My dear daughter,
Things were a little crazy at home when we got back from the birthing center with you.
During the first 4 days it was just you, me and your mother. Then your grandmother came to stay with us for 3 weeks, and things started getting a little easier.
You would cry for everything, except while breastfeeding or drinking your baby formula. So you cried when you awoke in the morning, you cried because you were sleepy, during every diaper change, during bath and change of clothes. You also cried when you crapped your diaper and sometimes when you wet it too.
Every night you would wake up crying 3 or 4 times if we were lucky. If things went well, you would sleep after changing and feeding and we would get some 2 to 3 hours of sleep before the next awakening.
It’s worse when you wake up crying because of gases. Every baby goes through this, your digestive system is brand new and it’s still switching from umbilical cord feeding to milk or formula ingestion. So it accumulates gases and it seems to hurt a lot. I don’t recall my gaseous phase very well, just glimpses of it. It looks like you are in a lot of pain and it’s heartbreaking to watch. Your face goes all red and it looks like you’re making a lot of effort to let that gas get out. Sometimes the pain will wake you up merely 30 minutes after going to sleep. It improves with belly massage and flexing your little legs gently. A few drops of simeticon, properly prescribed by your pediatrician, also helped a lot.
Then we would wake up around at 7 or 8am and get breakfast. Your grandmother helped a lot.
After breakfast you usually took a nap. I also took a nap, but your mother never managed to sleep during the day. She would just lie down a while.
Your mom and grandmother would prepare lunch and I had to go out frequently to buy groceries or drugstore supplies. In the afternoon it was possible to sleep a little more, sometimes. We ate quickly to prepare for your next awakening. But it was more manageable because you slept a lot during the day.
By the time your grandmother went back to her home, things were a little smoother, but getting a good night’s sleep was still elusive. Your mother and I started to take turns spending nights with you.
I enjoyed our nights a lot. I liked holding you in my arms and moving side to side waiting for you to fall asleep. We could spend a lot of time looking at each other.
It would usually take 3 or 4 hours for you to go to sleep again. During this time we just held you, played Beatles for Babies or Pink Floyd for Babies on the cell phone, sang for you, wandered around with you in our arms or rocked you in the stroller.
It was difficult, but it was also magical. I lost weight and started eating healthier. I changed a lot of bad habits I had. I will always remember it as a great time. I would do it all over again.
Love,
Dad
Aspergers Dad 