Hey there!

I know I’ve been pretty MIA lately, and there’s a few reasons for that so I thought I’d write a blog and give you guys a heads up about what is going on in the world of Lauren Beauregard! If you hate babies and mom things, you should probably just turn around now, because this post will be full of them. Ha!

 

As many of you know, we welcomed our sweet (and sour) baby girl into our family back in June. We couldn’t wait to meet her and were so excited to have another little babe around the house. Our first two were such easy babes, and had such like personalities, we thought this one would probably be the same. We never could have imagined how wrong we were.

Everyone says that each baby is different, but they never tell you how different they actually are. Like WAY different. I have had little to no time for anything but baby care as #3 is SO needy. I’ve never been around a baby that had colic or gas, and my first two totally spoiled me with long naps and mostly sleeping through the night from birth. THIS BABY. This baby, guys. The first month of her life was spent with her screaming basically 24/7 and me in tears whenever I got her “down” for the night. I say “down” because she really only sleeps a few scattered hours through the night after spending at least 3 hours attempting to get her to sleep in the first place. She doesn’t really nap, whether due to having 2 other super loud siblings or just not wanting to sleep, I’m not sure. All I know is that I have been (and still am to an extent) so incredibly exhausted, I can barely think straight.

Images by Kayla Sanders Photography

 

Month 2 with her might have been worse, honestly. She constantly screamed, was always super gassy, and almost never pooped. We knew she was in pain, but had no idea what to do for her. She had little to no skill eating, while each of my other babes never once had a problem nursing. I just knew things weren’t right and both of us were incredibly frustrated with the situation. It wasn’t until about 2-3 weeks ago I had a lightbulb moment. While scrolling Facebook (what else do you do when you can’t leave a rocking chair?), I saw a post in a mom group about lip ties and the struggles babies with them have when it comes to nursing. DUH. Why didn’t I ever think of that before?! She had a very obvious lip tie, could never properly latch on, and was sucking down more air than milk, causing her gas and fussiness. At this point, I was desperate for any relief from the screaming. I made the harder choice and we gave up nursing for pumping and bottle feeding.

ALL THE PRAISES. ALL THE PRAISES FOR BOTTLES.

 

The screaming lessened and she became a little more like a tiny human and less like a gremlin. And yes, Gremlin is probably the proper term for what we were dealing with. She still had some gas issues, so I completely revamped my diet to try and lessen her discomfort. Not only did I lose the last of my baby weight while doing this, but #3 became like a whole new baby. Guys, I’m not even kidding. She quit having gas, only cried when she was hungry, and actually started smiling. It was a literal miracle. A miracle from above. We always loved her from the start, but we really love this happy version much better. Ha!

Naps and Naps and Naps. Since our oldest started back to school, we’ve actually gotten on a decent nap schedule and are getting some rest. Night time is still a forever struggle, but maybe some day we’ll get there.

I never in my life would have thought this transition from 2 children to 3 would be so hard and emotionally draining. Nobody tells you about that part. It is so hard to spread your attention across so many planes when you have a screaming baby. Babies are hard, but babies with gas and colic are basically impossible. We used to be involved in so many activities, going to play dates, lunches, etc. and now we literally only leave the house to go to and from school (and that’s hard enough getting 3 kids in the car before 8AM). This babe is like a little time bomb and when she goes off, there’s no stopping it. I literally get sweaty just thinking about it. Ha! So if you have a similar situation, just know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I have spent more nights crying in the shower the past 3 months than I’d like to admit. It’s okay to have a hard baby and to be frustrated about it. It’s hard to see other people with their easy babies (I used to be one of them), and not be a tiny bit bitter about it. Drop a line if you need a chat. It may take me a bit to respond, but I’m here. After all, I never leave my house, remember?

 

On top of all this, we are moving! Josh got a job in OKC at the beginning of the summer and we decided we really needed to make his commute shorter since he has been spending 3 hours a day in the car commuting to and from work. That’s a lot of time he could be spending at home with his family, aka those of us who really love and miss him.

 

Purchasing a house is the most stressful thing to have on top of an already stressful situation. Finding a good house in an ideal location, looking up school ratings, finding new doctors, moving closing multiple times, reading and signing a thousand papers, packing boxes, the list is just never ending, but hopefully all this comes to an end very soon as we try to close and move this next week. Did I mention how stressful moving was with an infant? I am literally to the point of just throwing everything in random boxes because I don’t have the time to organize it, but I know I will have all the regrets during unpacking.

 

Life has been a real struggle for me lately, but after much trial, there comes a light at the end of the tunnel and I finally feel like I can breathe again. So, back to work I go, finishing galleries and booking for the fall/spring. Those of you who have been waiting for galleries, THANK YOU for being so patient. Seriously, thank you. I can’t even say it enough. You the real MVP.

 

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the post, you deserve a cookie. It was a long one. Sit back and enjoy this beautiful fall Wednesday, friends!

Yours,

-Lauren B.