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...
9 comments:
What gorgeous chubby legs. (Don't you just want to nibble on every little dimpled limb they have?)
Also, I'm glad to see that like everyone else on Earth, you own the same playmat as us!
Firstly he's such a cutie! Secondly I remember when Sam started sleeping through and I was the same, adding to my to-do-list , while he slept soundly. You do make me laugh with the waking just before he does. Up until amber came along I would do the Sam, I would wake up and within minutes Sam would start crying, because he fell out of bed or he had growing pains ( oh yeah when this happens it's not fun you have a child in pain and there is f all you can do to make it better) and now with the two the tag team night can be the most interesting, only had the joy once but we are only 4months in.
Want to? I do! I nibble on my son like a five course meal!! He's a tasty lil fellow with his big chubby legs, arms and face!
Claire!! Xxxxx.
Thank you, he is awesome! Oh I can't think of growing pains yet... Poor guys!
Thank you, you just reminded me I could have two lil ones to get through the night. Scary.
Xx
He is adorable! Rebecca is approximately the same age as him. She is four months and three weeks. (Corrected from her due date of Jan 25th) If sleeping better for you has to do with feeding him, you may just want to do a quick pump before going to bed. Or if you wake up in the night and can't get back to sleep, pump for 10 minutes or until you get drowsy. It might work, and having a little extra breast milk around is never a bad thing.
Tasha thank you for this comment. I have it in my mind that I need to pump all or none. 10 minutes would probably be just what I need. One night I did pump, then Ollie woke up an hour later. I ended up nursing him for an hour since my milk supply was still not replenished. Like you said a little extra is not a bad thing, so I didn't want to warm the bottle I pumped. An extra bottle is a ticket to extended freedom!
Since Rebecca is the same age, are you having trouble with sleeping as well?
Oh, be careful pumping for only 10 minutes!!! When you don't empty your breast the entire way and then go to sleep, you run a high chance of getting a clogged milk duct. I have gotten this three times. The first, my daughter woke up in the middle of the night and then fell asleep within minutes of latching on. The second, I decided to stop pumping shortly after I began because I was so tired. The third (and by far the worst) was another wake and fall asleep episode. By morning, half of my breast was ROCK HARD and extremely painful. Nursing alone did not release the clog and I had to alternate applying heat and massaging my breast. Not fun. I'm lucky that it only lasted two days and didn't turn into mastitis. From what I hear, that is a horrible experience.
If you ever have ANY breast feeding issues or have a question, call your local La Leche League. Every time that I have called, they have been wonderful and very informative.
Hahaha I had the same problem! If it's any consolation, it'd probably be easier to not get back into a decent sleeping routine - that way, when baby's schedule gets upset (after vaccinations for example) it's not such a shock to the system to get up for midnight feeds!
OMG So cute!! Look at his rolly polly legs! Love it!
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