The Sailor is gone again. I thought I'd be more upset, but I'm just tired of the roller coaster we've been on this tour, and hope the next four months are uneventful and go by fast. There are going to be rough days, rougher nights, and I probably won't be as efficient as I normally am. The house will be a little less organized, and we might be 5 minutes late instead of 10 minutes early for awhile, but we'll be fine. I think we tend to underestimate our ability until we're forced to rise to the occasion. There's no doubt in my mind that sleep is going to be priority #1 for the foreseeable future, and until we get on a good schedule I might be a little bit of a really big b*tch from time to time. Lately Anna is waking up at night and Margo is obviously awake most of the night. Not only is Margo on a typical newborn schedule, but she'll only sleep when she's in our arms. She's the first child of ours that would probably move right back into my uterus if given the chance.
I caved and bought a Summer Infant By Your Side Sleeper . We now have five different options set up in our bedroom for Miss Margo to sleep in. Five. I've posted in the past about my parenting style, and mentioned that I never co-sleep. I guess I'm eating my words now, although I can't bring myself to just sleep in bed with her on my chest, or in my arms. After three weeks of sleepless nights, I can get on board with her being in bed with me, but she has to be in a safe "pod". The Sailor didn't nickname me "OSHA" for nothin'. We chose this co-sleeper because it's a) a great price b) it's longer than some other options c) could be used as a travel sleeper when we move in a few months.
The verdict: I love the product, but whether or not she'll prefer it is yet to be determined. Yesterday she napped in it for 2 hours, but last night she slept better in the swing. Downside - she's flat on her back, unlike in the swing. I feel better about her being raised in case she spits up. Upside - It's more like her crib, which could make transitioning easier eventually. Baby #4 and I still feel like a new mom in so many ways; proof that we block out those early, difficult days.
New Baby Stats at 3 weeks
7.8 lbs (25%)
19 inches (50%)
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5 comments:
She is really gorgeous! Good luck. Sleep is so hard - getting everyone to get it and the inevitable lack thereof. I don't envy you that, but I do envy you that perfect little newborn. :)
It always happens doesn't it that as soon as you declare something on your blog you have to eat your words :-)
Would absolutely love for you to link up at the new linky party - The Friday Baby Shower - for everything pregnancy and new baby. Old and new posts very welcome Alice @ Mums Make Lists
http://mumsmakelists.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-friday-baby-shower-linky-party-2.html
I feel silly offering suggestions to a mom with four kids compared to my four months of experience with only one, but there are two resources that really saved our lives during the newborn stage if you haven't heard of them already.
"The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp made all the difference in the world in getting Evelyn to calm down and sleep in the first months. The 5 S's worked magic on her. She still sleeps swaddled at 4.5 months, even though she hates the swaddle initially, because otherwise she'll wake herself up all night flailing.
The five universal "words" that newborns use is the other resource that I found really helpful- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv3-74EFtWQ. I watched this just before she was born and had a hard time distinguishing between the cries (having no experience with crying babies) so I forgot about it, but I watched it again when she was 3 months and I could totally hear the difference in the types of cries and what they meant. Made it a lot easier for me to figure out if she was hungry or tired or gassy.
I understand your no sleep pain! My first daughter never had any night time sleeping issues. She slept in her own bed from day 1 and would go right back down after a night time feeding. Not the case with my second daughter (who is now 3 months). She flat out refused to sleep in her bed. She would only sleep in our arms or in the swing. For the first 6 weeks of her life she pretty much just slept in the swing. By 8 weeks, she was doing most of her sleeping (at least at night) in her bed. I still let her nap a lot in the swing but at least now she will go in her bed. Do whatever you need to do to get your sleep. I wish I didn't stress out as much about her sleeping in the swing all the time.
Just had to look up your blog to see if you had the little one!!! :) Congrats . . . she is precious. You make beautiful little girls!!!
I hope she turns into one of those babies who start sleeping through the night at 6 weeks with no problems!!! Five kids, and I've never seen one of those . . . but we can still hope!!!
Congrats again . . .
Misty (from TMP!)
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