The Theories on Parenting

Stacy, Kelly and Deb came up to see Lincoln on Good Friday. Deb brought him a stuffed bunny for Easter. We had a really nice visit. Kelly and Stacy shared a lot with me about a book called, "On Becoming Baby Wise." They have both adopted this parenting style for their children and have had great success with it. I had never heard of it but after they shared with me how much it has helped them get a routine going with their kids I decided to check it out. I picked up the book the next day and spent Saturday and Sunday reading it. The book focuses on what is called PDF, Parent Directed Feedings. It instructs new moms to feed every 3 hours and watch the babies cues to see when they are hungry. There are theories out there that tell you to watch the clock only and then others that tell you to feed them whenever they root or seem hungry. This theory instructs the new mother to combine the two. It also teaches to have the baby feed, wake and then sleep. If you feed the baby every 3 hours for about a half hour at a time then there are 2 1/2 hours in between, so for half of that they are awake and then they take a nap. It is hard to keep an infant awake for an hour but this theory teaches that if you implement this pattern they should be sleeping through the night by 7 or 8 weeks. I have been trying to implement this with Lincoln. It is very, very hard to lay him down for a nap and walk away. The author says that an infant can cry up to 20 minutes without harm. I can't imagine letting him cry for 20 minutes. I have been able to go for about 12 so far!

As a mother today I feel like you have to choose a parenting style to follow. It is almost like a cult! You are either a Baby Wise mom or a Happiest kid on the block follower or.....There are just so many books out there and so many different opinions on how children should be raised starting from the day they are born. I have mentioned to a few other moms that I am using the Baby Wise theories and they just give me a look and then proceed to tell me what book and what Dr they are following. It is very stressful to me. I have other moms that tell me to throw all of that out the window and just do what I think is right. There are certain theories I know I can weed out, so at least I have that figured out. There is a parenting style called Attached parenting and they believe that you should never put your baby down. You should carry them at all times. I know for sure this is not for me. Believe me it is hard to put Lincoln down but I also know that he needs to stretch sometimes and I need to have my hands free to do things.

Stacy and I went down to Kelly's house in Castle Rock for a play date on Friday the 28th. I asked them lots of questions about the Baby Wise book. They were a lot of help and they were very reassuring to me that I was doing a good job with Lincoln and that it is normal to be stressed out in the beginning. I feel very blessed to have Stacy and Kelly in my life. I do not have any sisters of my own but I consider them my sisters.

I have only had a week to try the Baby Wise theory and I am going to let it go when Lincoln's Mia and Papa are here because I really want them to enjoy every minute of him while they are here. I want them to be able to hold him as much as they want! I will have to work on getting back on track after they head back to Florida.

It is amazing how fast time goes. I feel like I am so behind already when it comes to implementing these theories. I hadn't heard of the book before he was born so I didn't try the schedule until his 3rd week of life and his Mia and Papa are coming next week, so really he has only had one week of Baby Wise parenting.

I just pray every day that God will give me the wisdom I need to be the best mother I can be to Lincoln. I know that babies have been around forever and that they turned out just fine before all of these theories, so I am trying to trust my instincts and know that God is in control!

Lincoln's First Easter

Lincoln celebrated his first Holiday at 15 days old. We bought him a little onesie and pant outfit that said "Babies First Easter." He looked super cute, of course. We took him to church for the first time on Easter Sunday. Eli had a great time showing him off to everyone. We got the same comment from everyone, "Look at all that hair!" It was a neat experience taking him back to the nursery to nurse during service and seeing the other moms in there.
When we got home from church we went down the street to Darren and Kelly's for Easter dinner. They had Libby, Chris, Caleb, Cyler, Bob and Lisa over. We had a nice time eating a great meal and playing corn hole outside. It was a lot of fun seeing Caleb and Cyler with Lincoln. It is going to be so much fun having them live right next door to eachother and watching them grow up with one another.

And of course here are some more picture links

http://picasaweb.google.com/elifrick/EasterMarch23rd2008

http://picasaweb.google.com/elifrick/LincolnS2ndWeek

Visitors

Lincoln has had lots of visitors since his arrival. Stacy and Shawn came to see him at the hospital and well as Ryan, Emily and their kids.

Kari came up on Monday the 10th. We had a nice dinner and visit together. Ebeth and Jason came up on Friday the 14th. My dad was back by then so they got to meet him. We had dinner together and enjoyed a long visit. My parents couldn't stop talking about what a natural Jason was with Lincoln and how much they are praying that God will bless them with a baby soon.

Our young marrieds group provides meals for the family every other day for 2 weeks after the baby is born. It is a really neat ministry.
Caren and her little boy Ryan came up on Monday the 17th, Maggie and Amy along with all 4 of their kids came up on Wednesday. Sheila and Johnathan came up on Friday. Ebeth and Jason had the meal on Sunday, but since it was Easter they just brought it to Church for us. Brandy and her daughter Ellery came up on Tuesday. Our Thursday meal was made by Maggie and then Sokie was going to come up on Saturday but we cancelled because Eli's parents had just made it in for their visit from Florida.
Thank you everyone for all of the great food and for driving up to Wyoming to meet Lincoln.

Lincoln's First Week

Lincoln is one week old already. I can't believe that last Saturday I was bringing him into the world. Uncle Anthony headed back to Grand Junction on Monday and my dad headed back to Nebraska. My mom stayed for the whole week. Lincoln had his first Dr's appointment on Tuesday. He weighed in at 7lbs 4.5 oz. He left the hospital at 7lbs 7oz, so he lost some weight which is normal. The Dr said that he looked good. He said that he was a little jaundice, a level 10 but they do not get concerned until they are at an 18. All and all the Dr said that he looked great.

