Update of sorts

[judecorp]

Did I ever update on my friend, Calliope? The one with the cancelled Shared IVF and the positive HepC test? Well, if I didn't, the long and short of it was: she got enough money to do the IVF, but her second HepC test came back positive, so she had to fly back home and find infectious disease doctors and wonder how she got HepC. They did a bazillion tests and they were all inconclusive, then finally had a definitive yes/no test and, get this, she does NOT have HepC! So she called the fertility clinic and they said they would still give her the discounted IVF, so she is currently taking Lupron and will have an egg retrieval in December. YAY! Thank you, everyone!

I feel like total crud today. I didn't get good sleep and I didn't eat much yesterday, so basically nothing is sitting well with me today. I thought it was just that the Thanksgiving leftovers I ate didn't agree with me, but we went to Bertucci's for dinner and that hasn't agreed with me either. I feel like it is still just sitting in my stomach, because I can still taste it. Even the salad. I mean, really - how can SALAD not agree with you? Bleh.

Punk is making me Lose. My. Mind. She is on a major sleep strike and she just gets so overtired and she screams and cries and arches her back to try to get out of my arms and it is just SO hard. I wish I had some sort of magic answer to all of this. I have tried every single possible thing to get her to sleep. I have rocked her, paci'd her, taken her to bed with me, fed her, swaddled her, unswaddled her, left her in the crib to try to work it out on her own, rubbed her back, patted her, sung to her... you name it. I hope she gets over this quickly.

Comments

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

I don't know if your washing machine is conducive to it, but I've heard of babies falling asleep on top of them because of the rhythmic vibrations or something... I'm sorry if that isn't helpful at all.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I think to put her on the washing machine I would have to put her in her car seat or something, and she won't sleep in those things (except in the car).

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh. Oh well.

I'm sorry. Good luck...

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew why she was refusing to go to sleep. At first I thought maybe I wasn't catching her in time, but I keep bumping her nap times earlier and earlier (and starting at the first possible hint of a yawn or an eye rub) and then she just fights 10 times harder.

Sigh.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

It's progressively getting worse, and I'm hoping she just kind of gets over it. She seems just too freaking busy to sleep. I mean, she gets so freaking tired and she fights it SO hard. She used to fight it during the day but be easy to get to sleep at night. Now she is starting to punk out at night, too! Argh!!!

I might even be tempted to CIO but she is a total cry-escalator and the longer she is allowed to fuss, the more stressed out she gets. And then she becomes a major puke factory!

[ladygreyy.livejournal.com]

Oh I was wondering!!! Thanks for the update, that has to be so so frustrating for her.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

[violane.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the sleep stuff. Don't you wish you could reason with them?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I try! Sometimes I just say to her, "Come on, you are SO TIRED."

Inevitably that is around the time she gets her second wind and is all, "No I'm not!"

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

thank you for the update on your friend. sorry to hear about punk's sleep issues.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I wish she would just go to sleep!!!

[rockymtnhigh.livejournal.com]

hey, have you tried the Miracle Blanket? And if so and it's not working anymore, would you be willing to re-sell it/them? :-)

I'd send you some Ambien for the baby, but I bet that's frowned upon, huh? Good luck figuring her out!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

We bought a Miracle Blanket a while back, and it was not a miracle for us. But sadly I already sold it to someone else (who really likes it!). Sorry!

I think I will just slip her some booze.

[skatured.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could get someone else to watch her for a little while to get some perspective on it? Wouldn't it be great if babies could tell us what's wrong? Things would be so much easier!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Do you want to know what's worse? Other people (including Jen) have a harder time getting her to sleep than I do! With other people, it's out of control bad (sobbing, screaming, etc.). I wish she would just have a nice, rational chat about it. :)

[fatfeistyfemme.livejournal.com]

That sounds hard. :( I hope you're also taking good care of yourself. xoxoxox and sleepy thoughts for cute babies.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Please send the sandman to our house!

