First Year

The beginnings…

Nobody thought I would give birth so soon… It supposed to happen in March, not in January. After all this time, I still remember that terrible panic I felt in the moment I realized something wasn't right. How did that happen? In my 33rd pregnancy week I went to the gynecologist for an examination because I didn't feel good. The doctor said to stay calm, because this will pass. The next day I noticed a trickle of blood, but I tried to calm myself and it past. But during the night I woke up with the feeling a liquid was flowing ...Actually, it wasn't just a feeling, a liquid was indeed flowing, it was the amniotic liquid. I wake up my husband and we immediately went to the hospital. The doctors told us to stay calm because they will try to delay as much as possible the time of birth so that the child to be OK. I understood I was going to give birth, but I was so afraid not to lose the child...  It was on Sunday morning when we arrived at the hospital and the labor was a long one, till next day, at lunch. It was a natural birth and it wasn't easy, a mother knows. But thank  God, the doctors succeeded and the little miracle came to life. I saw him and I couldn't believe my eyes – he  was so little, so nice... 

Despite my physical pain, my soul was full of happiness, I felt I was in heaven. Then, the doctors took the baby to give him special attention and they brought me in a separate room. But in that evening they brought David (this is the name we've chosen for him) to me. I was so happy to see him, to know that he was OK, that almost I no longer felt the pain after the  delivery. There followed two weeks of hospitalization, which I have found very long because I was not in my environment and I wasn't  feeling too good.  But the hospital staff was very nice and helped me with all that they could. The baby’s evolution wasn't so great, because he didn't get too much weight and that worried me.  Because he was too small, I could not breastfeed  him and had to feed him with milk powder. But it was OK, it didn't matter what he was eating, the important thing was to be alive and healthy. I was so proud of him because he succeeded...

Finally, home…

After two weeks, I was finally home.  My husband made great efforts to properly prepare the baby's room, to buy clothes and everything we needed.

When he came to the hospital to get me and the baby, I was very excited.  The baby was fine, he  had only a little bit of weight, but I wasn't worried.  When I got home, I became very happy.  I liked the room that  dad had prepared for the baby, and also I liked the little clothes he had bought. My mother and my mother-in-low were also present in our house to welcome us. They were also very happy that they had a nephew. David was sleeping most of the time and that was a normal thing. 

The doctors told me I had to give him my milk even he couldn't get it himself. So, for at least one month I've been feeding my baby using a breast pump. It was’t easy, but after a month, I succeeded to breastfeed him. Only this time my milk wasn't enough, so I had to give him powder milk, as well. After I started to feed him with milk powder, baby got weight and looked increasingly better.  Prolonged jaundice has disappeared and everything was fine.  This happened when he was a month and a half.

Baby colic-a big problem

Other significant moments in our story are those spent with the baby in our arms when he cried as much as he could because of the abdominal colic. These moments began when the baby was a month old and they developed about three months. Every day or night we were supposed to be ready for a show: colic started at various times and lasted about 3 hours. At first, my husband and I got scared. David cried all night. I was breastfeeding him, but I also gave him powdered milk, so I didn't know which the cause was. In the morning daddy went to the pharmacy to find the miraculous cure. He bought the most expensive medicine for his son because he wanted to relive baby pain. For a while this was effective, but then we had to change it. So we struggled for three months. We found another solution: when the baby began to cry, we took him to our chest, worn him and he stopped crying. The massage was efficient and so was the bathroom. 

There were hard times for parents like us; we were worried about the baby's condition. He seemed to suffer greatly because of these pains and we suffered the same. I was reading a lot to find treatments against colic, but everything I found was only effective for a while. We used some herbal teas which were good for a moment, but then he was crying over again. For me as his mother, it was quite hard to decipher why he was crying. Sometimes he would cry because he had colic and other times because he was hungry. There were hard moments, really. But they passed... It takes a lot of patience and calm in these moments. A mom needs to overcome fatigue, hunger and other needs to be with her baby. I think I did well with these moments and I'm glad I had the necessary support in person of my husband.

 Baby baptism

When he was 3 months, David registered a significant progress: he got the necessary weight, his height corresponded to his age and he had more energy than before. While he was awake, he used to hit the cot with the legs, making a lot of noise. This happened especially when he heard the song made by the toy over his cot. For the first time, he began to smile consciously and this made us very happy. Crying at night continued to be a problem ... until the baptism. I didn't believe what they said - that babies cry because they are not baptized, but today I believe it.

