Mar 29, 2010

Yes. That's My Baby In The Bubble...

When Jane was a newborn, I remember thinking that I wanted to keep her in a bubble to protect her from all the scary things out there (H1N1 of course was the number one scare at the time)... she was so delicate and so fragile that it seemed the littlest germ or bump would make her upset or uncomfortable or ill. The thought of her being anything but perfectly happy broke my heart.

Almost ten months later and, thankfully, the worry has decreased (about certain things). Hmmm. Maybe not decreased but definitely diverted to things that seem more deserving... I used to worry about germs and minor head bonks, now I worry about face plants, broken bones and bloody mouths.

Germs? We've been through 'um. Jane had her first cold a few weeks ago (which seemed to last an eternity) and now, surprise surprise, we're both sick again! Don't ask me how! Pre-baby, I never got sick. Now, it seems, I've been sick for the last month. I'm thinking I can blame it on the fact that, pre-baby, I was able to "sleep-it-off". And, you'd think, babies might have this same desire but NOPE! If anything, Jane sleeps less (which means I sleep less) when she's sick. Funny how things work, isn't it? Thankfully, Dan's not sick. Like my good friend Lindsay's Facebook status the other day "...wishes my husband wasn't such a useless tit when he's home sick!". I think this is one of those blanket statements that can be applied to all men (like "men never grow up")... if, on the other hand, your husband takes care of himself and takes his cold "like a man", I don't want to hear about it, stop bragging! :p

Jane's new thing? Face plants. Oh. My. Lord. Thank God babies don't come out of the womb wanting to stand up on everything. God is good. He gives us 10 months (yes 10, not 9 for those of you not pregnant yet) to prepare for the fact that our life is about to be over-hauled and then he gives us every thing in "stages" after that. Stages I can handle (most of the time) except when you get overlap! So, back to the face plants. For the past two weeks or so, Jane's started wanting to stand on everything. She's pulled my pants down (jogging pants, I only wish my jeans were that big on me) so many times, trying to pull herself up on me - which, I must admit, I love and is the cutest thing ever as I take it as "I want to come snuggle Mommy" vs. just wanting to stand. With standing up comes getting down. How do you get yourself down when you stand up? Seems obvious to us. Not so much to babies. She's got it now (most of the time). But, here's the issue... when she's standing and gets excited, she bounces. Not a big problem when she's holding on to the couch. But when it's a solid coffee table (which I'm glad we don't have) or a crib rail, it equals a face plant into something hard which equals a not a great reaction... we've had a bloody mouth twice so far.

I must admit, had you asked me 7 months ago how I would respond to seeing blood coming out of my baby's mouth - probably would have fainted. Now, no biggie. I'm pretty good at staying calm. I think it's important to stay calm - getting upset is only going to make Jane more upset. Thus, when she hurts herself - even when she's spitting blood - she usually calms down within a few seconds. With that said, it's still heart breaking. The other day, at a friends house, she bounced and hit her mouth on the coffee table. Blood was dripping out of her mouth all over her and me. I stayed calm and she was fine within a minute. On my way out the door, however, I caught a glimpse of her top gum and had a minor "non-calm" moment... her gums were all swollen and bloody. I thought for sure I had permanently damaged her teeth (I say "I" because us Moms blame everything on ourselves) and I thought she had driven her teeth up into her gums (even though she barely hit the table). Now, how many Moms out there have tried to get a look at their babe's top gums? Good luck. If you're into torture, fine. If not, you're basically limited. If I sit down on the couch, and lay Jane in my lap and then slide her down my legs to the floor, head first (slowly obviously), making her laugh, I can get a good look... yes, it's rocket science. Anyways, what I found out was that her face plant basically helped her two front teeth "pop" through the gums. So, on a brighter note, her two front teeth are now through the gums! :p Seems to be all healed up now which makes me happy.

Other than the "face plants" (it actually more like mouth plants but that doesn't sound right), she's had you typical head bonks - front, back and sides. She's gotten a few teeny bruises on her face (I have no idea what from which scares me). ha ha ha. She's had cuts on her fingers -again, no idea where from - if she cried when it happened, at least I'd know where she's getting 'um! The only way I even noticed the cuts is that they get dyed purple after she eats blueberries... along with her finger nails which makes her look like a dirty baby which I'm sure would result in a phone call to social services when combined with the bloody mouth and bruised face.

Obviously, I am pretty cautious with my little lady. I basically am never more than a few feet away from her. I feel like as long as I know how she sustained the "injury" then I can easily assess whether or not it's serious or if it was just a scare. I know I can't "hold her hand" for the next 80 years (as much as I'd like to). I have to let her fall so that she learns how to not fall... sounds insane doesn't it! This will likely always apply. I will have to let her date the "bad boy" too, just so she can learn that he's an arse and will likely break her heart. God, this is going to be hard!

Ok, I'm blabbering and, with that sentence about the "bad boy", I could literally write for another two hours. I'm cutting myself off.

The winner is posted for our Pampers Giveaway (top, right hand sidebar) and you have one more day to enter our Twice As Nice Sleep Sack Giveaway! YIPEE! Another new giveaway starts tomorrow! :)

post signature


Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

4 comments:

Ange said...

I love the facebook status - SO TRUE!!! I cannot believe what a baby they become when they're sick - so unacceptable eh?

We're going through our fair share of bumps & bruises over here too. I was thinking this morning about what a germaphobe I was in the beginning - wiping everything down with wipes etc. And now she crawl all over and then insists on sticking her fingers in my mouth. haha!

Margaret said...

I'm jealous, we have our first cold at 3 months :( but our son is also in daycare so I guess it comes with the territory. I don't know if you get Parents magazine, but there was a great article "Everything I Know About Being a Mom
What I learned from my second child (with apologies to my firstborn.)" in the most recent issue (lets see if the link works: http://www.parents.com/baby/new-parent/motherhood/what-i-know/) that pretty much sums up how we are with our son (he's our first). But I also had a great experience as a nanny in college with a mom of 3 boys (all under a year apart) who really helped me put things into perspective.

Unknown said...

Thanks for a great post - my little guy is just over a year now and my husband has come home to find me in the kitchen with my little guy holding onto my legs with my sweats around the ankles quite a few times. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've also experienced the bit tongue and subsequent gush of blood and Mommy guilt!! Amber :)

My New Life As Mom said...

I had to laugh at the de-pants'ings. My son is only 4.5 months so I know it's coming.