplements are always an option if you are concerned about it.


And finally, the big question: Why did we choose baby lead weaning? I admit this was more my decision that DHs, though if he were not comfortable with it we would modify it so he was. Anyways, baby lead weaning just makes sense to me. There has not always been blenders and food processors around. Mothers have been living without these things for thousands of years. Clearly when humans were evolving, they had a way to learn to eat solids that did not involve purees. In my mind, this either means something like baby lead weaning was going on, or Alicia Silverstone-esque feedings were happening (eew?). Of course this alone (evolutionary design) is not enough to mean that baby lead weaning is any better than the traditional American approach, but I have not seen any real evidence as to why the traditional American approach is better either. I like the basic theory and ideas behind baby lead weaning. I like that you trust nature and the baby to know how and what to eat. I like that you don't fight the baby to make them eat, or force them to eat. I like the idea that Benjamin is learning about family dinner time and table manners and healthy appetite control without us making any special lessons/allowances. And now that we are actually doing it, I love that it forces us to cook more healthy meals, to sit down and enjoy each others company, and I love how much Benjamin enjoys it. I love that if we are out and about and grab lunch I can just hand Benjamin a chunk of green pepper from my subway sandwich and let him go at it. It really works great for us.

I am not saying baby lead weaning is for everyone, but I do advocate people making an active informed choice about how to introduce solids to their child, and not to just assume that their is only one way.

Back to Work

Tonight is my last night as a "stay at home mom." Tomorrow I start my new job as an eligibility and enrollment representative for medicare and medicaid at a major insurance company. I am happy to start work. I think I will probably like my job, I think it has room for growth, and I like the company I am going to work for (we used to have their insurance and they treated us very well).

When I was pregnant "are you going back to work?" was a relatively common question, particularly often seeing as I believed most people who asked it had a preferred answer. It is surprising how often one feels silently judged as a mother/mother to be (I am actually working on a post about the so-called Mommy Wars, so I will leave further discussion of this for another time). The point is, my answer was that I would be home for 12 weeks, and wished I could stay home for more like 6 months if my job allowed it. Well, as life would dictate, I actually got to stay home with Benjamin for 24 precious weeks. Not quite 6 months, but pretty darn close. I wish that Ben was crawling or mobile, but he is pretty darn close. We are in a good place.

I am very anxious about leaving Benjamin at daycare tomorrow, but ultimately I think it will be good for both of us. I think I will like being back at work, and I think that once he adjusts, Benjamin will like being at daycare. We had his little friend over here last night, and he was very amused by the 7 month old who was crawling and climbing. I think Ben will be rolling and crawling in no time with examples from the slightly older kids and a bit more "floor" time. Plus, knowing he is getting all sorts of floor time and play time at daycare, DH and I won't have to feel bad if we end up holding him all evening.

So, wish us luck! It will be a rough few days, but I hope all of us settle in quickly.

DH Weekend

This weekend is all about DH.

Saturday, after training off and on (more off than on since we all got sick in March), DH ran Grandma's Half Marathon (formally known as the Gary Bkorklund Half Marathon. He ran 13.1 miles, and I think that is pretty amazing and awesome. It is certainly farther than I ever intend to run. And, as he ran it for the first time the year Benjamin was born, I think we may have a forming tradition on our hands.

Then, today is DH's first Father's Day as a father. I got him some framed prints of Benjamin for his office, including one that I put Benjamin's hand print on as well as the date and "our first father's day". We went up the shore for brunch, it was delicious. Now DH is playing with Benjamin, singing the words to all the songs just a LITTLE bit wrong, just the way he always does. He is a great father and we both love him!

Falling in Place

I am very happy to report that things are falling into place. My stress, though intense, was relatively short lived.

On Tuesday morning I "snuck" out of the house early to try and get my drug test done before it interfered with any plans. My MIL is in town and I thought I could be back before people really got moving to do anything. I arrived at the lab at 8:30am and failed to be able to provide a big enough sample. I drank another liter and a half of water and just sat and waited... and waited.. and waited.

While I waited I received a call from a daycare center. I had emailed them before noticing in their webpage that they specialized in serving the needs of "parents with additional stresses". I figured that even if they had a spot open that as a married, middle class, educated family we would not qualify for it. However, the lady on the phone assured me that while they do offer services that would benefit "parents with additional stresses" that they did not limit their clientele to this, and that they did have a full time infant spot open. I told her I would come over around 10am, figuring I surely would have been able to give a sample by then.

