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Time, Stress and a Baby


Time, Stress and a Baby

The main thing we noticed since having a baby is that time is a more valuable good. We do not have enough time for many things or time is really tight to accomplish certain tasks before the next feeding time has come. Think about feeding. The little one needs to be fed every 3 hours. Take approx. 15 minutes for the preparation, diaper change, cuddling, etc. before the actual feeding. Now take 30 minutes for the actual feeding, burping, holding and interacting with the baby. This really leaves you with approx. 2 hours and 15 minutes (if all goes well, the baby goes to sleep and does not wake up, etc.)
 
So, what can you really in a little more than 2 hours? Think about it. If you have to go somewhere you have to dress the baby, put him in the car seat, pack a diaper bag, etc. and you lose even more time. Shopping 15 minutes away from home suddenly becomes a challenge because your available time is suddenly less than one hour. Did you ever wonder why you see so many Moms speeding on the highway? Well, there you go …..
 
After realizing how much (or better how little) time a new parent has available it can be a good thing to time certain events and use the results to plan your day or week with the timing results. A well planned week with plenty of options to switch items around will reduce the stress level significantly. Always keep in mind that the baby sets the rules and that things take twice as long as they used to do before you had the baby. Planning daily and weekly events gets important in areas like buying food. Usually it does not work very well to push the grocery shopping from Monday morning to Friday afternoon the same week.
 
Writing down the tasks and appointments for the next week every Sunday might be a good option for you if you feel really stressed during the week. Try to combine shopping and other errands you need to run. A 5 minute extension of driving distance to a second store with a 15 minute extension of shopping time can save you a complete trip the next day and take out all the trip preparation from your schedule. Instead of rushing to run errands the next day you could have one trip (which most likely stresses you out anyway) with combined tasks. This tactical approach can result in less wear and tear on yourself and on your baby. It actually can save you money and resources (gasoline, wear and tear on your car, etc.).
 
All parents (including myself) often tend to forget these simple things when it comes to planning the day ahead. Get back some time for yourself and spend it on things you enjoy.
 
 

About the Author
 
Christoph Puetz is an international book author and successful entrepreneur.

Filed Under: Z's - Baby Life - Diary

Home alone


Home alone
 
Simone and Logan went to Germany to visit our relatives. Especially a visit at Simone’s grandma is planned. Her grandma is 91 years old and this is the first grand-grand child for her. You do not want to risk the moment by waiting too long for visiting a 91 year old lady. We were quite concerned about the flight with Logan. A 10 hour flight is a long time – especially if you have a 4.5 month old baby with you. What if he does not like the flight and starts crying for the whole entire flight?
 
We thought about getting baby Benadryl, but then decided against it. Especially Simone did not feel comfortable sedating the little guy. In the end we bought some colic related natural stuff as the last option. Simone would also have Baby Tylenol with her. We were hoping this would be enough. The day of departure came and Logan acted kind of cranky during the day. We had to leave for the Airport around 2.00 PM and that made us feel nervous. We made it to the Airport just to find a long line of people waiting at the Lufthansa check-in. Great. That was one of the last things we wanted to do with a baby – standing in line with other people.
 
It took almost an hour before Simone and Logan were called up. The actual check-in went quick and smooth. We left that area towards the concourse the Simone and Logan would have to go to for departure. We stopped at a public restroom. Simone wanted to change Logan’s clothes one more time. Once that was done we headed for the departure area and security check. Time to say good-bye. This would be the first time for me to be separated from Logan for such a long time.
 
I went home with mixed feelings. How would the flight turn out? At home I took care of the dog. After feeding Aspen, I took her for a long walk. My thoughts were with Simone and Logan. Later at home I turned on the TV to have some background noise. The house felt empty without Simone and Logan around. Very empty. I went to bed early but did not sleep very well. What if this would be a ‘hell of a flight" with a crying baby?
 
I got up at a quarter to five and took the dog for a walk. When I came back and had breakfast the phone rang. Simone! The flight went well. Logan had cried a little bit in the beginning but then basically slept the remaining time of the flight.
Filed Under: Z's - Baby Life - Diary

6.5 weeks with a newborn


6.5 weeks with a newborn

Our nights are still horribly short. As expected – the little one still does get hungry every 2-4 hours and that is making the schedule for us. This makes life still very stressful. Logan seemed to have grown quite a bit and he is also gaining weight. We had almost given up hope that the vibrating chair would not work as it failed a few times to calm down the baby but since the middle of last week we are seeing some improvements again. So, our recommendation is still to get a vibrating chair for your baby.
 
