Six Weeks

It's been six weeks since baby Lars came into our family.  In some ways, it has gone by quickly, and in other ways, it seems like it's been forever.  Those initial weeks of sleep deprivation felt somewhat normal--this is what having a newborn is supposed to be like, right?  This pleasant misery of excessive exhaustion mixed with the exhilarating excitement of bonding with this new life I helped create?  The constant flow of visitors bringing meals, gifts, and love for the baby was both a blessing and a burden as it meant food for my family, while also creating the need to entertain and be gracious when I really just wanted to hide in my room and sleep for more than a thirty minute increment.

Christmas eve was fun because we had a real live baby to be our infant in a manger during our nativity reenactment.  Lars lasted long enough to take a picture. 
 

 Not even a visit from Santa Claus could make him happy.


By about week four, I started to wonder if this baby was fussier than my others had been.  Had I simply forgotten what it was like to have a newborn?  Or is this baby different?  My mom came to visit the last week of December and convinced me that the constant crying wasn't so "normal" after all.  The first time she used the word "colic," I started to panic.  The ensuing google search offered little help since it turns out that "colic" is just a fancy word used to describe incessant, unexplainable fussiness in babies.  All online suggestions seemed to be a big "try this and see if it works" guessing game. 



We had some friends over on New Year's Eve.  We played games and ate food and sent the kids downstairs to watch a movie.  Lars cried and cried.  Party guests tried their hand at getting him to settle down.  We tried turning on the sink faucet and running the blow dryer to create white noise.  We swaddled, unswaddled, cradled, rocked, bounced, swung, suckled and nursed.  The kid was inconsolable.  The next day, I texted my midwife and told her I had a problem.  We went to see Susan on a Friday, and she suggested that we take Lars to a chiropractor for an adjustment.  An appointment was made for the following Tuesday.  In the mean time, Lars had a baby blessing scheduled for that Sunday, January 4th. 

I worried that the blessing would be a disaster, but it wasn't.  Lars slept peacefully through the whole thing.  Justin offered a beautiful blessing while Brock held the microphone for him.  Grandpa Johnson, Uncle Chris, Bishop Merrell, Tom Orme & Andrew Smith stood in the circle.  The Hueys and Grandma Morgan were there to share our special day with us.  After church, we had a family potluck at our house and then Grandma Morgan left and went to spend a couple of days with the Hueys before returning home to Utah.
 

While Lars has been adjusting to life on earth, the other five kids have been having their own adventures as well.  This past Monday, Austin, Brandon & Eden started school at Belair Elementary.  They had a great first day, and I was relieved to have them taken care of while I continued to wrestle through my adjustment to life with a newborn.

I was anxious to start exercising again since my weight gain during this pregnancy was substantial.  It helped to have Brock home to hold Lars while I attempted to get a workout in.

Yesterday, Austin had his first Upward basketball game.  I missed the excitement, but heard it was a fast & furious game and Austin made a great lay-up.

Afterward, Justin took the five older kids to the old house and they played on the frozen pond.  Kade slipped and fell on the ice, cutting his chin open.  Luckily Justin has experience with stitching things up.

On a previous visit to the lake house, Justin, Chris, Kade & Brandon were riding around in the Ranger when a sharp turn in the mud sent them rolling.  Brandon was the only one not buckled in, as he was riding in the back when the vehicle fell on its side.  Brandon jumped off the back as the Ranger fell, but ended up landing underneath the roll cage.  His leg was terribly beat up and bruised, with a deep cut on the shin.  Luckily, nothing was broken, and he was able to recover without complications.  Poor kids!  What a hard knock life they lead! 

I liked the chiropractor we saw on Tuesday, but he didn't find anything significantly out of place on Lars.  He suggested maybe he just needed time to grow out of his fussiness.  There are moments when I think maybe he has improved.  Then there are nights when neither of us get much sleep and I wonder what I am doing wrong.  I'm finding this to be another one of life's great opportunities to practice patience.  Lars will eventually get big and I will miss his tiny helplessness.  In the mean time, if I need to avoid the bathroom scale, wear maternity clothes a few more months, feed my family cold cereal for dinner, lower my expectations on hygiene & housekeeping while skipping or cutting my workouts short, then so be it.  I'll have the rest of my life to fight those battles.  They will still be there once I have finished navigating my way through this one.