White Noise

Since Henry was born, a lot has changed.  I know, you're thinking, duh!  But what I mean is, that it's changed in ways I hadn't even thought about before he came!  For example, the general soundscape of my life has changed drastically.  Silence isn't something that really happens anymore.  Right now I am sitting here typing this to you, and my son is asleep in my lap.  And the next tab over is a website called simplynoise.com.  It's a website that plays white noise, pink noise, and brown noise.  It's been a lifesaver.  Not only does it muffle other sounds so something is way less likely to startle him awake (door opening, cats running around like maniacs, etc.), it creates a peaceful environment for him to sleep in.  You see, babies this young would really rather not have been born just yet.  They prefer the womb, and while it isn't exactly white noise in there, it apparently is very loud with all the blood rushing around the heart beating, so loud white noise is very comforting to newborns.

So I am listening to white noise coming from the computer.  When I drive with Henry, we listen to a radio station that is just static.  At night, we have a sound machine that plays any number of sounds, although we usually have it set on "wind."  Even when I'm in the shower, usually a time for quiet contemplation, I am singing the whole time.  Henry is usually sitting in his owl rocker, a vibrating chair with hanging toys to look at, but if I'm not singing, he starts to get freaked out that I am gone.  On the weekends when my husband is home I can get some quiet time (in the shower), but right now, silence is generally absent.

I don't really mind it at all, it's just a change that I didn't anticipate.  I anticipated the crying baby, the disrupted sleep, and other stuff like that.  But this is different.  Different is good.  I'll get used to it.  Probably right around the time that he needs completely silence to get to sleep, right?

But what do you think, he's pretty cute, right?  Totally worth it.