Wow! Reading your stories brought back so many memories for me. We sure have been through a lot. Here's my story:
Dh (34) and I (27) got married in June of 1998 and started trying to conceive a few months later. It took us a few months but we got pregnant in January 1999 and we were so excited. I immediately bought and read every book there was on pregnancy and babies. I did everything "right". I ate right, excercised, took my vitamins every day, took natural childbirth classes, etc etc etc. I figured if I had a perfect pregnancy I'd have a perfect baby. At 2:40am on my due date (Oct 11, 1999) my water broke and after 11 hours of drug free labor, Lauren was born.
She didn't cry for a few minutes and the nurses were worried. They started suctioning her lungs out and after she started to cry, she never stopped...for 6 months. She wanted to bf every hour or so and would only sleep on my chest (if she slept at all). During the day, dh and I did a lot of rocking and bouncing but the second you stopped, she would start screaming. Luckily for me, dh wasn't working at the time (off injured) so he was home to help. Every night, from about 4pm until 2-3-4am, Lauren would scream bloody murder. It was absolutely horrible!!! Nothing helped. We had the best swing, the best car seat, the best stroller. What a waste of money! The only thing that would calm her down was constant bouncing. One night, dh and I were so worn out, we put the vibrating chair in bed with us, put Lauren in it, and switched off bouncing the chair up and down. We were desperate.
Finally at about 2 months, Lauren decided it would be okay if she slept between dh and I rather than on my chest. What a relief that was for me. It wasn't much help on my relationship with dh but that was ok (at the time). At around 3 months, our relationship was very strained and we decided it was time to put Lauren in her own crib.
We tried letting her cry it out and boy did she cry! She would cry for hours if you let her. She NEVER wore herself out like people said she would. I couldn't take it. So for months I would go thru this whole nighttime routine. Bath, nurse, rock, fall asleep, put in crib, wake up, nurse, rock, fall asleep, put in crib, wake up. Over and over and over. Getting her to sleep would sometimes take 3 hours but I was determined. I finally won and she slept in there for an entire night. Of course I didn't sleep a wink worrying about her (is she ok? is she breathing? is she warm enough? is she too warm?) Eventually she turned into a pretty good sleeper. She started sleeping 5-6 hours at a time and I started getting my sanity back.
Once she started sitting up and crawling, her h/n personality relaxed a little bit. She started entertaining herself with toys and interacting more with dh and I. We were really starting to enjoy being with her. Now, at almost 1 year, she is far from the "normal" babies you see in magazines and on TV, but she is "normal" to me. We still have a hard time taking her places where she has to be confined. She is a free spirit and likes to do her own thing. I have learned to accept her for who she is and try not to change her. She has the cutest personality at times. She is so friendly and outgoing and lights up a room with her big eyes and smile. Raising her has taken a lot of patience and will continue to do so. I love her with all my heart and thank God everyday that He gave her to me.
Tricia & Lauren 10/11/99