Calling all Mommas

HELP! Emergency Posting!! Lorelei is almost 12 weeks old and we are having terrible sleeping problems. If you have any suggestions for what we might try--please let me know! I am desperate. Here is the story...

I thought the magic number was 8. 8 weeks and they should be able to "sleep through the night." Atleast this is what Babywise book tells me. I have a love-hate relationship with the Babywise book. I love it because it answers most all of my questions, but I hate it because it makes me feel like I am doing something wrong because my baby is not sleeping through the night. I am following the guidelines...eat, awake/play, sleep, repeat. So according to this book, she should drop the nighttime feeding and sleep 8 hours or more. Then at 3 months (almost there!) she SHOULD sleep 10-12 hours at night. WHOA! We are not even close. Let me explain what is happening with my dear child....

Let's start with the good part of the day. Wakes around 6am to eat. Eats and goes back to sleep. However, at this point, I am so tired of being up all night and don't have energy to deal with her crying in the crib so I put her in bed with me. I set an alarm to get up at 8:30 for the first daytime feeding. Eats, plays, nap between 9:30-10am. Now this is when she will sleep 2-3 hours. I do not wake her from this nap.*** She wakes up around 12:30-1pm and eats again. The afternoons vary from day to day because this is when we run errands. So she cat naps in the afternoons. A little in the car, a little while she is in the sling and we are at the store, etc. I start the bedtime routine around 6 or 6:30. It takes up to 2 hours to go through the routine and get her to sleep. So I start early. Bath, baby massage, singing and rocking, eating, bed. She usually falls asleep sometime around 8. Sometimes she just falls asleep and other times she crys for a while and I have to keep going in there. IMPORTANT NOTE: She sleeps with her pacifier. ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: She HATES to sleep on her back. She has reflux so I suspect it has something to do with this. So, she has been sleeping in the portable swing (which I placed inside the crib so atleast she is sorta in her crib!) on her side. Bad habit, yes. Sanity saver, yes. Well I wouldn't say it has completely saved my sanity because we haven't gotten to the worst of it...

Then, she falls asleep.** After falling asleep... i t b e g i n s. She is up every hour or two, sometimes more than once an hour--fussing. Usually because she dropped her pacifier. So I go in and give it to her and then climb back in my bed. Then she knows that my head hits the pillow, drops her pacifier again, and fusses again. Repeat. ALL NIGHT LONG. I think she drops it. Other times she squirms around like she isn't comfortable so maybe that is why she is waking up.

Now, Babywise suggests that it takes several days to break a sleep habit, such as a middle of the night feeding. A few weeks ago she was not doing this waking every hour thing. A few weeks ago we were doing a much later bedtime (which I promptly changed to an early bedtime after reading my new book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child."). So I was doing the last feeding around 8-9pm and then bed around 10:30. She was waking around 3am to eat, but at the "magic 8 weeks" I realized this may be out of habit so I eliminated the 3am feeding. I toughed it out several days thinking we were so close to sleeping through the night. But then this every hour thing started. Well, I would much rather do a middle of the night feeding then wake every hour all night.

Obviously, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different/better results is not going to work. So we are trying new things. Open to suggestions :) Today, the new thing is feeding more during the day. I wonder if she is not getting enough to eat during the day. She has 5 feedings a day (early am, 8:30, 1:00, 4:30, 7:00). I was giving 4 oz. at feedings and 6 oz. at bedtime. Except when I nurse her at the early am feeding. So that is only like 20 oz. a day maybe. So today I am giving 5 oz. at each feeding and a little more at bedtime. We will see.


Footnote:
***I do not wake her because according to "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child," it says that the better they sleep during the day for naps, the better their nighttime sleep will be. This is opposite of what Babywise suggests, in that you should wake her to eat.
**I should mention that I swaddle her. I have tried not swaddling her or leaving one arm out because lately she sucks on her fist, however she is a complete spaz and cannot control her arms. She flails them all around while she is trying to get herself to sleep.

