Sunday, June 8, 2008

My breakdown over scrambled eggs and toast

I don't know how it happened but I became really miserable over my birthday. I was in a pathetic state. It had been a particularly difficult night with Caitlin being fussy and super hungry the entire night. Being a light sleeper compared to Kelvin, I'd been getting up most the night every night to feed her or comfort her whenever she woke up. Hence, I was sleep deprived. It didn't help that I was still getting frustrated with the maid as she kept doing things which I didn't ask or doing the opposite of what I asked.
I felt isloated, trapped and like I had nobody to help me. It felt like I would never get any rest and that every night would be the same upsetting baby crying with tension filled wakeful sleep.

In the morning, the maid conveniently forgot to fix my breakfast so Kelvin ended up making me scrambled eggs. When I saw the plate and took a bite of the toast, I burst into tears. After a month of horrible burnt garlicy eggs and soggy toast, it was SO good to have properly cooked toast. The birthday message was quite touching too.
That afternoon, we parked the baby with my mother-in-law and went out for high tea. Just the two of us on a date. It was a good time to bring up some issues about how we were going to raise Caitlin and what role the new maid needed to play so that I could have some balance. I'm happy to say that since my birthday, things have gotten better. After sharing my feelings, Kelvin found ways to play a more active role so that I could go out and have some time off to myself. In fact, he does quite a good job of caring for the baby and is beginning to enjoy it. All I really needed was someone to watch her a couple of hours during the day so that I can either go shop for groceries, do my hair or just zone out on my own.

Part of what was stressing me out was the fact that I still felt really clueless as to what I was doing. Reading all the baby books made me realize that there was a lot to think about when it comes to caring for an infant. There were a lot of decisions to be made with regards to just sleeping and eating alone. I lamented to my father over the phone and he suggested Dr. Spock. No, not the alien from Star Trek but an institution; no bible of baby care since the 1940s. My parents used it and I was so near hyper-ventilating when I found it at Times bookstore. When my mother came over, she told me that I had been raised on this book as well. It's not bad. Pretty comprehensive. Thanks, Pa.

4 comments:

rene said...

Oh yeah, happy birthday! I actually remembered a couple of weeks back, really!

Sounds like you're having a tough time. =( At least it's the June holidays now... You could change and take your maternity leave in July instead of postponing it; sounds like you really need a break. OTOH, there are your graduating students...

Well, I guess it would help much if Kelvin can take over more of your chores, such as overseeing the maid and general care of Caitlin. In fact, I should think that training the maid is very mentally tiring and frustrating -- you should get him to do it.

Jessica said...

Nah, I'm in charge of organizing the house. Thus, maid training falls under me. Kelvin's better at entertaining Caitlin.

I'm actually thinking of doing the minimum at work when I return and just return shortly after the bell rings. Also, I'll probably ask for less major duties next year. Probably will get a lower performance grading though.

Mamalina said...

Happy Belated Birthday Jess!

Sorry to hear that you've been having a difficult time, but it's not unusual. All of us feel that way during the first few months of motherhood. Suddenly, our time is no longer in our control.

But I'm glad to hear that Kelvin is taking a more active role and giving you your own time.

I'd like to say, try not to live up to whatever the books say you should do though. It can get quite stressful if you feel that you should do this or that as a good parent. Use your intuition and don't be too hard on yourself. Feel free to ask other mothers for advice or to just pour down your frustration. You can always write to me =D

I've read Dr. Spock before. I don't agree with everything he suggests. I prefer Dr. Sears' advice. But again, there's no hard and fast rule about taking care of your own baby. Trust yourself.

Jessica said...

When I first showed Kelvin Dr. Spock, he kept making jokes about the Star Trek Mr. Spock. Sigh...