We did not make it through the night.
Her motion monitor went off like 6 or 7 times between 12am and 1am. I do not think she actually stopped breathing or anything; I think that she was in a deep sleep and the sensitivity was not high enough, but after waking up from that thing so many times, I put her back in our room so I could sleep for more than a few minutes. And then she wanted to eat at 1, 4 and 7. Maybe I will wait until this growth spurt is over to try again...or maybe we will adjust the sensitivity and try again tonight.
Needless to say she would not nap in her crib today either. Two attempts, each one hour long, and she cried and cried (interspersed with me going in and comforting her, putting her almost to sleep.) And after each time, I brought her out and put her in the swing so I could work a little, and she fell asleep almost immediately and slept for an hour each time. Little stinker.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
She is in her crib...
I was totally not looking forward to this night. In fact, it was not supposed to happen until she is six months old. But this week has been a rough one, and friends that I trust have encouraged me to try to put Lorelei in her crib, in her own room tonight.
Friends, this is tough on me! I have not slept more than a few feet away from my little girl since she was born, and I LOVED that. Co-sleeping makes it so easy for middle of the night feedings, side nursing and just bonding with my baby. I loved leaning over to feel her breathe at night. I loved pulling her into bed with me to snuggle when Allen left for work. I loved that if she did randomly wake up a bit early wanting to nurse, I could just lay there with her and we could both fall back asleep after. But I am starting to think it is time.
A woman who I trust from my church, who happens to be a pediatric nurse with six children, said that it is time to move the baby from your room when you are losing sleep because of her being there rather than gaining it. It is not a matter of a specific time or age; just when you know that you need to look out for your own health too. This past week, Lorelei is going through some sort of growth spurt or something, and also has started moving and rolling and waking up in her sleep, thus waking me up. Now please do not think that I am saying I do not want my daughter to wake me up if she is hungry. I would (and have) wake up every hour or so if she needed me. But I do not think I am helping anyone by waking up in anxiety because I heard her move into a position that made me nervous. Nor am I learning to discern her hunger cry from a random "I just woke up" cry if I am jumping to get her the second I hear her. Both of our sleep schedules have been a mess this week, and if this can help both of us get some sleep, I am willing to try. If she keeps waking up in the middle of the night needing to feed and it is inconvenient to have her down the hall, I will move her back temporarily.
So in the meantime, I have an awesome monitor that detects motion (and sounds an alarm if it does not detect motion for like 20 seconds.) She seems to be sleeping peacefully (on her side like her momma,) and has been in bed for about an hour and a half so far. But oh how I will miss her tonight. After I put her to bed, she cried a bit and I went back in to put her pacifier back in her mouth. She grabbed my hand and pulled it to her face, hugging it like she would a doll or teddy bear. When she was a newborn, if someone else was holding her and she started crying, I would place my hand on her cheek and she would stop, because she sensed momma was there. Now that trick does not quite fool her anymore, but apparently my touch on her cheek still comforts her. I love that.
Praying for both of us to sleep well tonight!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
One whole month...
That is how long it has been since I have last blogged! And what a month of blessing.
I could start with the excuses; shortly after my last post, our AC broke and we endured too many days of a heatwave before packing up to stay with my parents. And using their internet makes me remember the days of dialup ten years ago, so a blog post was just not feasible. We were too busy trying to keep my little tinker cool and happy and still on some semblance of a schedule. But the coolest thing is how people cared for us through this time. When our AC broke, I posted something on facebook asking for some help staying cool, and several people volunteered fans for us. Allen's parents loaned us a window unit that kept Lorelei safe from overheating during her naps and at night. And finally, when it just got to be too much, my parents opened their entire home for us and fed us for a whole five days. It helped us buy some time to find a repair man and save the money for it, and when it was all said and done, it was not nearly as bad as we thought!
And then we went on Lorelei's first vacation to Allen's family cabin in the mountains. It was another huge blessing because it was through the generocity of family members and friends helping us out with travel and cooking our meals during the trip, we were able to take a vacation we otherwise could not afford. What a gift to have a few days in a beautiful place with family all around.
And now we are back home and life goes on.
Lorelei is four months and one week old. She is learning and growing every day, and still very much the light of my life. Some stats:
-She is still quite the peanut; only in the 15th percentile for weight, yet the 35th for height.
