June 22, 2008

The List In My Head

Is getting out of control.

And I'm not talking about the "Is he hungry? Is his diaper dirty? Is he hot/cold?" list, I'm talking about the "I've already checked all of the above so what on Earth could be wrong!" list. The items on this list vary from adoption oriented concerns to normal run of the mill first time parenting paranoia to general adjusting to a new life process:

Is the Benedryl or Tylenol he's been on for his virus and tendency to break out in hives causing his crying/itching/explosive diapers/crankiness? Or is he allergic to one of the new foods we fed him today? Or did we overexpose him to visitors and new things and new places? What about all of the new drugs he's on for being anemic with high levels of lead? Or the drugs he's not yet on because the blood tests are only about 5% complete? Does he miss his mom?

Oh wait, I'm his mom.

What would the nannies at House of Hope have done? Did he wake up multiple times during the night there? Am I being a pushover or am I just embracing adoption style parenting and this will all magically work out in the long run? Where are his pants?

Wait, what?

Yes, that last question was where are his pants. As I write this we're currently trying our first hand at letting him cry (for shot periods of time) in his crib in an effort to help teach him to "self soothe" and adjust to his new sleep "schedule". Only he's wearing a new 12 month two-piece pajama outfit (purchased at the Target off of Exit 15 on the NYS Thruway due to today's explosive blowout #3) and the pants keep falling down. It's hard to stick to a hard-core my child WILL go to sleep on his own course when you're staring at the baby monitor laughing uncontrollably because his pants keep falling down. Did I say laughing uncontrollably? What I meant was...nope, that's exactly what I meant. Come on, my son has pooped all over, well, most things, so please don't judge me for getting a kick out of his baggy pj pants.

So dad's on his way upstairs to re-pants our son (in proper 6-9 month size this time) and my mind is on to evaluating the pros and cons of gDiapers after the multiple blowout day(s) we've been having that have ruined a drawers worth of onsies, outfits, and even a pair of Robeez. Should we say to hell with being green and go with plastic diapers for the sheer purpose of sanity? Or would that create a whole new guilt-driven list in my head?

We need a return of nap time sex, pronto.

Wait, what's that? Loud cracks of lightening and thunder yet a quick check at the baby monitor confirms that Sir Poops Alot is still asleep! Screw the list, I've got a beautiful baby boy to go stare at.

7 comments:

Brad and Fran Hoagland said...

I love this post! It really gives us a small glimpse of what the future holds for us! Happy nap sexxing!

LISA said...

GO to the disposable diapers for now!You definetly need to keep your sanity!Wow is he tiny!!

Anonymous said...

How is he now? Mom C

Bonny said...

welcome to parenthood!

Have you considered cloth? I used disposables when my babies were newborn, but then switched to cloth. For now, though, I would personally switch to disposables for the time being, until you find your groove.

Angela said...

hang in there! You guys are doing great. Aston looks a million times happier than the entire week I saw him.
We had pretty major allergy issues when we brought our little girl home, also. Then one day, out of nowhere, her allergies just cleared up. It was almost like her body just got used to all of the new allergens.
Oh, and surely it's okay to go non-green temporarily for sanity's sake.

Anonymous said...

My philosphy is when you get stressed out, do whatever you need to do to make your life easier. Most parents get more of a breaking in period than you two have been given, so just go with the flow and do what you need to do to get through this adjusting period. Someday Ashton will read this blog and know what a special set of parents he has. It really doesn't matter at the end of the day when everyone is happy and healthy if you take a detour from your normal way of thinking. He looks so happy to be with you that his prior life will not matter in the long run. Your last sentence says it all! Love, Carol

Stacie said...

Sir Poops A Lot! I say that too about Micah when he is in blow-out mode.
We use 7th Generation diapers and they hold up pretty well to the blowouts - so you can be kind of green still. Or there's Nature Babycare (or something like that) that are completely bio-degradable and compostable. Diapers . com has them.
I'm still laughing at his pants falling down. :)