It's a Guessing Game

Before I had Claire I read the book Babywise, by Gary Ezzo, M.A. and Robert Bucknam, M.D. and immediately got very excited about being a mom. After the first couple chapters I felt like I had unlocked the secret to becoming the best mom ever! I just knew that my baby would sleep through the night at 6 weeks and nap for as long as I wanted and everything would be just perfect. Then Claire was born and for some reason she just wouldn't do what the book said. In fact I could sum up those first couple of weeks with this photo of Claire when she was 3 weeks old.

During this time I read the book over and over again as I breastfed her for hours at night and tried to make sure I was doing everything just right and according to the book, I was! It was Claire that was the problem. She obviously had not read the book in preparation for her own arrival and now we were not on the same page. I began reading other books and trying to find one that would unveil the mystery of my baby. I soon came to the realization that even though the books I read had lots of helpful hints and good ideas, that it's really just a guessing game! You take everything you think you know and try to make your best guess as to what you should do next. And, as many people told me, the most important thing you can do is love them.