Sebastian Shaun Rothwell was born at 9.06am on the 25th October 2016. He was a healthy 8lbs and 14oz and the first thing he did when he was placed on my chest was take a dump on me followed by a wee that rivalled Austin Powers after he'd just come out of biofreeze, This was most definitely a sign of things to come.
For those that didn't catch my last post, he was born by elective c-section after the discovery of a dermoid cyst that was blocking my cervix and twisting my ovary. It turned out to be a big, hulking bezoar of a cyst, just slightly smaller that Sebastian's head.
Seb, as he has become affectionately called, is a an amalgamation of every cliched description a mother can have for her child. He is obviously the most beautiful baby in the world, the most advanced, the best baby whilst simultaneously being the worst... he is, quite simply, superlative.
When were taken to the ward in a mist of shock and joy (he was here! Finally here! oh God. He was here) Seb had already latched but just kind of lay there, eyes closed, mouth open waiting for the milk to come. He didn't suckle for two days and I had to be hand expressed every few hours by the most wonderful midwife. 14 hours after Seb's birth, he still had not ingested any colostrum. My midwife expressed 10ml in to syringe to give to him but said, very matter of factly: "Your child needs to be fed. Give him some formula. FED IS BEST.' Weeping, I gave him formula, thinking I'd never breastfeed but the next day, Seb began to suckle and we had 6 beautiful months of breastfeeding. I have also formula fed him alongside breastfeeding and this has worked for us. My little boy is happy and healthy...so my advice to anyone who is worried about whether to breastfeed or not...just do what feels right for you and your baby. I wanted to exclusively breastfeed... and I did for a month. But mixed feeding was so much better for us.
Sebastian smiled at 4 weeks, sat up at 3 months and started feeding himself at 4 months. He is currently 6 months and is able to stand up, supporting himself. if you hold his hands, he walks with you. He loves music. Nursery rhymes, songs from the radio, classical...he likes it all. He is also a gogglesprog. He'll stare at the television for hours on end so we're very careful about what we put on the tv. You Tube's Super Simple Song's channel has been amazing. Seb now recognises songs and 'sings' along, batting his tambourine around like some little hippy.
It's not all fun and games though. Sleep is a long forgotten friend. In fact, Seb has always been a poor sleeper. I don't include the newborn phase here because no newborn is a poor sleeper - they just have no idea how to sleep 'properly'. I mean from 3 months, when his rhythms settled, Seb never really showed a great interest in sleeping. He would wake every two hours, nap for only half an hour and would become antsy if he wasn't in our arms. So we co-slept. I had never intended to do this...but again...it worked for us. Now, at 6 months, Seb occasionally sleeps through the night but mostly, he sleeps from 7pm til 3am then til 6,30am and has three short naps during the day. This is manageable and far better than a lot of babies, I realise. We've only managed this by following Tracy Hogg's The Baby Whisperer Sleep Guide. It saved my sanity.
I could write so much about Sebastian. He is my best pal and he's just so much fun and he's the most interesting person I know. Military Man adores him also...and despite his hesitance to do ANY of the night feeds...seeing him with our son makes me love him even more deeply.
My experience of pregnancy was ok - I had a fairly healthy, normal pregnancy though I wasn't one of those Earth Mother type people who adored being pregnant and growing a child. But it was all SO worth it. In fact...it wasn't all that bad. I might even do it all again...
J
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