Just Need to Vent for a Second...

Lol, girl I feel ya...you are just a little stressed out right now. Call a friend up to see if they can watch the kids for a while so you can get out and get some air. It will subside hopefully, You have a Happy V Day!!!

R.

Yep- we all have those day (and some of those days drag into weeks!) When I have days like that, I am reminded of something I once heard a mom say when I first became a SAHM 12 years ago... she said we did not decide to stay at home to have clean houses-- we did it to spend more time with our children. Whether or not you stay at home full time, the house work can wait.... and wait! Every last piece of laundry doesn't have to be done as long as everyone has something clean to wear, the clean laundry can be folded and put away another day, and as long as the dishes in the sink aren't growing mold yet they can sit a while longer, too. Living in FL, I can't imagine the cabin fever you must get from snow, but find ways to escape, even if it's just an extra long time in the bathroom with the door locked (....or staring off into space while holding a warm mug of cocoa!!)

Boy am I having flashbacks. Sounds like my life after I had my first child. I struggled with her to nurse for three months. She was a fussy baby too. She cried from 6pm until about 10 or 11pm every night. You would have to bounce her around for hours. She was a light sleeper and never slept more than a few minutes at a time during the day. I was so sleep-deprived I started to hallucinate and that just made my moods worse. The only thing that helped was going for walks. It got me out of the house into the fresh air as well...so it helped. She was born in January and so it wasn't warm. I started out pushing her in the carseat with a blanket over the top to block the wind...of course they have those carseat cozies now and that keeps the baby nice and toasty....she didn't last long in that get-up because she liked to look around. So I bundled her in her big cozy suit (she could sit up pretty well at 3 months), wrapped her in a blanket like a big burrito and then strapped her into the stroller with blanket rolls on the sides to keep her from rolling around. If the wind was blowing I would throw a blanket over the front to block the wind. Otherwise she just sat there and grinned with her little cheeks all rosey. I froze half to death (I hate the cold) but she wasn't crying and I needed the peace. We would walk for hours at a time. I would go in and nurse her and go back out if she didn't want to lay down. And I lived in a neighborhood where I could walk in the street because the walks were never clear. We did that for probably a year. She loved that stroller. My second child hated the outside and would scream her bloody head off if you tried to go outside. But she was content to be held so that's what I did. If I had to take a shower or cook or fold some clothes...I put her in her bouncy seat and let her scream. I would sing something stupid as loud as I could to keep my sanity. For some reason that helped. Believe me they won't die if they cry.

You aren't trying to diet are you? That will dry you up. Get plenty of water too. I never drank enough water with the first. Keep a water bottle nearby all the time. Maybe a medication? Stress will dry you up too? Or you might seem like you aren't producing enough because he's a big eater...and if they go through a growth spurt they eat even more. My son ate way more often than my girls. I felt like I needed to walk around topless. And with him I would supplement after I fed him...if he nursed and he was still screaming and I wasn't producing, I would give him a little bit of formula. Made him happy. After awhile my body got with the program and he didn't want a bottle anymore.

Put the dog in the garage or basement or some place out of your hair....sit in a nice comfy couch or chair...and watch a good movie. Just veg. Don't worry about the house. It isn't going anywhere. Get plenty of water, a nice warm blanket...the bouncer...veg. If the baby will sit in the bouncer and sleep, let him sleep in it. Sometimes mine would sleep if they could just see me. Get the girlsin their jammies and have them chill on the couch too...or just watch them play a game or something. Read them some books...do something that doesn't take much thinking, listening or talking if you don't want to. Make some popcorn, take turns holding the baby and watch a movie. My girls loved to hold the baby. They would even use their foot to bounce the boy in his seat. Just relax if you can...find a way.

Take 5 minutes and some soothing lotion to give yourself a little foot massage. It's so hard some days, I know. And as a mom it's easy to get so stressed, but you HAVE to take care of yourself too so you have more to give. Breastfeeding is not always easy and you have to do what you have to do! Check out www.kellymom.com for tips. But more importantly, this too shall pass.

I feel for you!!! I have a newborn and breastfeeding is extremely time-consuming and difficult - people never warned me about that!! It is very stressful hearing your little loved one cry and there's nothing you can do about it. I also have 2 other children, so when they are getting on my nerves, I send them to the basement to watch a movie - that gives me 2 hours of peace and quiet and I can focus on the baby. Plus, one of my cats has a problem - not sure what it is...he is losing all his hair - he's a Himalayan - and has little red marks on his backside...so I'm scared there will be a problem in our carpets...but I am taking him to the vet next week to see if it is a skin condition or something else...and of course there's the endless piles of laundry....try to get away for a couple hours - that will help. Pump a bottle or two and have someone watch your baby and get out of the house. :) Everyone will be ok for a couple of hours and you will be refreshed. And remember - don't take the crying personally...babies don't know what they're doing and they will cry even with the best mothers! :)

HUGS!!!!
I'm so sorry you're having this day. I hope things get better.

