19 Weeks Old

So it seems like every time I write about something on here, it changes. Mostly regarding Bri's sleeping or eating patterns. But, whatcha gonna do? She's a baby and babies routines are constantly changing.

I decided that it was a genius idea to nurse Bri to sleep for the last five months. Well, now it is no longer working and she is wide awake the second you lie her down in her crib and she does not have the ability to soothe herself to sleep. All the books told me not feed her to sleep, all the research said it would be a mistake, but did this newbie mom listen? No way.

As some of you know, I just landed a job with an old employer which I start on Valentines Day. Today I went in for my mandatory drug test and my mother watched her. I attempted to put her down before I left (unswaddled) to no avail. During the two hours I was gone, per my instructions, my mom repeatedly went in and out of her bedroom room shushing her and patting her back. She just screamed and screamed and screamed. It got so bad that she had to take her out and rock her a couple times. When I got home it was still going on so I tried swaddling her (which I am also trying to break so she doesnt roll on her face), got her to take her pacifier and rocked her. I finally got her to sleep after three hours. Morale of the story? This new phase in our lives is sure to be filled with sleepless nights, but hopefully it doesn't last long! Another lesson learned.

In other news, our good friends Peter and Cassie are very close to having their little love, Hayley. We are so excited to meet her and introduce Bri to her new friend.

Love,
Catherine

Rock A Bye Baby

I am proud to say that our three-and-a-half week old just slept through the night for the first time!

Now that is not to say I am expecting this to happen every night, and to be fair- the official word on "sleeping through the night" for a baby is 5 hours. But she made it five and a half and probably would have gone longer if I hadn't waken her up to eat.

She slept from 11:00pm-4:30am. Stupidly, I woke up at 2:00am and was: a. too excited that she was still sleeping to actually sleep myself, and b. figured that she would wake up any minute so what was the point of going back to sleep? I finally made it back to sleep at 5:30am and she slept again until almost 9:00!

As a baby who generally sleeps from 1.5-3 hours (on a rare, good night) at a time, you are probably wondering how we did this. Well, we noticed that she was grunting in her sleep a lot, and every time we would lay her flat in the crib or bassinet, her legs and arms would flail out over and over and eventually wake her up. So between the gas and the startle reflex, the last couple weeks were rough to say the least.

Then I read on one of my "mommy forums" about something called the Fisher Price Rock N' Play Sleeper. Which is basically a sling that is set at an incline and has the ability to rock back and forth. I heard it was good for babies with reflux or that needed to sleep on an incline. What the heck? I thought. I've got nothing to lose but more sleep! I found one on Craigslist for $35, (they are $50 new) and brought it home. Used it last night for the first time... yep, my new favorite baby item.

I am all smiles :-D and so is my little peanut.

Peace,

Catherine