[katishna.livejournal.com]

Gah, on the sleep. :( Evan would only nap in the car for the first two years of his life (thank goodness he'd sleep at night in his crib). I know most of Columbus like the back of my hand after endless days of driving for 2-4 hours. TOo bad gas prices suck so bad right now, Laurie's a good car napper too.

Here's hoping it works itself out SOON.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Gus will sleep in the car, too - but I haven't gotten to the point where I go drive somewhere just to get her to sleep. I guess in some ways I would feel like she "won." ;) Although if I get really desperate, it is definitely there as an option.

She usually will sleep pretty well at night (although lately she's been fighting bedtime more, but she's so tired it doesn't last long) with a couple of wake-ups, so at least there is that.

And yeah, the gas costs would KILL.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Sorry that your stomach is upset and the kiddo is having such a hard time sleeping. That stinks. I would second the comment that someone else made about making sure you get an hour or two to yourself regularly. You need to breath and think once in a while.

I suppose it could also be proto-teething making her miserable. Would it be worth while to get some rub-on gum soothing stuff to try?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I think the teething makes her miserable sometimes but it shouldn't be continuous like this... and she's so damned smiley the times when I'm NOT trying to get her to sleep. ;) I think she's just ridiculously distracted and too excited to sleep. To get her to sleep I practically have to cover her with my head so that she can't see anything but my close-up head, because otherwise she will start craning her neck to see ANYTHING - the wall, the sunlight, a blanket, her hand...

Time to myself? HA! What is that? I have been out of the house sans baby maybe five times total - and three of those times were for groceries and one time was a church meeting. ;)

[(Anonymous)]

sounds like you have tried lots of things and lots of other things have been suggested here, so i have nothing extra to add...except support as we are right there with you some days and some nights. J&T have their sleep challenges, too. and i also have times of feeling like i am going mad and want to throw said child right out of the proverbial window! also, it can be harder for the mom who stays home, as the other one "gets" to go to work and at least have some sort of break. any local folks who could babysit and give you and jen a date night out? thinking of you! chris

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I think it is definitely harder to be the one at home, especially because most of the drama involves naptime when I am here alone! (Although I do all of the baby-putting-to-bed, so even on weekends it still ends up being all me.)

Right now I'm not comfortable with a babysitter because she won't sleep for anyone but me. And maybe I could get the baby to bed and then we could slip out for an hour or two, because it's going down for the night that takes work, the wake-ups are easy (I should knock on some wood here)... we'll have to see.

Right now I'm too wrapped up in this hip business...

[calliopeblogger.livejournal.com]

you made me feel like SUCH a rock stare, Jude.
I honestly would not be able to be moving forward if it weren't for you & all of the people you sent my way to help.

And I am so sorry the Punk is being such a Punk. Is it too early to spike the punch?? I kid, I kid. Seriously- I hope you guys can get a break soon.

xo
Cali

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Dude! You ARE a rock star!! You are like the keystone of the IVP!!

I am so slipping her booze soon. Do you think it would make the milk taste badly? ;)

[rizzo41.livejournal.com]

That back arch thing is SO annoying. My nephew was king of that. I used to think "You're six months old! Where did you learn to be obnoxious!" I think that's when I stopped holding babies. I'm sorry I have no words of encouragement other than she'll stop doing that once she's too big to hold..

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha, I can totally imagine her arching her back as she walks down the street! ;)

Seriously, though, I'm hoping it's just that she has discovered arching her back and once the novelty has worn off, she will stop being such a little turd about it. ;) Because I seriously thought that kids did that back-arching thing when they are like 1 and they want to be turds!

[rizzo41.livejournal.com]

Maybe she's just a fast learner. I'm sorry, but of the four people I have known since birth none of them grew out of it until you couldn't pick them up anymore. All you can do is hope all her babies do it back to her.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, of course she is a fast learner, she's my kid! ;)

And yeah, I don't really see it going away any time soon, but I can hope!!!