Tears on Her Pillow

Sometimes I allow Sabina to cry for a few minutes.  I am not an evil mom.  I just want to learn to distinguish her types of cries and what each cry communicates.

So far her cries have expressed the following:

• Hunger
• Pain / Discomfort
• Impatience 
• Shock of waking up alone
• Totally new experience and she has no idea what to do (e.g. being in the pram for the first time)

She also has a fake cry which I really, really try very hard not to respond to. 

Anyway, as mentioned babies are no cut-and-paste creatures. Books have only told me so much.  I think the best things I got from books where about me and how I should handle breastfeeding. I guess, the advice was useful because I know myself and I know how to apply the advice to my body and my life.

Sabina, on the other hand, nobody understands fully yet. We are still getting to know her.  I am still in the process of understanding her.  For example, she was crying a lot two weeks back and I just kept feeding her.  What she actually needed, as Heikki discovered, is to be held and hugged. I felt stupid because I did not understand how I could have missed that! Then again, I have not been a baby (or with a mom) for quite a while.

The process of getting to know her is fun.  I am a believer in genetics playing a big role in a person's personality so figuring her out is doable since I know Heikki and myself quite well. 

The most fun part of this process is that I rediscover things about myself as well. 

We are both growing up. :)