Oh, the Praise I Sing For My Sling!

Kellie is a little person with big needs. One of those needs is constant human contact. She needs to know where Mommy or Daddy is at all times, and we need to be within reach or have a substitute holder-person in place for her. For the first month, this was nothing short of glorious as it gave me time to sit on my butt and watch court TV. Shortly thereafter, my Mom and Pop came to visit and were happy to oblige Kellie her need for physical contact.

Since my folks left, I've been trying to find a balance of Kellie's needs, household needs, and my needs. As I've learned, laundry doesn't wash itself. And some days I started to smell like a rotting onion.

In comes the sling! How did moms do it before slings? I know not all babies have the same high needs personality that mine does. But I also know she's not alone. Thanks to my NoJo sling, I got two loads of laundry done yesterday. Thanks to Brian, I showered today. I think a balance of needs is in our future. I wonder how long it will take to get there.

Our townhouse neighbors are painting furniture. The fumes are so overwhelming, both our neighbors and we have called in to maintenance asking about a possible gas leak. When Brian went over to see what was up, they opened the garage (Yes! They were painting in a CLOSED garage.) and came out for air. Who knows, maybe he saved their lives? I looked up paint fumes and their effects on babies. Turns out it can cause restlessness and sudden/frequent waking. So THAT'S why Kellie didn't pass out (from exhaustion!) until 8:45 a.m. Lots of crying was had last night. And as soon as she fell asleep, she'd breathe sharply and wake up suddenly. Last night was the first night in Kellie's life that I considered letting her "cry it out." Thank goodness we figured out what the problem was. She's peacefully sleeping in her sling and my fume-high is going away. Things are on their way back to normal.