It ended up being a rush! I do not know if it was due to breast feeding or what, but my body just absorbed the water it seemed, and it took forever for me to need to go. I finally did around 9:40 and then hopped into the car to head back across town to see the daycare. I was running late so I did not stop and change babies diaper or feed him even though I knew he needed both, he was happy and I figured I could do it after.

The tour of the center was great. Everyone I met was very nice and very professional. The infant room had 6 infants in it and three adults when I walked in. One of them was not technically an infant teacher, but she was helping out because her specific job (food coordinator) leaves her with lots of extra time. Also, because they share a building with a senior living center, they have a volunteer named "Grandma Mary" who comes and helps do projects, rock babies to sleep, etc. All the kids were engaged and playing on the rug, or down for naps in a nice nursery room. Also, the office staff (of two) was very engaged with the kids as well. It was just really great - caring adults with loving hands everywhere. And the the main infant teacher gave me a great vibe, she was very engaged and very concerned with understanding what Benjamin would need to be happy and what I would need to feel comfortable leaving him there.

 I was almost certain we wanted the spot, but I had to check with DH, so I went out to the car and talked to him on the cell, then headed back in to sign up and put down a deposit. Well, I handed DS to the office manager to fill out paperwork and he immediately began screaming. She asked if he could be wet or hungry and I had to admit he was both! I felt like an awful mother but they were so nice about it, changed his diaper and found somewhere for me to nurse. Once he was clean and dry I finished the paperwork while they took turns holding him. They did a decent job considering his normal tendency to scream when I am not around. I am still sure that the first few days will be rough, but I also feel like they will take really good care of him and not just let him cry or ignore him in favor of dealing with other kids.

We also have made some progress on the housing front. We are going to be making an offer on a house this weekend. I know this does not mean that everything will work out with it, but I really just feel like we are headed in the right direction mentally and with our actions. We have been given some advice during this house hunt and during the trouble we have had with it. People suggested that we be patient, consider raising our price range, and stop putting pressure on ourselves to make this the end all/be all (surely forever) house. I think we are taking all three pieces of advice. The house we are putting an offer on is a bit more expensive than we were looking, and it may not be our forever home, but if we successful purchase it we will live their a long time and very happily. More details on the house once we are in contract!

Finally, I received the call yesterday that all is in order for me to start work on June 18th. I passed the background check and drug test. I got a nice email from my supervisor welcoming me to the team.

So yes, things are falling into place. Its a bit unfortunate all these big things had to be going on while my MIL is here, because I feel like I have not had a chance to enjoy her company as much as I had hoped. I have been running around to labs and day cares etc. But I am very glad things are starting to get settled.

Ball O'Stress

Between the daycare search, paperwork etc for the new job, and the house hunt, I am feeling extremely stressed. This is the most stressed I have been since, I don't know... I was pretty stressed about the decisions involving delivery of Benjamin back in December, but I think this is worse. Before that... well my last job was not stressful at all so I would say since General Exams in graduate school.. yeah those might have been more stressful than this.

I spent the morning calling and emailing day cares. All the work resulted in one visit this evening, which did not go well.We both found the owner to be overbearing and odd, and the set up to be less than favorable. I am worried we won't find better. The problem with daycare search that non-parents don't seem to understand is that you don't just go pick a daycare, you have to find one that has an opening, and then there may be several people trying to get that opening. It sucks. My mom and her work friends are trying to help with leads, and I have four weeks, but its all I can think about practically. Except I cannot afford to only be thinking about that...

I also set up to go view more houses. After a small escapade with a house we thought we loved but realized after we had an offer in that we didn't, we are really trying to gather ourselves and identify what our goals are. I think we have our heads on straight now about that, but we will see how the next round of viewings go. The pressure is on if we want to close in June. Finding the right place is practically all I think about. Except I cannot afford to only be thinking about that....

I got another round of paperwork for my new employment, and I have to arrange to go take a drug test. Clearly I don't expect their to be any glitches, but making sure it all gets done still occupies a great deal of my attention, its practically all I think about. Except I cannot afford to only be thinking about that....

My car needs repairs too by the way.

