The "Fourth Trimester"

Wow...to say we have seen ups and downs in the last 3 months is an understatement. Truthfully, I recall a few times when I thought I couldn't do it. The transition to parenthood is so extreme--one night you walk into the hospital as husband and wife and the next day you walk out as a family. Overnight you become parents for the rest of your life and there is no turning back. It is so comforting and terribly frightening all at the same time.

Where to begin? The sleep or lack thereof is the toughest part. Of the many books I have read on babies and sleep, I think one doctor put it best, "babies don't have sleep problems, parents do." This has been the biggest hurtle for the 3 of us and finally it's getting better. What's better? If Emmett sleeps from 11-5a that is a good night. We're working on extending it to 6a, ideally 7a. We think the introduction of rice cereal is allowing him to snooze for 6 hours at a time. Yay for rice cereal!

The other trick is to break up the night in 2 phases. The first phase is for mommy and the second phase is for daddy. This is the only way both parents can get a decent night sleep. The downer is that mommy and daddy never get a full night together in bed. That, I miss.

One thing we learned when we introduced milk-based formula it did not sit well with Emmett. When we went camping (yes, with a newborn!), one woman came over to our campsite and asked if we ever thought of using soy-based formula. We started that day and within a day he was a different baby. It was as if he woke up, started smiling and was ready to conquer the world! I guess Justin had the same issue when he was a itty bitty baby.

All of the wonderful experiences of being a parent: cooing, smiling, watching him observe his mommy or daddy with intent, laughing at the fish swimming around his aquarium swing, dancing with him in my arms, tickling and hearing him laugh, watching him and daddy hang out together...it is the best! And it only gets better with time.