I enjoyed reading the section of newborn babies in chapter 3. Probably because I just had my first baby last quarter. It says that newborn babies spend 2-3 hours every day crying. I am so glad my baby didn't spend that much time crying! I wouldn't have been able to handle it. I have never been found of babies and it has been hard to accept one in my life. I never believed all the talk about maternal instincts, but hearing my baby cry is extremely difficult. The book talks about the babies reflexes, but what about a new mom's new instincts?
As soon as my baby cries, I know about it. In fact, if he cries anywhere in the house it will wake me up from a dead sleep. I have always been able to sleep through anything, but as soon as he stirs I'm wide awake. When he cries I feel my arms tense and I have the strongest desire ever to pick him up. My arms will literally start cramping if I don't. I find it incredibly odd and wonder what happens biologically to bring out these new instincts.
Also fascinating is that babies show their temperaments so young. I wonder how many people were "good" babies who turned out to be criminals and whether there is a correlation to early temperaments with certain psychological issues.
I am curious about temperament as well. I like how a lot of the articles and studies about it reference twin studies because I have twins too so it is interesting to read what they find out about them. Temperament is interesting because they've stated the few different temperaments they have determined but then I feel like there is a lot of room for variation within each type. I would not call either of my girls shy by any means but one is definitely more of a 'class clown' type. Congrats on your little one and being able to continue with school at the same time! I know there is a lot of sacrifice there, especially in the sleep department :)
ReplyDeleteIts amazing how maternal instincts kick in, even when your not a mom. I can also sleep through anything but if I hear a baby crying Im awake and ready to fix the problem. I also wonder about how many "good " babies turned out to be "bad" adults.
ReplyDelete