I completely understand how you feel! I've had one of those weeks!! My 2 year old & 6 month old boys don't give me much time to myself AT ALL. We just moved from Texas to Princeton, WV (with my husband's parents with whom we live) so can completely relate to the cabin fever. I am not a home body, so not being able to leave the house is making me CRAZY!!! In fact, it has made me pretty lazy. I don't even want to put effort into my business, which is not good for myself or my family's future! I couldn't be more ready for Spring. I am also breastfeeding, so I know the frustration you are feeling there. Is your baby not accepting either breast or just one side? My little guy didn't eat for almost the first 24 hours he was born & we struggled in the beginning as well, but now he seems to want it just for comfort (which is pretty frustrating too.) We finally figured out that he had to lay diagonally across my body to be comfortable enough to eat. All of the traditional holds didn't work for us at first. Once we found the right position he even struggled latching on correctly. I had gotten to the point that I was tired of trying and was about ready to give him formula when all of a sudden it just started working (which really I was glad because I couldn't stand the thought of not nursing him). If the baby doesn't like to nurse, don't blame yourself. You've tried & that's what matters. Hope your day gets better & you have a great Valentine's weekend!!!

Hang in there! I think a lot fo us have had one of those weeks. I got snowed in with a 7YO with a fractured leg, a 3YO who refused to change clothes for three days, my mother who came up to care for a dying aunt, my father who was supposed to just stop by on his way to the airport but got stranded for 3 days at my house with his EX-wife and my hubby, an overly-organized Army officer who couldn't understand why our home was in complete chaos. I considered locking myself in my room, too!

Hang in there. Eventually the screaming baby will stop (any chance he's caught your oldest daughter's illness? teething maybe?). My son refused to breastfeed for 2 days when his teeth first came in. Thankfully he started again!!!!

Save your post so one day you can read it and laugh :) Good luck!!!

Hang in there, R.! All I can say is that with three kids (including a preschooler and a baby) and a dog, you deserve to vent as much as you want! These days of frustration are bound to happen -- I have them on a regular basis (and I swear I had them sometimes even before I had kids and a family). Just try to get some time to breathe deeply, take a walk, whatever. I know the point is that you can't do this right now, but I hope it comes soon. Take care and I hope thing smooth out soon.

awwww
Im sorry you feel this way. But I'm glad you got to vent it out somehow.
I completely understand what you're going through. I only have 1 baby, but every time I feel frustrated, I think of him.
He didn't ask to come to this world, he's a new human being that is experiencing all this new world. it's up to me to him see in a beautiful way. My husband and I planned him, so none of my frustration is his fault. Even when he refuses to drink from one breast, even when I have to get up every 2 hours during the night, even when he cries non-stop....and so on. I try to calm down by thinking of how excited I was when he was in my belly and how I really wanted to meet him. I talk to myself outloud and NEVER show a frustration, mad, stressed out face to my baby. Babies sense everything, so when you feel like that, she'll sense it and will it worst for you. Therefore, you'll milk supply will be low and her temperament will be bad.
Try going out on a stroll, you only live once. Live Day-by Day, you know that stress can cause cancer and many other diseases...
I hope you have someone to talk to, so that you don't be holding in all the time
Wish you the best...

Hey R. I myself had one of those days yesterday where nothing was going my way- I'd like to be the first one to tell you, you do a great job caring for the kids your boyfriend and the dog!!
Tomorrow will be better just hang in there. And Happy Valentines day.

poor R.!! journal about it. you will look back it days like this with relief that it's over AND a strange illogical sense of nostalgia one day.
and then go take a long hot bubble bath with a scented candle burning nearby.
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khairete
S.

Put the boyfriend on call and take yourself a hot bath. Beg, borrow or steal a babysitter and have a date with your boyfriend........even if it is visiting friends.

I used to say I wanted to go running screaming down the street to escape the mad house!

Don't make this work, but if you know 3 or 4 other mom's I'd suggest starting a Mom's Group. Even if you know one mom, and she knows one.... Don't choose women with big mouths. This is a private group. Meet say once a month rotating houses. Lock yourselves in a room away from the family and vent to each other, support each other. I started in a group like this over 15 years ago and we still meet. We re-named the group a "Women's Group" as we are now all empty nesters. This group was my salvation! In fact it still is.

Hang in there. This too shall pass.