The in-laws arrived late Saturday and the ‘abuse’ of baby time is in progress since then. They could not wait to finally meet their grandson and we could tell how much they are enjoying every single moment. Now that I am back at work in my 3rd week the additional help for my wife is very welcome. We both do have to say – we are glad the visitors did not arrive after the second week as originally planned if Logan would have been on (birth date) schedule. We needed the time to bond with the little one ourselves and to adjust to the new situation. Others pointed out the help we would have had but overall we think it is best the way how it turned out now.
We had bought the wrong size of pampers and they were way too big for Logan. We still had some Huggies from the very beginning. We did not like the Huggies as they were leaking too often and just did not fit right. So, now a few weeks later we used the Huggies and they worked a little better. It seems like if the baby weight is in the upper 3rd of the weight range for the diaper the Huggies do fit. They sure did not fit when our baby was in the lower 1/3 of the suggested weight range.
Life with a baby after 6.5 weeks is very exciting and very exhausting. Be prepared ….

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How does it feel?


How does it feel?
 
Logan and Simone are now gone for 1.5 weeks and I have another 1.5 weeks without them to go. In one way it is nice having a little more time for yourself, but then it feels very strange suddenly being all alone. The house feels empty. The dog feels lonely and has no hesitation showing it. So, how does it feel? I admit – I horribly miss my family. 3 weeks in a baby’s life are a lot and I have a little fear that Logan will not fully recognize me the first moments when they come back.
 
When talking to Simone on the phone I can hear Logan ’talking’ in the background, but he stops as soon as she holds the phone next to him so that I can better hear it and maybe even say something. "That little brat." ….. just kidding. According to my wife he is doing very good. He had only one real cranky day since being in Germany 1.5 weeks ago which is good. He is the star where they go. Logan is really awesome in making faces and showing great attitude. I think it will be hard for the grandpa’s and grandma’s letting him go back home to the United States of America.
 
There is another major change in our life at the horizon. It will provide us with more financial freedom and security, but it raises the question about time allocation (available time for the family) a little bit. It is difficult to predict and that makes times a little rough right now. Haven’t had a goodnight’s sleep in a while. More about this some time next week.
Filed Under: Z's - Baby Life - Diary

Morning has broken …


Morning has broken …
 
Another one of these short nights. Baby Logan woke up at around 4.00 AM and decided to stay awake. Nothing really helped as he made some signs of being hungry again we did the necessary. As I got to walk the dog in the morning anyway I just started a little earlier. Usually the alarm clock rings at 5.10 AM but today I turned it off.
 
4.55 AM and I was outside walking Aspen our Labrador dog already. The sunrise was underway. That is one thing I really like of living in the Rocky Mountain area. Those mountains just look awesome in the early morning hours. The air is still crisp and clear. When the sun slowly rises from the east the mountains in the west just change colors every minutes. It is a fantastic scenery to watch. Even if you feel tired or worn out – these moments make up for all the pain that comes with a newborn baby that does not sleep through the night and makes you get up even earlier as usual. I gain a lot of strength from these morning walks which then again helps to get through the day.
Filed Under: Z's - Baby Life - Diary

A Day from Hell


A Day from Hell

Logan and Simone arrived safely back from

Germany this week. 8 hours time difference are taking a toll and the 2 are only adjusting slowly to the local time again. Especially

Logan seems to be having a lot of problems getting back into his normal daily routine. He does not eat well. If he eats well it is mainly at night and that is when he is supposed to sleep. During the days he is cranky or extremely tired. We are trying to adjust him by keeping him awake when his little eyes are just trying to shutdown again for a nap.

 

Of course we are still giving him enough sleep during the day that he would need anyway but to adjust him to the local daylight and night cycles it is quite some work. This Sunday he was really having a bad day. Very cranky. I have not seen him having such a bad day in a very long time. He did not want to eat at all and we almost were ready for force-feeding because he was on his way to dehydration.

 

This worried us a lot and put us under a lot of stress. The crying baby around just did not make things easier and it all exploded into a heavy fight (with words only of course). But in the end that was like a heavy thunderstorm that cleared things out between Simone and me. Still – it left us with

Logan not eating properly.

 

Late Sunday I had to leave for a 5-day business trip to

California . I did not leave very lighthearted. I was full of worries about how this whole thing would turn out. Simone and I had decided that she would call the pediatrician in the morning if

Logan would continue to be so troublesome through the night. We’ll see how that turns out (I am writing this article while being on the plane to

Los Angeles ).

 

Filed Under: Z's - Baby Life - Diary

Double that!


Double that!
 
Our 2 month pediatrician appointment with Logan happened in the 7th week of his life due to scheduling conflicts. My wife called me right from the appointment. Logan had reached 8 lbs of weight already. Wow. He basically doubled his birth weight in 7 weeks. As he was born with just 4 lbs and 1.5 oz. this was fantastic news. The pediatrician was surprised how well Logan was doing and so were we.
 
We could tell that he had gained weight because feeding him for 20-30 minutes at a time made our arms tired. Lifting him out of bed also made us more ‘work’. The little one was doing just great.
 
The pediatrician appointment also turned out to be the appointment for Logan’s first vaccinations. My wife told me how this worked out. Logan got a total of 3 shots and cried really bad. The 3 shots must have really hurt him – she had never seen him cry so hard. Poor little guy. He looked cranky for the remaining part of the day. The shock at the pediatrician took a toll on Logan. He was basically out for the remainder of the day.
Filed Under: Z's - Baby Life - Diary

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