Our first 5 months revealed

When labour didn't quite begin as it should, I should have known...

I began my journey of motherhood on May 22nd at 6:04pm with labour (sorta) starting a mere 64.5 hours earlier on Friday, May 20th at 1:30am. I had PROM, or Premature Rupture of Membranes, which resulted in only half of my membranes rupturing, and thus causing ineffective and sporadic contractions for the next 48+ hours. On top of all that, I had to have antibiotics given every four hours until Sophie was born...even throughout the night. We had planned a water birth at home. A nice, calm, relaxing (huh?) homebirth attended by my midwives. I began to realize, when contractions hadn't gone into full force by Saturday morning, that I was going to have anything but a nice, calm, relaxing homebirth...

In the end, Sophie's birth was a hospital birth, a far cry from the "birth plan" I'd set out to have, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is what we take from the experiences God brings into our lives. No, I didn't get the birth I wanted (who does?!), but what I did get was a weekend full of love, support and encouragement from those around me. A faith-inspiring kind of weekend that ended with the birth of a precious blessing that I'm still in awe of.

Sophie's First Few Weeks...then things got more interesting.

The first few weeks of Sophie's life are a bit of a daze, to me at least, but what I do know is that she was a pretty "typical" sort of baby. Around three-four weeks of age, Sophie began to show her "true colours", as I like to call them. She began to get fussier, she cried a lot, and was extremely sensitive to changes in her environment. She began to have a preference for how and where I nursed her, and she would get herself into hysterical fits if we left the house or if she was held by someone other than mom or dad. The baby whisperer book (http://www.amazon.ca/Secrets-Baby-Whisperer-Connect-Communicate/dp/0345479092) I later read, by Tracy Hogg, describes her as a "touchy" baby...and that she is! "These babies love structure and predictability - no hidden surprises." Thanks for the heads up, Tracy.

At our six week midwife appointment, our little bundle of joy (or not-so-much) was diagnosed with colic. So, whatever she had/has, she's a sensitive little one who will voice her discomforts very readily! Below, is Sophie at her six week appointment...yeah, not so happy. Good thing the midwives didn't mind!

This blog.

In essence, my blog is going to delve into life with Sophie. What parenting a sensitive baby is all about, and how I've had to rely on my faith to pick me up and carry me through. It's no secret that there are fussy babies in the world, but no one wants to talk about them, so this is a place where I'm open to discussing it. Now that I'm a mom, I've come to realize that it's almost as if society expects a quiet, calm little babe who will sleep anywhere and everywhere and is smiley and happy the rest of the time. Seriously, no one wants to hold a crabby baby. Here, I'm going to dive into the up's, the down's and the of joy that come with having a baby who is less than textbook, and how I came to have the strength to face each day. 

Sophie's name means wisdom, so I'll sign off today's post with this, 

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue" - Proverbs 31:26
Daily, Mathieu and I are in awe of what Sophie has taught us the past five months. Her "touchy" personality has brought Mat and I together as a team in ways we could have never thought possible. (Sweet, eh?!)