Hi all
Let me welcome Jayashree first. Good to see your post, Jayashree. Did you have an episiotomy or tears! I live in Missouri and in a town about 2.5 hrs from St. Louis. How is Yash doing now? IT must have been a horrible experience going to the ER.
I was reading all your posts(JAyashree, Swathi) of getting scared to manage a baby alone. It is not that scary once you get the hang of it. I was scared as hell once and wasn't doing anything other than holding Diya. After all our cooked food in the freezer got over, I had no choice but to try things:)
I read that babies get bored once you leave them for long hours in the crib or playpen. At the same time, you can't hold them all the time because they never learn to do things independently. We have to give them a chance na. I believe, you can put them in a carseat/playpen/blanket in front of you while you do your everyday things. They will love to see you doing things and you can also talk to them/sing at the same time when you are taking care of your chores. Also, if babies don't nap well, they become cranky. We think that they want to be held and then they sleep on you and then they think that it is the only way to be comforted and cry when left alone. Try to put them for a nap within 2 hrs from the time they wake up. Do this after evry nap too. First, they might not go to sleep easily. But if you rock/nurse/give paci and put them down when they are drowsy but awake, they'll learn to sleep alone. Slowly, you can stop all the above methods of comforting when they go down for naps. They have to sleep atleast 14.5 hrs totally now every day.(this is for 4 month old babies)
The other thing which I noticed and helped me was having a routine(not a schedule). I try to wake Diya around the same time every day. This way,their body gets used to getting up at the same time and falling asleep around the same time. When she is awake, I try to feed her and then put her in her bouncy and I do things. Sometimes, I just hold her and sing nursery rhymes. When I cook, I put her on her tummy and she loves to look at the fridge and the kitchen lights and also the design on her quilt. I also put a few toys for her to chew/suck. At this age, they love mommy's voice and facial expressions.
So try to do things which will work for you and don't stress. It becomes very easy.
If you have any questions about putting baby to sleep, please ask me. I read a million things to make Diya go to sleep:) Vidya replied. Hi Jayashree
I saw Yash's pics. He looks very cute. He doesn't look all that big now. Your face looks very familiar to me. Are you from Madras?
You can see the link to Diya's photos in the yahoo groups messages.
Take care
Vidya Jayashree replied. Hi Vidya,
Thanks for all the tips, its going to be a big help for sure.

My labor was 12 hrs long, and since Yash was a big baby, he had to be vaccum extracted, and I had to have a episiotomy.
Yash is doing good now, he has to take antibiotics for some time to prevent any more infection, since every infection will be harmful in a baby...and yes the ER experience was traumatic.
I have not seen any pics of Diya yet, her folder in Yahoo groups is empty... do let me know when you upload them again.
You could chk out Yash's pics in the januarymommie yahoo photos link.

Chalo then, have a good weekend!
J