It was a lot like the early weeks of waking up constantly every two hours or more, but at the same time it was a bit more restful. For the first time in many long months, I was able to roll from one side to the other to get comfortable and there was a) no pain in the hips or belly and b) no baby lying next to me so I couldn't move. I realized how free it felt to just easily and comfortably roll over to the other side and I rejoiced. Then passed out, because I'm getting up every two hours again.
It is amazing how you can adjust to new circumstances like this. The sleep thing had me worried. The first month was hard. Admittedly I had (and still do, to some extent) some harder than average healing to do, but the initial adjustment to baby and waking up for feeding is hard no matter what your circumstances. But, you do adjust. In my case I found the sleep adjustment to be not that difficult at all. I occasionally have a 'bad' night that will lead to a grumpy morning, but overall it isn't that challenging.
I'm super excited about having a happy morning baby. I'm one of those people that if your day starts out good, it will generally stay good, but if it starts out bad - it takes me a long time that day to get over the bad mood. I know I shouldn't let that happen, but it is what it is. I have no lovely stress outlets anymore so bad mornings are tough. Which means I am exceptionally thankful for a baby who generally wakes up smiling and cooing at me. What a heart warming way to start your day.
I can't recall if I mentioned this already or not, but we had our two month check up and I skipped the vaccines at the appointment. The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends vaccines at two months, four months, six months and more. In my studies of vaccines in dogs and cats I learned a lot about immunology and how maternal antibodies interfere with immune response from vaccines. In an animal shelter environment, where there is high risk of disease due to herds housing together, you over immunize in the hopes of beating the maternal interference and catching the timing right for when the maternal antibodies stop offering protection and stop interfering with an immune response. In a typical household pet scenario, where you have a low risk environment, you would (if you did your homework and found a vet who is up to date on research) postpone your vaccines. The reason for postponing is a) the formation of 'memory' cells to the disease (ie: an immune response) is hard or in some cases impossible to occur due to maternal antibodies interfering, and b) vaccines stress the body, c) in humans the immune system is immature and simply can not handle the responses we ask of it and d) there may be neurological implications during this busy formative period for the brain.
Now, while my knowledge is all based on cats and dogs, some of it does transfer to humans. The part that transfers is my understanding of how an immune response occurs. I've done my reading, read many many studies on immunology in infants, and I still am left somewhat confused. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. One document I really liked - simply for its ability to explain immunology fairly quickly, and I thought fairly well in lay terms, is found here. Some info states that you can't get a good immune response early and yet still advocates early immunization. I understand the herd health thinking, and how easily epidemics can occur, which means that even if it isn't a perfect system, they will still recommend early and frequent immunization for the greater good. The greater good generally means though that someone loses out. I'm trying to make an informed decision and do what is best for our baby, not for the greater good of our community.
In the end, we have decided right now to postpone vaccines. We will initiate vaccines when he attends daycare or school, or when he turns two. Whichever ends up being first. We also exercise the right to change our minds on this at any time. Heh.
Night three of sleeping in his crib commenced an hour ago. Wish me luck for a long sleep tonight!