Luckily there is some shining light in this.  Benjamin was a sweet little adorable angel for me today. He was cheerful and babbling and laughing while he was awake and went down for his naps easily. He looks SO CLOSE to crawling, but I don't think he quite has the torso strength for it yet. He will push his entire chest and stomach up in the air, and today he even was wiggling his back end under him, but he can't hold that torso straight. He is also very close to sitting unassisted. He was talking so much today it was amazing. At one point he would burst out laughing every time I said a letter. ("A" (he breaks out laughing) "B" (he breaks out laughing) etc. For a whole alphabet and a half!). He is so adorable. I cannot believe how big he is getting.

On one last note, fiction. I have a lot of fiction in my life when there is time for it. Mainly books and TV. I have been watching MASH while I nurse for the past 2-3 weeks and I am on the final season. I am reading a book, Little Bee, for book club tomorrow. I have realized that feeling as stressed as I have been, these are not appropriate forms of fiction. Both the book and the final season of MASH are depressing and I just can't take it. I feel like it is adding to my stress instead of relieving it! But in the case of the book, I need to get it done in the next 20 hrs! And for MASH, I only have two discs left so I want to just finish, but I really should postpone and put something cheerful/comforting on.

Big Mama's Boy

Benjamin had his 4 month appointment on Tuesday. He is a big growing boy! He weighed 16 lbs 4 oz (75th percentile), and is 26.5" long (90th percentile). It is weird how big he feels now. I think what really makes him feel bigger than even a week ago is that he is stretching out more. A week ago if I had him sleep on my chest he would be all curled up with his legs tucked under him in a fetal position, now he stretches out and lets his legs hang down and it makes him feel SO LONG.

He also had his vaccines on Tuesday and spent Tuesday night through Thursday morning with a fever and generally not himself. Luckily that cleared up in time for his Grandparent's (my ILs) to arrive Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately he was very fussy for them anyways because the way his sleep pattern had been and his growing stranger danger/separation anxiety. 

In short, Benjamin is a mama's boy, to a fault. The last few times I have needed to leave him with my mother as a babysitter he pretty much screamed the entire time. On Monday I needed to go to do some job application stuff and my mom watched him. I was gone for 90 minutes. He was OK for the first 15 minutes then screamed for the rest of the time. On Thursday my dad and mom both watched him while I went for a job interview and it went a little better, but it still involved quite a lot of "not the mama" stubborn crying. On Thursday afternoon, right after my ILs arrived I needed to go sign some documents, so I left him with a whole slew of baby sitters (both sets of grandparents, my brother, and both SILs), and he screamed the entire time I was gone (over an hour). He stopped crying about 2 seconds after they handed him back to me. Its extremely stressful for everyone involved. I feel trapped when I can't go somewhere without thinking he is at home screaming, which is pretty much accurate.

And things just got more complicated. All that job stuff? Well, I got a job; Eligibility and Enrollment representative for the medicaid/medicare portion of a large insurance company. I start June 18th. I need to find childcare. I have no idea how this is going to work. I imagine that unless something drastic changes in the next month that he will spend the first couple of days I go to work screaming his head off. The thought of it breaks my heart. I am glad and relieved to be employed, but not happy, if that makes any sense. In fact if I really stop and think about it, it makes me want to cry.

*sigh*

Our First Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day as a mother, it was a long time coming! We got up at our normal time, DH told me he needed help finishing my mother's day present. So I come downstairs and it is a breakfast tray that says "Our First Mother's Day", with the date and Benjamin's name, and a picture frame, and a place to put Benjamin's hand print. So we painted his little hand blue and slapped in on there! I thought I took a picture, but apparently it did not make it to this computer yet. Then DH took care of baby and made breakfast while I showered. I gave my mom her gift, and we all ate pancakes and bacon.

After some more conversation and preparation we headed out for a day up the shore. My aunt and uncle were still in town from the wedding and they wanted to experience some North Woods beauty. (Also just for my records, we started using size 3 diapers today after a number of blowouts recently. I am putting this here because we stopped to buy a pack on the way up the shore).

We went to Gooseberry Falls State Park and then to one of our favorite little "secrets" along the north shore, Iona's Beach. Then we had lunch at Northern Lights, and I took a nice nap while DH drove us home. It was a really great day and I am very appreciative to have such a great husband, mother, and son, and family to spend it with!

Our Beautiful Little Family at Gooseberry State Park

My brother playing with Benjamin on Iona Beach

Me! Nice shot with Bry and DH in the background.

