Holly rolled over last night! She was pretty unhappy about the whole tummy time thing though. We had her do it a second time to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Her incisors broke through last Friday. Sable and Keri came over yesterday and the girls played with blocks. It's interesting how they develop similar yet differently. Sable rolls over good and is working on the whole sitting up thing. Holly is a good sitter-upper but has yet to be an expert roller over.
Witnessing all these milestones has made me think a lot about the last year and a half. Mostly about how I wanted to approach parenting and we had to make changes along the way. Maybe I can pass on what I learned.
-I recommend taking child safety, birthing, breastfeeding (if you're gonna) classes. David took a daddy class and thought it was good too. Even if you only get one golden nugget of information, that could save you pain and suffering.
-I grossly overestimated my ability to withstand pain during childbirth. But...my approach was to be off the pain killers until I needed them, just to see how I did without them. I think it took about an hour before I demanded them. The memory is kind of hazy...not from the drugs but from the pain.
-One of the great things about our hospital was that we could have as many or not as many people that we wanted in the room. The room phone does shut off to be turned back on at your convience. So if you have any demanding relatives that want to be in the room with you and you really don't want them there, you can instruct the nursing staff not to let them in and they can't do anything about it. I didn't actually have that problem with my relatives, but I did feel the need to throw the phone against the wall when I was having a contraction.
-Have your partner bring a sleeping bag when you go to hospital. Not only will everyone there think you're a genious, but your partner will be much more comfortable.
-I fully intended to use cloth diapers for a number of green and healthy reasons. Within about 3 or 4 days we switched to disposable. I hate cloth diapers. We were warned by friends but I had to try for myself.
-For breastfeeding I had a goal of 6 months. I dried up after 4.5 months so we had to go to formula. But Holly is healthy and happy with no adverse effects. It wasn't as magical as I was lead to believe but I did think it was worth it. I was really, really happy when it was over. I stopped having nightmares about my boobs. Yep, it really happened. It's also way easier when you're out and about. Mostly because Holly and I were used to the football hold due to my emergency c-section.
-The best part of this advice is that you don't have to follow it. You don't have to follow your mother's or other relative or friend that knows everything about babies' advice either. It's good to have a plan but it pays to have a plan B...and plan C. But ultimately you are in charge and no one does anything with or about your baby without your say-so. So everyone go forth and be confident in what you do. I'm sure I'll come back to read this post on a day that I need more self-assurance.
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