Here are some more pictures to look at.
http://picasaweb.google.com/elifrick/LincolnSFirstWeek

We also made a few outings this week. On Wednesday we took him for a walk around the neighborhood. We went to the grocery store on Thursday and on Friday we took him back to the Dr to do a weight check. He weighed in at 7lbs 7oz so he was back to the weight he left the hospital. The Dr checked his jaundice level and said the he was not concerned. From the Dr we headed over to Eli's work to show him off. After that we went to Ruby Tuesday for lunch and to Babies R us. We took him out to dinner on Saturday night to Carraba's for my mom's birthday dinner. It is a big chore to get him all packed up and to make sure we are only gone 3 hours at a time because he eats every three hours.

He has established some what of a pattern in the evenings. I feed him around 9 and then I go to bed while he and Eli hang out. I sleep from 9 until around 11 and then feed him again. From then on he wakes up about every three hours. He has been going back down to sleep between feedings so I am able to get about 2 hours at a time. I feed him at 3 am and he usually sleeps until around 7 or 8. That is when I get a decent amount of sleep. They are allowed one 5 hour period of time without eating. He has had plenty of wet and poopy diapers, so he seams to be doing just fine with his feedings.

He is still super cute and I love him more every day! It is definitely hard and extremely emotional. Our lives are different in every sense of the word. I can't imagine our lives without him but it is the hardest thing I have ever experienced from delivery to taking them home. A life depends on us and that is such an amazing experience but very stressful.

My parents are leaving today so I am very emotional and a little nervous about doing it on our own.

He's Here

Lincoln David Hadley Frick joined the world on Saturday March 8th at 10:18 am. He was 7lbs 9oz and 20 1/4 inches long. As you can see in the pictures he is just perfect! (Just copy and past the below URL in to see his pictures)

http://picasaweb.google.com/elifrick/LincolnSBirthday

My water broke on Friday night at 9pm while we were watching Dateline. We called the Dr and he said to head into the hospital. We arrived around 9:45 and they checked us in. I was 3cm dilated. They hooked me up to the IV, fetal monitor and a heart rate monitor for me. After they got their numbers they allowed me to walk around the halls for a while and try to get labor to begin. I had contractions but they weren't very close together. They told me that I could have until 6am to see if I would go into active labor on my own and if not they would start me on pitocin. My parents arrived at 2am from Nebraska. We visited with them for a while and then I tried to get some sleep. It is impossible to sleep in the hospital especially when you know you are about to have a baby. At 4am I got up and walked some more, but no labor. The nurse came in at 6am and said that she wanted to start me on the pitocin. I asked if I could have another half hour to walk around and see what would happen. She gave me until 6:30 but still no labor. They put me back in bed and hooked me up to the pitocin. The contractions came hard and fast at about 7am. I spent most of the contractions standing up because it was easier to deal with the pain. I used the fit ball for a little while but ended up standing up. I had a lot of back labor which was very painful. Mom, Dad and Eli were in the room while I was in labor. We had the news on and I just took one contraction at a time. I have to admit it was more painful than I thought it would be. Everyone tells you that it will be...God himself tells us that it will be, but you just never know how much until you go through it yourself. I was in active labor from 7am until she checked me at 9:45 and I was 8cm. I had a few more contractions and then she came back and checked me at 10:05 and I was complete at 10cm. It was time to push! Eli held one leg and Kim my nurse held the other and the pushing began. I had three good pushes and out he came. He gave a good cry and they suctioned him out. They handed him to me and I just cried and gave a big sigh of relief. I had a little bit of tearing so they stitched me up, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The whole process was absolutely amazing..Painful but amazing. I had such a great experience. My nurse was the perfect fit for me. She was very firm but supportive. She never offered me pain killers. She really respected my desire to do it naturally and offered ways to manage the contractions. The Dr came in to check on me shortly after the delivery and told me that my delivery would have normally resulted in a C-section due to how long it was between my water breaking and actual labor. They worry about infection after your water breaks. He was very impressed and complimentary of how well I handled the process. I am just so pleased that I was able to deliver vaginally and without pain meds. It was just the perfect experience.

Dr. Appt #14 39 weeks Pregnant

We had a Dr. appointment this morning and I am 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. Dr. Hoch said that was a lot of progress from last week so the contractions I have been having have been doing their job. She is still expecting Lincoln to make his appearance some time next week. I asked her how long past the due date she would let me go and she said it just depends on how my dilation is progressing. She said she prefers not to induce with a first baby. Eli and I are fine with that because we would prefer to have him come on his own. I may be singing a different tune if he doesn't come next week! It looks like I may have two weeks at home all to myself. I am still feeling good, just anxious!

Guess the Day, Weight and Length of Lincoln

We had dinner with some friends a few weeks back and they each pitched in a dollar to place a bet.
Please feel free to post a comment on this entry with your guess and I will update the blog with your entry.

His official due date is March 11th and that is all the information that we have.

Name/ Day/ Weight/ Length

Gretchen Shaw 3/5 7lbs 2oz 21"
Eli (Dad) 3/13 8lbs 3oz 19"
Jerimy Shaw 3/7 8lbs 8oz 23"
Carl Frey 3/2 7lbs 6oz 19"
Patty Bullington 3/11 7lbs 7oz 20 1/2"
Denelle Previd 3/9 7lbs 4oz 20"
Tammy (Grandma) 3/14 7lbs 11oz 19.5"
Norma (Mia) 3/9 7lbs 6oz 19.5"