16 August 2010

Polar Opposites

I get this question a lot, so I thought I'd dedicate an entire post to the topic...

Carter and Brynn are complete opposites. Everything about them has been different so far.

Carter was a bit of a difficult baby, and that was mostly due to his severe acid reflux {AR}. He couldn't lay flat {or even slightly elevated} on his back at all, so that totally took away cradling him in our arms, putting him in any kind of swing or bouncy seat, and sleeping on his back in any way. He just wouldn't do it... and every time that we tried, he would scream in pain. He absolutely loathed his car seat, which the doctor said was very common with AR babies, so that made car trips a pure joy.

After we found the winning combo to help with his reflux {Zantac, Similac Sensitive Ready-to-Feed, and a tiny bit of rice cereal in Dr. Brown's bottles} he was able to tolerate being elevated for short periods of time. This helped a ton with doing things like... sitting him in a swing so I could go to the bathroom.

It's the little things.

Overall, Carter was a good baby- always smiling, cooing, and happy- but the AR made it hard for Bob and I to do simple things together {like eat dinner at the same time} unless he was sleeping, because we felt like someone always had to be holding him upright. Of course, it got better and easier with age... but the infant stage was pretty difficult with Carter.

Brynn. Oh, Brynnie Girl. She is such an easy baby.

Sometimes I just look down at her smiling away in her bouncy seat while we eat dinner together as a family and think... "how did we get this lucky? Carter would have been screaming his lungs off by now."

Now, in Carter's defense, Brynn does not show any signs of having AR {thank the dear lord} but, in general, Brynn is just a much easier baby. She only cries when she's hungry {and that's even more of a grunt} or when she has gas {my girl is the world's worst burper.} Other then that, she is always happy. Always. She is such a joy.

Let's do a little comparison, shall we?

Swing:
Brynn loves it. LOVES it.
Carter hated it {until he was about 4 months old, then he used it for a week or two and then reached the 25lb weight limit. Fatty.}

Carseat:

Brynn loves it.
Carter hated it.

Car rides:

Brynn- love.
Carter- hate.

Stroller:
Brynn- love.
Carter- eh.

Back sleeping:

Brynn- loves it in her Rock-n-Play {more on this later... if you don't have one. Get one.}
Carter- hated it and only slept on his belly {which scared the crap out of us, so we used 15 monitors including the Angelcare Deluxe Movement Monitor, which I highly recommend!!!}

Pacifier:

Brynn- likes it and will use it once in awhile.
Carter- "are you joking with this thing?"

Bumbo seat:

Brynn- love.
Carter- hate.
Until he saw his sister using it this weekend.
Now he loves it.
Brat. {But a cute one :)}

So, I'm living proof that it's possible to have two babies that are completely different. I'm glad that it worked out the way it did though... my first being somewhat difficult and my second being pretty easy. I think I would have been in a bit of shock had it happened the other way around. It almost makes me nervous to have a third.

Almost.

Oh, and if you have a free second, can you help give the ol' blog a boost to keep us on the first page?

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Thanks lovies,
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10 comments:

Steph said...

Night and day!

Anonymous said...

More living proof, right here. But with us it DID happen the other way around.

Landon was the easiest baby. Brigham is my high-maintenence baby. Total opposites in every way.

And don't you just love our little opposites ;)

sara said...

Pie is high maintenance all the way. So I'm hoping if there's a second for us it will be easy-peasy.

Crystal said...

Thanks for this. I'm going to make my husband read it...Jules was by no means an easy baby...I'm hoping the 2nd will be a bit easier. Fingers crossed.

Shan said...

wow! such a difference eh?

Rock n' Play - LOVE! we have the swing version that converts to an infant chair and whatnot, and Owen LOVES it...sleeps in it for a while (when he's not growth spurting like he is now!), which is nice!

and I LOVE that you called Carter "fatty" lol that made me giggle!

Unknown said...

They're just trying to keep things interesting! :)

Christina said...

Thank you for this post!
My son was a very difficult baby. He also had severe AR and therefore never slept. He was on Prevacid until he was 17 months old. He still fights sleep at 23 months, but at least he sleeps all night (that only took 16 months). I keep telling my husband that if we have another baby, he/she will be the total opposite (at least that is what everyone tells me)!

And I love that Rock N Play! I will have to get it for the next one!

Anonymous said...

hmm, I'm scared now... I'm pregnant with my second and my son was the easiest baby and still is! I fear what the next one holds for us, lol. :)
How were your pregnancies? Were they the same or different?

jenni from the blog said...

@ anonymous- My pregnancies were identical!!! How have yours been? I think the real difference between the two was that Carter had AR and Brynn does not. Carter may have been super easy, had he not had that issue! Poor baby!

Good luck to you!

Anonymous said...

So far my pregnancies have been totally different! I had the most easiest pregnancy with my son, this one.... not so much. I have had all day sickness, from the start. Alittle too much info, but I also had some bleeding issues and concerns in the beginning, but thankfully baby is growing just fine and doing great!

Both of your kiddos are just so precious!

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