The baptismal ceremony developed according to Christian tradition: baby’s godparents brought him to church where took place the baptism. This event was attended by our families, relatives and friends. We were a little nervous thinking he will cry much in the church, but things were not quite so. In fact, during the liturgy, David has been very quiet. Only when the priest put him in the holy water, he started crying loudly enough. But soon he was quiet. 

Then the godmother dressed him with new clothes and then we had a photo shoot. These moments are unforgettable! The next day we had the traditional baby bath, which took place in our home, in the presence of our families and friends. In the baby bath, godmother put all sorts of things: honey, milk, egg, basil, rose petals, money and gold, each signifying something. Then, in the evening we attended the party in honor of baby, where everyone felt great. It is interesting the way David acted after the baptism – it seemed to me that he was a completely different baby. If before that, I spent my nights holding him in my arms to make him calm down, after baptism David didn't wake up at night anymore! What a major change! After all, the baptism has a very important role for the baby! Even though he continued to cry during day time because of the tummy pain, this became increasingly rare. The baptism truly helped him!

An unforgettable summer!

I believe that summer months of the year 2013 were the most beautiful in my entire life. The reason is easy to understand - your own child's growth experience cannot be otherwise than wonderful. Sunny summer days have brought us a lot of joy. What I loved the most was to walk in the morning and afternoon with the baby in the stroller. He was extremely happy - he used to laugh and make much noise every time we took him out. The effect of these rides was miraculous: the baby was happier and slept better. 

When he was five months, I started diversifying food- I began with fruit juices and then I switched to vegetable soups, to which I added later chicken meat. This experience has been wonderful too - I loved to feed David with a teaspoon, and he gladly accepted new foods. Every night we had the baby bath, which he adored: he was cheerful, was laughing and was making a lot of noise. 

Even though the days were almost the same, we were excited to grow our little boy. I am considering myself a lucky woman who was helped a lot by her husband. How many times he was available, daddy did all the things I used to do: he was changing diapers, he was feeding the baby, he was walking with him outside. He was so proud of his little boy! This summer David began to tell his first "words". Of course, these were only some sounds, but we were very happy to hear him. He was more and more adorable!

 Baby’s first teeth 

We waited all summer for David's first teeth, but they didn't show. They began appearing only in fall, when our baby was nine months. Then he cut six teeth within a short time - two down and four up. Of course these moments were accompanied by troubles - David cried a lot, and he even had fever- 39 Celsius degrees. We got a little scared, but when I asked the doctor, she answered that these symptoms are absolute normal and that we don't have to worry. We gave David medicines for lowering the temperature of his body and then everything was fine. In the autumn we faced another problem - the baby had his first cold. Again, we got scared because he began to cough loudly. We went to the doctor and she has prescribed proper medicines, so that the cough has gone in a week. I think it's impossible not to have problems when you're a parent. But you can solve them all with calm and love!

When David was 9 months, we've bought him a baby walker. First, he didn't really understand what to do, he didn't want to take any step, but then he understood how to use it and started to get some courage. He spent a lot of time with his new acquisition and he was very excited about it. The baby walker helped him to discover the world around him-now he could better observe the objects, he reached them more easily, he was analyzing them and he was very curious about everything.

Happy birthday, David!

Winter has come! In this cold season we got outside more rarely than before, to avoid colds. Instead, our home became a place of good moods and fun. After David wake up, at 10 o'clock in the morning, I was changing his diaper, dressing him, feeding him(I used to give him yogurt or fruit puree) and then l was leaving him to discover the objects in the room. He was very happy to go with the baby walker and to examine each object. Now he wanted to know more, so he used to take all the objects he found, to open the drawers and more. I was supposed to be a lot more careful, because he could hurt himself.

Then came the winter holidays ... This Christmas was the most beautiful of my life. I've spent it with my baby and my husband. These were some amazing moments. Santa came for the first time to David and he brought him toys and clothes. David liked most a toy with many lights that made musical sounds. Then came the New Year and we've spent it in the same manner, together. It wasn't a problem that we didn't go into any trip or anything like this, all that matters is that we were together. Everything was wonderful!

In January, 2014 David celebrated 1 year! This moment had to be immortalized and we prepared a party, to which we have invited my parents and my husband's brother, together with his wife and child. The gifts for David were very beautiful. David was very joyful all night, he played, he laughed, and we've also been happy. One of the most pleasant moments of the evening was that when we brought the cake- David’s first cake. We had many photos and we felt great. Now our little David is no longer a baby, but a child who will go through many adventures.