Let me introduce myself, My name is Connie. My husband and I are high school sweethearts, married at 20 yrs old, and then we waited 10 years to have a child. So when we finally believed that we had matured enough to have a baby I decided I better educate myself.

Even before we conceived I devoured every bit of information available to mothers. As a new mother I really did not even know where to begin, but of course God knew what was best for us and put us in a Prep for Parenting class. When we finished the class I felt fully educated and confident on how to handle my newborn- (It’s ok to laugh here!)

Then Isabelle was born, and that confidence morphed quickly into sleep deprivation craziness. Just two nights after we brought her home I actually called the hospital nursery crying myself to ask if something was wrong because Isabelle had cried all night long. The sweet nurse laughed at me and told me “that’s what babies do!”

Here is why things were seemingly crumbling all around me. One, Isabelle couldn’t latch. Second, all I am going to say is I am apparently not designed well for nursing ( I am sure its some sort of punishment for past evil-as my mother always says what goes around comes around!). The first ten days of my life with Izzy I desperately tried to breastfeed a very angry thrashing screaming newborn every two hours. Each time I ended up tube feeding her in the most awkward position imagineable (I think that feeding her while standing on my head would have been the only thing that could have been more difficult) as advised by the hospital staff. At my wit’s end I was asking my lactation consultant what to do when she said “What are you going to do if your baby doesn’t learn to nurse?”

Let me mention here, God has blessed me with just a touch of obsessiveness with a side of perfectionism. To me the only option logical to me in my very sleep deprived new mom state was to pump my milk. Feel free to be amused here, Shawn and I have laughed many nights about this whole time period we call the “four weeks of parenting that no one ever told us about”. Shawn actually danced around when I told him to go buy bottles! I have to say my loving husband was a huge support for me in this endeavor.

Here’s why I tell you all of the above, once I decided to put into practice all I learned in our prep class -when Isabelle was about 6 weeks old and we had numerous sleep props established!- she actually slept through the night at 12 weeks old. Now 2 years later she is still as spirited as ever ( but we are happy to report she is characterized as a very good sleeper and eater of healthy foods) and we still look to the Ezzo’s teachings for wisdom on how to handle it all.

Be encouraged no matter what struggles you may face with your infant, be consistent with a routine and the concepts taught in the Growing Families curriculum. You will see amazing results in the long term!

Stay tuned to hear about what my small group learned from Growing Kids God’s Way-we just finished the course this past Sunday! God Bless your amazing families!