"While I am quite afraid and unsure right now about how I will march on, "I guess motherhood is not about having a break but trying "Thank you also for stating that every mother is a working mother. I I heard from my friend today and she is not doing so well. Her baby daughter has colic and cries constantly. Baby’s father is still out of the picture and she is down. She reached out to me again today. I am telling you all about my friend so you can give her some support, ideas for ways to forge on. She’s in a tough spot and I know that my readers, my tough and savvy WTMs will be able to give her some encouragement, hope and some practical tips. Please leave a comment for "Single Mom" and I will tell her about this post.
single parenting. I have baby my partner and I broke up a
few weeks ago. I’m in my 20’s and since this
pregnancy was unexpected
we were living with family. I had a high risk pregnancy and needed bed rest so I could not work."
your book made me excited about everything that motherhood involves. I hope to
keep your humorous stance on motherhood in mind as I dock on the motherhood
cruise ship with my jack daniels in hand!
how I will make this life work for the both of us. I had a high risk pregnancy then the baby was in ICU after she was born. I feel like I haven’t had a break since getting
pregnant. My daughter has colic and acid reflux now which is just so difficult to
watch her go through."
to squeeze a break in even during the "headless" moments.
feel better."
have felt very useless staying home all day and night because I was so
accustomed to working and going to school."
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{ 9 comments }
Single Mom,
Even though I was married over twenty years and my kids are pretty much grown, I, too, am trying to get over it and get on with my life. I understand how difficult it is dealing with being on your own, again, but as I say in my blog, we will get through this, not somehow, but triumphantly…hang in there!
http://www.divorcenetwork.com/profiles/blog/list?user=18w3csbt0xfl9
Okay ladies,TIME TO GET REAL! This isn’t some “Natural perfect mother’s site”. She must DEMAND ASAP the “colic medicine script” from the Dr. & run to the drugstore! My son, is now 15 & was premature. He had “colic from hell” (Pediatrician’s quote), from 6 weeks until approx. 6 months. My Dr. kept putting me off regarding prescribing the medicine (he told me about), having me bring him into the office, saying “he’d outgrow it, blah, blah..” My ex & I tried EVERY single method. (Yes, I breast fed, btw) The only thing that sometimes worked was driving in the car, singing to him. My eye began to twitch & I’d mock the suggestions as he wailed, usually 3 to 4 hours a night. “I’ve heard putting him on the dryer in a basket works, twitch, twitch”, “Someone told me to run the vacuum w/him in the baby sling, twitch, twitch”, “soy milk, otc gas med, twitch, twitch”. I went along w/ Dr’s advice for over 3 months, I was a 1st time mom & my mom is deceased, so I really didn’t have anyone to tell me to stand up for my son (and my husband & my sanity). Finally, after listening to my son scream, on New Year’s Eve, on a car trip, for over 30 min (car riding had ceased to work by that time, then we had to listen to him cry that evening (as usual). I snapped! I called the Pediatrician’s office, Jan. 2 and told him “that if he did not prescribe the medicine, NOW, I was going to tape record my son’s screams and call him every single night at 3:00 a.m. & play them back, over the phone or drive to his house”. Guess what? He agreed! I had to have it refilled one time, that’s all. One of my fellow Kdg teachers (yes, I had a Bachelor’s AND a Master’s Degree AND was 29 years old when he was born), read sarcastically, “give to infant 1 hour before crying begins”, how are you supposed to when that was?” She didn’t know that he had some internal clock that “switched on at the exact same time every night”. The medicine was A GODSEND, I can understand how someone could “lose it” & start shaking a baby & beg him “to just stop crying!” (I don’t condone it at all)! When my 2nd son was born nearly 4 yrs & a different Pediatrician, later, he OFFERED the same script, when he noticed the symptoms! I had never even mentioned the ordeal we went through w/ older son. Call your Dr. tomorrow, I’ll look up what the medicine was and post the name of it.
Been there, done that & wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy!
Yes. I, too, had a colicky baby (the one who just turned 14 in my last post). She had it until she was almost 5 months old. The only thing that seemed to soothe her was putting her on the running dryer in her bouncy seat. I felt so guilty leaving her there. At least the laundry room was off the kitchen! And she ate about every 2 1/2 hours. I had to supplement nursing with a bottle because I didn’t produce enough milk. Ugh…what a time. I gave up after about 7 months and switched to the bottle full-time, which was fine. She was obviously thriving. Yes, you will get through this. Yes, take advantage of any help that is offered (don’t be too proud…). Yes, know that you are doing everything you can to start your baby’s life off in the best way you know how. And if you don’t have one of those fancy new baby seats that has a battery operated vibrator, do whatever it takes to get one. I’m not kidding. It will reproduce the same effect of the dryer, and the baby can be right there with you. They are amazing for colic. Good luck, and keep us posted.
Molly (Tacky Princess)
Hi Moms,
I am the mom that Michelle Lamar is referring to. The night my relationship ended, I found myself at the book store in an attempt to buy every parentning book. I stumbled across Michelle’s AMAZING handbook and was truly changed by it. I emailed Michelle because for the first time since my son was born, she made me excited for motherhood. Her humor and slant just gave me hope. Not to mention since I am the queen of small kitchen fires, the handy bake school tips. I want to thank everyone on here who has provided support because it’s a very lonely place to be right now. Knowing that there are people who care enough to leave a comment or share their own experience really does take the sting out of what I’m going through. So thank you all, especially to Michelle
My daughter had colic symptoms that lasted all night & a portion of every day. It was a very dark time for me. No matter what I did, she just screamed for hours. Eventually, at about 4 1/2 months, she was diagnosed as protein intolerant. Since I was nursing her, I had to remove all dairy, soy, nuts & eggs from my diet. From that moment, until the first tooth, we had a very peaceful, happy baby. You are the mother and no one knows your baby as well as you do. If it seems wrong to just label her as colicky and let her scream, keep pushing for a medical reason.
Ooooh… I must check out your book! I’m definitely no Martha Stewart so maybe it will help.
I am a single mom though and I hope you pass my website on to your reader… there’s an active community of single mom readers and we all manage to lift each other up every day:
http://mssinglemama.com
Good luck! It will be okay! Single motherhood actually isn’t so bad. Husbands are overrated. : )
I agree with the first comment. Find people you can trust to watch the baby and make some time for yourself. My kids are older but I remember the long nights with a sickly child.
Hang in there… you can do this.
Ready for an overload of cliches? I’m a single mom by choice; my kids are 11 and 9.
Rely on anyone you can to take over whenever you can get them. Friends, family, babysitters, even mature neighborhood teens. Even an hour off can refresh you enough to make it through another day. Colic is a nightmare; my niece had it and we all thought we might have to kill ourselves. The entire family tag-teamed and managed to get through it.
Find help wherever you can. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.
Best of luck.
Hello almost 23 years ago I was sitting in a very similar seat premmie baby many health risks father out of picture. I remember many days that just getting through the day was an accomplishment! There are lots of places to reach out to–start asking : ) you would be amazed at how many wonderful people will reach out to help you. One of the women I meet by reaching out always used to tell me that God would never give me more than I could handle– I used to ask her if she was sure God understood that Elizabeth Ann was one child not two : ) Today My Daughter is a lovely, beautiful young woman and I have been blessed in more ways than I can count. Stay strong, ask for help, be thankful for all blessings as small as they may seem to be. These times will pass and you will be stronger because of it.
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