I'd say easier. LO is a sweet baby and an amazing sleeper. I attribute the sleeping to being a preemie though. Right now, not much wakes him up and we wake him up every three hours to eat. And DH has been super supportive, which is awesome.
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I would have to go with easier overall. We certainly had our days where DD was gassy and had her witching hours. But for the most part, I remember getting showered, the house cleaned, and getting dinner ready for DH and thinking - I thought I wasn't supposed to be able to do all of this!
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Hmmm, definitely looking forward to the comments. We're going to be moving cross-country when the LO is 3-4 weeks old (depending on when he decides to debut.) All of my nesting is being channeled into packing!
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Harder. I had issues recovering and we moved into our first house in a different state when LO was 4 weeks. So it wasn't all LO's fault... although he's never been a super sleepy baby even back then!
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Harder. Lack of sleep gives me migraines, I had so many issues breastfeeding, and lo had reflux.
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Harder, way harder! Even though LO was a relatively easy newborn I still felt it to be hard. I was not a pleasant person in the middle of the night, and I did not like it when LO cried. It instantly made me cry!
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Harder for different reasons, due to breastfeeding...but other than that Lo was an awesome newborn!
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easier! like you, our LO was a sleepy preemie in the beginning and never cried. now at 4 months he is smiling and starting to giggle and it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. plus it makes the fact that he's not STTN tolerable!
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I think it was easier just because I was so amazed by her and it took me about 4 months to feel the sleep deprivation.
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Harder. I was not prepared for a baby who wouldn't latch half of the time. He had a great latch when he would nurse but more often than not, he would just scream instead of nursing. It was so hard. We ended up switching to formula and it was really hard for me. Even the LC we saw didn't know what to do about it. It also didn't help that DH had to return to Afghanistan when DS was 10 days old.
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Easier. She's a month old, and she's not that hard. We can go to restaurants, spend an hour in the car, go shopping all day... and she's usually just fine.
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Both? I hadn't spent any time around newborns in over a decade, so in a lot of ways it was harder than I had expected. But also easier? I mean I was a hot mess, intensely sleep-deprived and in tears a lot because I was so overwhelmed by this tiny little person who was completely vulnerable and completely dependent on ME. But looking back I don't remember it being that hard. I was tired, yes, and desperate for him to sleep, but I wasn't bothered by it because it was for my baby. It's weird...I think rather than hard or easy I'll say it was more overwhelming in every way, good and bad.
And like @mediagirl: I didn't feel the sleep deprivation for months (I really didn't start to feel it until semi-recently...around 6-7 months).
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For #1 easier, #2 harder...but I didn't take mat leave with #2.
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Harder. I had issues with breastfeeding, latch problems, had an infection. I was a walking zombie those first few weeks.
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Thankfully easier!
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This is a great post! Glad at least some people were pleasantly surprised!
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Way easier. My daughter STTN (not forever) at 7 weeks, and I never really got crazy tired before that.
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I can't even begin to say how harder. It is a battle every night to get her to sleep, she won't be in the ca mr seat for long before she cries, so we are stuck at home. She is just a fussy baby in general. So hard but gosh do I love her!
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Harder. Recovering from childbirth was garish and nauseating. And breastfeeding was a nightmare. It was way harder than I was anticipating. It didn't last long, though!
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With my three boys, way harder. With Lilly it was easy.
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Much harder. LO slept fine for a newborn and has always been extremely good in public, but it was so emotionally hard. And she had colic, which was extremely hard. I do not miss the newborn stage at all.
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So far (3 weeks old), easier. She is a mellow baby, sleeps at night, and is generally content. Most of the time, she seems to fuss only if something is wrong. I was expecting to be a zombie but so far, she sleeps really well at night, so I sleep, too-and DH has gone above and beyond what I expected from him. I'm looking forward to her becoming more interactive, though. I think the one sided nature of having a newborn is emotionally difficult.
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Way Way Way harder, and that's as a stm! G was a really easy baby (from what I remember) but P, oh geeze! The first 5 months have to be some of the hardest months of my life!
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Honestly it's all been harder! But even better than I thought it would be!
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Easier the first four weeks then all of a sudden way harder!!! I had issues with pumping, ppd, and not really having any close friends/family nearby. Also my DH works strange hours so it really was just me and a screaming baby until we asked for help!
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Easier. I think having a preemie met that by the time he came home from the NICU he was already on a schedule.
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harder! but pretty much all centered around soooo much postpartum pain from bf'ing, lack of supply, and tears down there. thank goodness my mom was here for a month, and ds was a champion sleeper!
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@FutureMrsMcK: overwhelming is exactly it.
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Easier. She was a really easy newborn and slept really well.
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easier! she was (and remains) pretty aid back. she breastfed like a champ, slept a lot, and overall, she was just easily satiated.
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Harder. Way Harder.
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oh god, harder! i was a nanny for a newborn (literally since the day she was born) so i thought i new everything. no. no. no. being a nanny of a newborn and being a mom of a newborn aren't even in the same ballpark (obviously!) how i was so naive, i have no idea!
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Harder, so much harder! PPD, breastfeeding woes, and pumping around the clock really took a toll on me for the first few weeks. I'm really nervous about getting pregnant with no. 2 and having to go through the newborn phase again. It was a really unpleasant time for me.
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Harder....I have to admit, our first 2-7 weeks were hellish.
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I think they were easier. But we were still BEWILDERED and a HOT MESS, lol
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I think they were easier, but I couldn't anticipate how much the lack of sleep would affect my body and mind!
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Harder...I expected lack of sleep and stuff like that. But I did not expect the constant worrying, like my LO could die at any second if I didn't do *everything* right..I feel like I was a mad woman! It was seriously crazy how much anxiety and worry I had.
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I found it way easier. LO is a great sleeper and I had an easy recovery which helped. I was on my own 6days pp and it was fine.
I'm worried about the rude awakening I'm in for with #2. -
Harder. I never knew the meaning of tired until I became a mom.
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@oliviaoblivia: i agree about #2! it was way easier than i thought mostly bc row is a pretty easy baby and i was up and at em quickly. i'm scared for if/when we have a fussy baby!
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62 comments