The difference a day makes

[judecorp]

So today is a totally new day. It's amazing.

Gus had her scream-out at around 6:00 last night instead of midnight, when we were both awake and up for bouncing and rocking. After she got her scream on, she was everyone's favorite little baby and she went to bed around 11pm. Up at 1, up at 4, up at 7... but hey, I'll take it. She also slept most of today but for whatever reason has decided that today she is content to sleep in things (bouncy seat, pack and play) instead of just on a person (i.e. me) so I have been able to do a lot of laundry and run the bottles through the sterilizer so I can fill then up again.

My smurfbrother and SIL were in town for the weekend and it was hecka sad to see them go. I like spending time with them so much, and they were so in love with the baby, so that's fun. I can't wait until they have their own baby and I can fall in love with that baby, too! I just hope we didn't scare them away with a weekend of fussing and poop.

We finally ran out of newborn diapers (how we stuffed a 5-week-old baby into newborn diapers is amazing) and were able to break into the cloth stash. YAY! Fuzzy-butt baby! She has rejoiced in this by pooping in the last eight diapers in a row. I'm not even kidding. She has pooped EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. She has never done this. I take this to mean that she approves (or that the diapers are pushing on her guts, heh).

Today is a good day.

~//~

Thanks to everyone for your sympathies and suggestions. The suggestion to sleep/nurse is a good one except for the fact that I don't make enough milk to exclusively nurse for a feeding. She nurses for about five minutes, sucks the half-ounce or so of milk out, and then I need to heat up and feed her a bottle. So I can't really just pull her into bed and drift off, because the bottle stuff takes work. But it's yet another reason why I wish I could nurse!

I think now that she isn't waking up every two hours or so, my supply is starting to drop off. SAD. She still wants the boob, though, so I can at least dig that.

Comments

[mermil.livejournal.com]

There is nothing quite like the psychosis of sleep deprivation, is there? At two in the morning last night I finally got Nicholas to sleep in his bassinet, and found myself wide wide awake. When a baby's cry yanks you out of sleep, it takes so much effort to shake yourself awake that it's hard to go back to bed. I have heard it gets easier, and every time we get our baby to sleep three hours in a row, it's like a slice of heaven. I can only assume it gets better.

For now, I make us go for walks outside during the day and regain a little sanity in the fresh air, even if it makes the boy doze off. Dude, how exactly does one KEEP an infant awake, I ask you, anyway? Sometimes you just have to do what makes you happy and just take the baby along for a ride.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

If my baby tries to fall asleep when I don't want her to, I go change her diaper (we use cloth and she pees probably every 20 mins so it could always use a changing). That usually never fails to wake her up. Like today she was dozing off while nursing, so I got up and changed her diaper, and she woke up and then stayed awake for over an hour. We're trying to put her days and nights where they're supposed to be so she needs to be awake more during the day rather than at night, so I try to not let her sleep for too long (2 hours but not 4) during the day too.

Another way to wake her up is to put her down on her back. She hates to sleep on her back and will wake up soon if not immediately. (she usually sleeps in the crook of my arm or on my chest, at night)

[mollysummer72.livejournal.com]

hey, I don't want to be preachy. But I got this book, and it literally changed my life wrt to sleep and babies. I mean, changed my life. So let me know if you're interested, I'm sure you have people on all sides of you all in your ear about how to get her to sleep. But what we do works for us, and worked for the last one, and I love love LOVE being able to depend on him to sleep.

[kivioq.livejournal.com]

just curious what the book is, since i'm going to be dealing with these issues one day and like stockpiling books that come highly recommended.

[(Anonymous)]

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Mostly the part we took and used from the book is how to put the baby down AS SOON AS they start to yawn, and the author goes into great detail on the science of sleep in kids and how they need to recharge after an hour to 2 hours awake. So when we started doing that, he started going to sleep on his own. When he is overtired, if we miss his cues or keep him up too long, that's when he cries and won't fall asleep without a whole lot of holding and feeding and walking and jiggling.

[kivioq.livejournal.com]

thanks so much! the book and ideas sound great.

[kjames.livejournal.com]

my friends were just talking about these bottles that they took to china with them when they went to adopt their daughter. they have a space in the top the bends that you put the formula in, then water in the bottem. when you need it, you just turn the top, it dumps the formula in, and you shake it up! they said it was a lifesaver for sleep-deprived feedings. :)

anyway, i emailed her and she gave me the link:
http://www.umix.com/Umix_Travel_Bottle.html

[estrange.livejournal.com]

Glad things are better now! My Bradley method coach told us that with a newborn going poop 10 times in one day or 1 times in 10 days is normal!! At least you aren't having constipation problems anyway like Maia is!

[(Anonymous)]

I was just wondering earlier today what the status was on the cloth-diapering! You had not yet mentioned it and so I was thinking that it either didn't go over well at all and you guys gave up or you had it down and didn't think to talk about it! I want to try cloth diapers or gdiapers and I would love to hear how your cloth d's are working for you! Write a blog about it sometime. :)

-Lynn

[(Anonymous)]

we gradually lowered the temp of the bottle that we were feeding Julia until she took her bottle cold. (eventually she got to where she would take that bottle whatever temperature it happened it be). So, each night we would make up the night's bottles, chill them, and put them in an insulated lunchbag with some icepacks. Then, when she would wake in the night, we'd just grab a cold bottle out of the bag. This was handy both for when we were sleeping with her out in the club chair in the living room (for the first 4 months -- it was hell) and for when we would bring her to our bed and lay her in the boppie. We always stayed awake while she ate the bottle (to hold her close to us, semi-upright, and to burp her later) but it was much less disruption to the night than having to let her cry while heating up a bottle in the kitchen. This way we didn't even have to turn up the lights...

Trista
http://anaccidentofhope.wordpress.com

[hilarina.livejournal.com]

i think that is so cute that you call her "Gus".

reminds me of queer as folk with that baby Gus.