Grandma (my mom), me, baby, and DH on Iona Beach

Fitting that my new SIL found a heart shaped rock two days after her wedding!

DH holding Benjamin at Gooseberry

Worry Wart

Parenthood is full of worries, I knew this going in. When we finally got the confirmation we were pregnant and saw the heart beat at 6 weeks the doctor said "You will worry about this being from now until one of you dies, welcome to parenthood". I think its a great line (he has probably used it a million times), and I have repeated it to people I know who are struggling with parental worries.

So what exactly does the parent of a 4 month old worry about? There are the obvious things of course: health and safety, but then there are a plethora of things I never thought I would be thinking about. Here are some examples:
- Am I stimulating him enough for his intellectual development?
- Should I be doing more? Talking to him more? Singing More? Playing more?
- Should I be doing less? Am I coddling him?
- Is he getting enough tummy time? Back time? Am I slowing down his motor development by holding him too much?
- Should I be holding him more to keep him from getting and flat head?
- Do I have the right toys and enough toys or is he bored?
- Do I offer him too many toys, is he over stimulated?
(sensing a pattern yet?)
- Do I help him too much so he won't learn to grab?
- Do I not help him enough/is he overly frustrated?
- Am I creating bad habits by the way I give him a lot of attention as he goes to sleep?
- Am I missing out on valuable bonding by not giving him more attention as he goes to sleep?


These are all little day to day things that can also be described as "mommy guilt"... no matter what you are doing as a mother you always thing you could/should be doing something more/different. Before being a mother I knew what mommy guilt was academically but did not realize how pervasive it would be and how inescapable it is even for someone pretty laid back.

All of this worry, and yet I consider myself relatively rational and lucky compared to some mothers. Lucky because I don't have to worry about whether baby is eating enough and supply and all of that type stuff that some mothers have to worry about and Benjamin has been pretty healthy. Rational because I don't worry about a lot of little things the media tells me to worry about that are more alarmist than scientific (most of these involve exposure to certain foods or chemicals or medicines etc, or critiques of certain parenting methods) and I am in general not prone to panic. When I hear a news story with an alleged threat I read up on it and decide based on the data whether to pay attention, and if I do pay attention its just changing my behavior, not panicking about what has already been done.

Of course even I have some big quasi-irrational fears. Example? Being aware of SIDS and having some preventive measures is healthy... but really it is a tiny probability, especially since I have no risk factors, yet I am overly paranoid about it, follow every SIDS rule to a tee and prefer to have DS napping near enough to me that I can either know he is breathing the entire time or check on him every 5-10 minutes. I drive my husband batty when I won't let DS sleep on the bed with us, or in his boppy unless we are right there etc.


Then there is the horror story fears. It used to be when I heard a baby horror story I thought it sucked and moved on, now they have much more of an impact. The worst stories are stories where perfectly well intentioned loving parents make a mistake that is blatantly their fault that leads to the child's death. An example, a few days ago I read a story that a woman thought she had dropped her infant son off at day care, but actually forgot/went straight to work. She found the little boy's dead body in the car seat when she went to pick him up from daycare. It sends chills down my spines and I don't even know if it is true. It's not that I think it will happen or that we are at risk for it, its a deep down sympathy reaction where I realize as a mother just how horrifying it is and it disturbs me. I read this particular story right before I meant to to go sleep... needless to say I did not get to sleep easily, and I almost ended up waking up DH just for some comfort. I have heard many women say that they became more emotional or reactive to news when they became mothers, so I guess this is just a variant.

I don't know where I am going with this. What I am getting at is:
(1) Every mother worries.
(2) Every mother has some irrational fears or worries. 
(3) Mommy guilt is very real.
(4) The emotional changes of motherhood are very real.

And the take home points? Don't kick yourself for worrying... or worry that you are worrying, and don't judge other mother's for worrying, even irrationally, even if their worries are different from your own.

Oh. and don't read news stories late at night.

Meet Up

I joined an internet group for Duluth mothers on Meet Up. I am hoping to make some new friends, ideally a couple who have kids around the same age as Benjamin. After backing out twice, I finally made it to an event yesterday - May Day coffee. It was sort of a drive but I figured it would be worth it if I met some interesting people. My conclusion? Meeting people is hard.

