Motherhood: like a research paper

As I was getting ready for work this morning I started thinking about motherhood and how one can equate it to a research paper (of sorts). Being that I'm a librarian by day, this kinda works. I help people with research every day. They come in and say 'I need a book on x' (sometimes it is their thesis statement, but a lot of the time its a jumble of ideas pieced together to make some sort of a whole, or a hole :) In all cases, it is not something that can be found in one book, on one database, on one website. It is a series of things that need to be found, over a variety of sources, and then pieced together to make a coherent statement(s).

Motherhood is like that: you read about xyz, you talk to other mothers about xyz, you talk to your dr your lactation consultant your cousin your own mother about xyz, oh yeah, and don't forget, you talk to your husband about xyz. You put all the pieces together, you figure out what works best for your little family unit. You figure out what works best for YOUR baby. Because only you know your baby and only your baby will show you what s/he wants and needs.

People tell me all the time that LC should be sleeping through the night, he doesn't need that mid-night feeding, he should be on solids, that'll help him sleep, etc etc etc. But you know what, LC tells me what he needs. He bats away the paci at 3am, he holds his hands up and smiles at me and laughs, and I pick him up, he eats, I put him back down 10 minutes later, he looks at me, I rub his belly, and say 'Mommy is going to go back to sleep now, you should too', I walk back to my room, lie down, listen to a little babbling, and not more than 10 minutes later, he too is asleep. If he didn't need it, he wouldn't ask me for it. I'm okay with it. J is okay with it. It is what works for our family.

And yes, we've started solids, and some days I freak out about it, and other days I'm okay with it, some days I even look forward to feeding him something different, seeing his little reactions :) Does he sleep through the night after starting solids: nope.

And that's okay. That is my thesis :)