My story / how to stay healthy when i have a new baby

[tmek]

my story / how to stay healthy when i have a new baby

hi everyone, i'm new to the forum so here's my story/current sitch...
i was diagnosed with crohn's disease during my freshman year of college after spending all of junior high and high school as the pale, skinny kid, but never knowing what was wrong. i'm 32 now and for the most part i've been alright. i've done asacol, entocort, prednisone, 6mp, and megace, with 6mp being my current medication/poison of choice. i had bowel resection surgery in 2007 which helped immensely, but alas, seems to have been a temporary fix.
thankfully my work has been almost exclusively in an office environment so i've been able to save myself from some of the physical exertion that comes with a retail, or manual labor job. but i do love to play sports and work in my yard so that gets frustrating sometimes when i have to limit those activities.
so that's my history in a nutshell, but the reason i joined the forum is to hopefully get some advice.
you see, my wife and i just had our first child less than 2 weeks ago, and it's great, i love her to death, and i'm so happy to be a first time dad. but, and there's always a but, as most new parents know, sleeping through the night is pretty much out of the question. the most uninterrupted sleep i've had since she was born was about 4.5 hours, which i'm told is great for a newborn, but not for someone with crohn's.
my energy level is extremely low, i'm losing weight because i'm so tired that i don't feel like making a decent meal, and now my insides are starting to revolt as well, draining me even more!
basically, i don't know what to do. i want to help my wife as much as i can to take care of our baby, but i feel like i'm slowly killing myself when i sacrifice sleep.
i'm hoping someone here can relate to my situation and offer some advise as to how to manage my disease as well as my responsibility as a new dad.
thanks!

 

[ameslouise]

Hi TMEK and welcome! Congratulations on becoming a new father! This is an exciting time in your life, but also so tiring!

I think it's great that you want to be involved as much as possible and help your wife out. However - you need to be careful not to risk your own health in the process! I hope your wife understands how critical sleep and rest are to your health. Does she work, too? If she is a stay-at-home mom, perhaps she can take care of the bulk of the nighttime feedings and sleep during the day when the baby sleeps. In turn, you should be supportive of her sleeping during the day and perhaps not getting as much work done aroudn the house. Just a suggestion. You'll have to find the balance that works for you both.

Hang in there, it gets easier!!

- Amy

 

[dreamintwilight]

Hi there, TMEK!

I think Amy has some great suggestions I don't have any personal experience with this, as I have not had any children yet, but I think the main thing to be concerned about is communication and taking care of your health. It will be an adjustment period, but if you both can talk together honestly, it should be easy to come to an agreement about the sleep problems. I was thinking something along the lines of what Amy already suggested.

Other than that....is there a nearby relative that may be able to chip in and watch the baby for a couple hours during the day while your wife can take a nap and recoop for a bit? Lack of sleep can wear on anybody, Crohn's or not.

Hope you can find a good balance that works for both of you! I hear the beginning is always the toughest no matter what, so it'll never be ideal, but hopefully manageable enough to keep you from compromising your health and not wanting to pull each other's hair out.

Good luck!

 

[tmek]

thanks amy and marisa!
to answer your question, yes, my wife is a stay at home mom right now. she does a lot already, but you've given me some good ideas and suggestions. i'll try to keep you posted as to how it progresses.

-ted

 

[xJillx]

Hi Ted and welcome! Congrats on the new baby! Also, I am happy you are doing pretty well with your CD. But it is important you continue to stay healthy, so I agree, you need your rest. I think Amy makes a great suggestion to see if your wife could handle the night rounds, but in turn, you can help out as much as you can during the day (before/after work and weekends).

 

[tmek]

thankfully, my wife is already handling the night feeding. i'm helping out as much as I can after work, but it's just tough when the baby fights going to sleep (aka screaming) from 9:00 until about 12:00, wakes up crying and hungry around 3:00, goes back to sleep by 4:00, and my alarm goes off at 6:00.
i see my doctor next month so i'll bring it up then.
thanks for the responses ladies, but i know i'm not the only man with crohn's who's gone through this. let me hear from you guys!

 

[hawkeye]

Ted-

The ladies are bang on on this. From my experience with this over the past couple of weeks - getting relatives to help is great as is grabbing a nap when the baby sleeps. With regards to the night feedings what about taking turns each night (this may involve sleeping in separate rooms) or one person feeding and one burping the baby.