My baby is 4 ½ months old today! What that also means is I have not slept for 134 days straight! With Oliver sleeping for the last couple of weeks through the night, I should not be at 134 days… WTH? Seriously WTF? OMG! Not ROFLMAO! I have been begging my new born to sleep and when he finally does, I cannot!
In the beginning… I was so amazed at how I would naturally wake up a few minutes before Oliver would for feedings. It was almost as if Nature knew I needed to use the bathroom and have a drink of water before I settled in for what sometimes would be a 45 minute nursing session. I would sit there trying not to fall asleep on him and dream of the time when I would not have to get up 2 or 3 times at night to nurse my sweet ravenous new born.
Then all of the sudden the night came when he didn’t wake up for his feeding. I stared at the monitor in disbelief… all night long! Finally at 5 he woke up. I fed him and we both went back to sleep. This cycle continued for a couple of nights before I learned a whole new level of sleep deprivation. I also quickly learned two more things. 1. He was finally sleeping through the night! 2. I only managed to fall asleep after nursing him.
That’s when I got the bright idea to let him stay up a little longer, going from 7:30-9:30pm, and then nursing him so we both go to bed at the same time. That failed miserably. Yet again I found myself lying in bed staring at the ceiling, then the monitor, then the clock and loosing my mind simultaneously.
Time for Plan B: Put him to bed on his normal schedule (7:30pm) then dream feed him before I go to bed (11-12pm.) This worked, I would fall to sleep right after the feed. I could tell it had something to do with me empting my breast, which somehow confused my natural clock. But, for some reason this also made him stop sleeping through the night, he would be up 3 hours later ready to eat! OMG! WTH? Still not LOL! Ok maybe a little LOL from hysteria.
Plan C: I am just letting him sleep and wake on his own natural schedule. His sleep is the most important thing. Besides, somehow I am still functioning on 134 days with little sleep. Oliver goes one day with little sleep, and all baby hell breaks loose!
I asked a good Mommy friend of mine why she thought I could not sleep. She said I just was not use to sleep. My body is acclimated to Ollie’s crazy up and down schedule and it is just going to take time to readjust. Unfortunately, I think she is spot on.
I have learned through all of this, Nature knows what it’s doing. I do not. At least I see the progression of Oliver’s sleeping schedule, going from 2hour stretches to 8hours at best. I suppose one day, hopefully soon, Oliver and I will BOTH sleep through the night…
Katie... You asked and here you go. More Photos of Ollie...
Katie... You asked and here you go. More Photos of Ollie...