I arrived at the coffee shop about five minutes early and headed in. A woman was there with her baby. I introduced myself and we started chatting. Her son is 7 months old and a real cutie. I ordered a drink. A third woman, the organizer, came in with two boys (6 yrs, and 20 months). She had us move to a different part of the shop and we sat down. I felt all awkward and in the way with my infant seat and diaper bag. It was just us three for awhile and it was OK, I just felt like I was on a different wave length than the organizer was, but I was enjoying getting to know the other woman w/the 7 month old. We had some in common because we are both first time moms, both new to the meet up group, and she just bought a house. Then more woman began to come with kids of all ages. There were six women in total. While more women were coming in Benjamin started to get fussy so I got the bottle out to feed him, only to discover it had leaked all over my diaper bag, meaning I did not have food for him and I had a giant mess. I tried to give him the ounce that was left but the bottle kept leaking. We were both covered in milk. I knew I should just feed him. I am all for breast feeding in public in theory, but have NO experience really. When I am out and about I always just stop in the car to feed him, or in a nice nursing room at the mall. But I knew it was either feed him or leave, so I went ahead and did it very awkwardly. I must have looked ridiculous trying to juggle him etc, and the fact I had just tried to give him a bottle, and I hardly knew these women. (I was not the only one breastfeeding, but the other woman clearly was a pro). *sigh* totally ridiculous. When he was done eating, there were all these woman settled in and I had no idea who they were, and they all knew each other. They were all perfectly nice, but I certainly felt out of place. Then the one woman I was getting to know had to leave because her son was fussing (nap time). Then I really felt out of place and I don't think the woman on my other side liked me much. Or maybe I was just being paranoid. Then Benjamin got fussy (also needing a nap) so I headed out. I didn't have a bad time, but I came home in a really bad mood for some reason. I think its just the stress of it, and the worry that I won't make friends. Meeting new people is so dang hard.

The First Few Days

Its hard to describe what the first few days with a new baby is like. I feel like you either have already been there, or you have no idea and are not going to "get it" no matter what I write. But, I figure I should try.

First, in terms of hospital/insurance, the birth time of 1:55am was a great advantage for us. The day the baby is born is "day zero" no matter what time of day the event occurs. If he had been born before midnight, Wednesday would have been day zero, Thursday day one, and we would have been discharged Friday morning. Instead,  Thursday was day zero, Friday day one, and we got released Saturday. It basically gave us a full extra day to recover and get used to baby while in the hospital. This made being released much less nerve wracking then it may have been otherwise.

DH and I are pretty laid back. I thought this was true, but this experience (the beginnings of parenthood) has confirmed it. In the delivery room, the midwife kept saying "she is as controlled as an epidural patient." I believe this means I was able to listen to her directions and follow them even though I was in pain. Then, on our second day in the hospital, a nurse came in to go over all of the "release" directions with me and she got 5 minutes in before asking "which child is this for you"? And she was shocked when I said the first, she said I was not acting like a first time mom. She is not the only nurse that commented that we were "doing great" and "very calm".

But I am getting off track. What I wanted to say is that the early days, this first week, has gone so fast and so slow. As a new parent, time just slips by. As new to breast feeding, I immediately started thinking in terms of 2 hour chunks, which fly by. In the hospital and when we first got home I could never tell where they went. At night especially. You feed the baby, change a diaper, maybe use the restroom yourself, go to lay the baby down, and realize that theoretically you should be up again in an hour or less to do it again. This of course will get better quickly as baby sleeps longer, as we no longer need to wake the baby up to build supply, but it was quite surprising early on. And while this time is slipping by so quickly, you also can't believe how long it seems you have had the baby. The nurse commented late Thursday that baby's behavior would change as he reached the one day mark, and it was astounding to both of us he was not yet a day old.

Similarly strange to the passage of time is the passage of worries. As a new parent, there is worry after worry, and when you are amongst them, they seem so permanent, and then they resolve and you realize you really were only stressing about something for hours but it seemed so crucial or impossible for that short time. For example, I spent most of Saturday late morning/afternoon worrying that he was having trouble latching with my milk in. By Saturday night he was latching like a champ, and looking back on how the day went I realized I had spent a lot of energy on a problem that occurred and resolved in a matter of hours without almost any active action from me. It had seemed so much more significant than it was. And that is how the first week of parenthood is - you spend a lot of energy and time worrying about problems that will hardly last because you and baby will learn. So, best to relax and enjoy it!