-When she is in the mood to (and only then) she will roll back and forth from belly to back. She rolls so much that I had to stop swaddling her in her woombie at night because she can flop on her face and stretch out like she is doing a back bend.
-She is eating about six times a day and taking about 3-4 mini naps a day. I would love to turn that into two legit naps. Working on that.
-She started laughing. And has done it approximately three times since the very first time two weeks ago. It is glorious.
-She is in a huge "everything in the mouth" phase; anything she can hold onto she instantly will start to nom on. Her new trick is taking her pacifier out of her mouth so she can chew on the wrong end of it. Or she will take a dive at my face and try to suck on my nose (ew) or my mouth or whatever she can get to.
-She is interested in toys now to some degree. Her favorite is a pink elephant named Effie and a little stuffed doll-thing we call Pea. And by favorite, I mean that she seems to like to nom on them a bit more intently than her other toys.
-She still will not take a bottle. She still screams like a banshee almost every time we try. I had to go through a 7 hour training about a half hour from my house and my mom had to bring her to me twice so I could nurse her in the parking lot. Spoiled much? I am going to start her on a sippy cup (hopefully) this month and in two months we start solids!
Speaking of training, I am working part-time from home. I have a couple of meetings and trainings away from home, and besides the one really long one, it is actually quite a nice arrangement. I love setting my own hours and scheduling around Lorelei's needs, but at the same time, I also love having something to do that reflects my skills. It is a huge blessing!
Other than that, we are living life and loving each other. I am so thankful for my family and all of those who cared for us during the past few months. And every day is beautiful because I get to spend it with my sweet girl. God is kind to me.
I could start with the excuses; shortly after my last post, our AC broke and we endured too many days of a heatwave before packing up to stay with my parents. And using their internet makes me remember the days of dialup ten years ago, so a blog post was just not feasible. We were too busy trying to keep my little tinker cool and happy and still on some semblance of a schedule. But the coolest thing is how people cared for us through this time. When our AC broke, I posted something on facebook asking for some help staying cool, and several people volunteered fans for us. Allen's parents loaned us a window unit that kept Lorelei safe from overheating during her naps and at night. And finally, when it just got to be too much, my parents opened their entire home for us and fed us for a whole five days. It helped us buy some time to find a repair man and save the money for it, and when it was all said and done, it was not nearly as bad as we thought!
And then we went on Lorelei's first vacation to Allen's family cabin in the mountains. It was another huge blessing because it was through the generocity of family members and friends helping us out with travel and cooking our meals during the trip, we were able to take a vacation we otherwise could not afford. What a gift to have a few days in a beautiful place with family all around.
And now we are back home and life goes on.
Lorelei is four months and one week old. She is learning and growing every day, and still very much the light of my life. Some stats:
-She is still quite the peanut; only in the 15th percentile for weight, yet the 35th for height.
-When she is in the mood to (and only then) she will roll back and forth from belly to back. She rolls so much that I had to stop swaddling her in her woombie at night because she can flop on her face and stretch out like she is doing a back bend.
-She is eating about six times a day and taking about 3-4 mini naps a day. I would love to turn that into two legit naps. Working on that.
-She started laughing. And has done it approximately three times since the very first time two weeks ago. It is glorious.
-She is in a huge "everything in the mouth" phase; anything she can hold onto she instantly will start to nom on. Her new trick is taking her pacifier out of her mouth so she can chew on the wrong end of it. Or she will take a dive at my face and try to suck on my nose (ew) or my mouth or whatever she can get to.
-She is interested in toys now to some degree. Her favorite is a pink elephant named Effie and a little stuffed doll-thing we call Pea. And by favorite, I mean that she seems to like to nom on them a bit more intently than her other toys.
-She still will not take a bottle. She still screams like a banshee almost every time we try. I had to go through a 7 hour training about a half hour from my house and my mom had to bring her to me twice so I could nurse her in the parking lot. Spoiled much? I am going to start her on a sippy cup (hopefully) this month and in two months we start solids!
Speaking of training, I am working part-time from home. I have a couple of meetings and trainings away from home, and besides the one really long one, it is actually quite a nice arrangement. I love setting my own hours and scheduling around Lorelei's needs, but at the same time, I also love having something to do that reflects my skills. It is a huge blessing!
Other than that, we are living life and loving each other. I am so thankful for my family and all of those who cared for us during the past few months. And every day is beautiful because I get to spend it with my sweet girl. God is kind to me.
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