Man was last night rough. But lucky for me I have Bj, otherwise I'm sure I would have propped Tuesday in front of the television right now with a TV dinner and said, "Fend for yourself." Okay maybe not, but I was very tired after multiple night wakings. Bj was lovely and got her early this morning so I could sleep. And when he brought her to me so she could have breakfast I laid her next to me and we snoozed until a quarter to eleven. Very nice. Still it didn't get me caught up enough, so I'm headed to bed soon. Tuesday is already asleep.
Bj and I laid in the sun with Tuesday so she could look at the trees and we talked about what to do about it. We read the last little bit of The No Cry Sleep Solution, the part where she asks if you're about to go mad from lack of sleep. We decided that we were not trying hard enough to get her down with out nursing (which I think is why she wakes up in the night, looking for more milky and is all confused that it's not right there). So Bj and I took turns tonight rocking, singing, patting and loving her. Finally I got her to sleep by telling her about a story about a little girl the size of a grain of rice who lived in a little tree that grew on a bigger tree in the middle of a narrow stream. Now nothing in any book I've read said anything about telling your baby a story about a little girl the size of a grain of rice, so I'm thinking maybe they don't have it all figured out. We were talking about the things we're learning with Tuesday, and one thing I am learning is to trust myself. I've always wanted to be a mother, and I think I need to draw on those feelings more, the feelings that I'm meant to be her mother and that I will do the right things by her if I listen to myself. We'll see if this works, I'm sure hoping that it does, and that I have the strength in the middle of the night to pace the floor with her instead of automatically offering up some milky.*
Once I did get out the door with Tuesday today we headed downtown to meet my dad at his 295 Church project – a cool bunch of new condos "in the heart of the city." π
You might remember when I took pictures from the lot to showcase what the future views would be. My dad wants some photos from around the city to frame up for the hallways so we walked around town and I snapped some.
It was fun to be a tourist in my own city.
It was also fun to see my dad push around the carriage.
Nice calves dad. π
We ran into my brother so I had to get them together for a shot. Of course they both make crazy faces, no surprise, but this is pretty tame – I think it's a keeper!
*She has woken once since I started writing this, but was easily coaxed back to sleep with a little rocking.
Nice pics of the city… who knew we had so much color!
Way to trust your instincts!
More power to you on those night shifts! I would try and try to offer a ‘snack’ as a last resort….but after week 2 and me feeling even more tired, and all of us even more cranky, we went back to the snack method of returning to sleep. *lol* Maybe thats why the last child was totally a cosleeper.
You are right – follow your instincts. Books and friends are great for tips and advice – but they aren’t you or your family. π Also just keep in mind that the first year is hectic with any baby – every week something new is happening with them, for them – it is really hard to keep any kind of set-in-stone schedule. Yarn, coffee, chocolate and a little sleep – does wonders for mommies. π
PS Great photos!
oooh, there’s that stationary store i spied on sunday! π
nice pictures! and totally cute picture of your dad pushing the carriage.
good luck amber…i agree, trust your instincts.
you all will get this sleep thing figured out soon. i have faith! π
We used “On Becoming Babywise” by Ezzo. My daughter is 9 months old, takes 2-3 one hour naps and sleeps 12 hours through the night. (7-7) She has slept through the night since she was 12 weeks old, probably would have at 6 weeks but I was still waking her up for a night feeding. This book saved my sanity. It is just a feeding/sleeping schedule. Also, if you use this book, you do have to let them “cry themselves to sleep” BUT, we found that five minutes felt like forever so we would actually time her. Put her down, time her for 5, 10, 15 minutes, whichever you feel comfortable with. If she was still crying I would pick her up and pat her back for about 1 minute then put her down again. She now cries from the time I pull her off my hip until she is laying down in her crib. (maybe 15 seconds) I have found that it also helps to remove myself from the room. If she sees me, she freaks out. Hope this helps. I’m not trying to sound preachy, I just can’t imagine not getting any sleep. Good luck!
Kate
I’ve heard of this book, but because Tuesday is so petite, I worry about holding off to feed her when she is hungry. I might have to check it out from the library though, if things don’t get better.
Every mom/baby are different and nothing ever works the same for everyone. So you are right, you are her mom and you will know what works best for you. Brice is 13 months now, and still wakes 1-2 times a night and is ADIMATE that he has “boob”. So I oblige. We’re done in a minute or two and he’s off to sleep again. Of course i’d like a full nights sleep, but it gets better and better with each month that passes (it use to be every 2 hours!). From what I can tell, some babies are just that way. While I don’t want to indulge him, I also want to make sure he feels loved and cared for in the dark of night. So it works for us. For now.
Our daughter was 6 lbs when she was born. I think she was about 5 1/2 lbs when we brought her home from the hospital. She is now 9.5 months and 19 lbs 13 oz! When she came home, she was crazy-small so I totally was with you on the hunger issue but her sleep = my sanity so I tried Babywise and it worked for us. I couldn’t do anything if I wasn’t getting enough sleep. You seem to be doing ok, you are still creating beautiful pieces of art! I hope you find something that works!