Next Blog Please

I have a confession. I decided to confess because I was sitting here getting wrapped up in what I am about to confess so I decided if I blogged about it, I could pull myself away from all the .blogspots and go to bed.

My confession is as follows: I could sit for hours and hours reading strangers blogs. I recently discovered the nifty "next blog" tab on the top of the page, which takes you to a random person's blog. How fun is that! Just peeking into people's lives. Oh dear, that sounds stalker-ish. But really, I must find a way not to get carried away looking at random blogs. I guess I am just nosey like that. Oh well, atleast I will have something very entertaining to do if I ever get really bored. Which is an unlikely occurrence when you have a baby at home :)

End of confession. Time for bed.

Precious Face

How can you not have a good day when you have this precious face with you? This morning she was wearing a smock dress and her "jacki" that my Nana (her great Nana) sent to her! Who knows why they call it a "jacki," but it is stinkin cute!

Random thought--any blogger friends know how to make my top banner/header bigger?? I was in the middle of coming up with new designs for the blog and now I am stuck because I can't seem to find the html code to do this...help! Anyone?

Under Construction

Working on my blog to find the perfect background, header, and fonts! Check back soon for a cute new look!

The Simple Life

I tend to over complicate MY life. I love details and can get caught up in them. However, I do know how to find simple solutions and I can see when complicated things are not working, you must go back to the basics. Start fresh. Make things easy on people so that they can be challenged in ways they need to be, not in ways that just waste time. (And I don't over complicate other people's lives...just my own :) )

Ok, enough with my rant. There is a hidden message in all that...but I dare not state what that rant is really about...

But truthfully, I have been thinking a lot lately about the simple life. When I see girls out around town with their sorority shirts on, I remember those days...those easy days. Now at the time, I didn't think that keeping a 4.0 and being involved in sorority life was simple. At the time, it was stressful. So much fun, but challenging. So when I see those girls today, I miss those days. And when Rob and I drove by the apartment complex where we lived when we were first married, we said that we missed those simple days. Rob was in nursing school and not working, I was working, we had a little apartment, and two dogs. That was it!! The end! No house to keep up with, no "real" jobs, and no little person! But then I think about all that Rob and I aspire for. He will be a CRNA and I will be a stay at home mom keeping up with lots of little people! Life will be more complicated. So I realize, THESE are the simple days. One little house, two jobs, two dogs, & one precious little baby. Easy cheesy!! (No, not easy at all...being a mom is the most difficult, but also the most wonderful, job in the world.) Now, when we see college kids out, or our old apartment, or even think back to what life was like a few months ago before Lorelei, we won't miss those days because we are so blessed to have all that we have, and one day, we will think back and realize RIGHT NOW is the simple life!

Dear Little Baby

Dear Lorelei,

Happy 2 month birthday!! This past month has been so much fun, watching you change and grow so quickly! In the past month, you have had your Nana come to visit you, had your first professional photo shoot (which you cried most of), taken your first trip to Dallas to see your Mimi and G-daddy, sat for the first time in your swing and Bumbo seat, smiled for the first time, started cooing and "talking," met your Grandad and Grandma Cathy, slept in your crib for the first time, outgrew your Miracle Swaddling Blanket (not to worry-we promptly purchased a bigger swaddling blanket), went to your first night at Parent's Night Out, moved up to size 1 diapers from Newborn, & had your first Halloween. That's a lot of new things in one month!!

Yesterday you went to your 2 month doctor appointment. You were 12 lbs. and 24.4 inches long! That is one long little baby!! You had to get several vaccines and it was so sad to see you so upset! Your legs are still very sore from the shots so we are giving you baby tylenol around the clock to keep you comfortable. The doctor also gave us some medicine for your reflux. So far it has really helped with your spitting up and fussy times.

In the upcoming month you will continue to have lots of firsts! We will be taking your first plane ride, first Thanksgiving, and you will have your first day at daycare. Mommy is very sad about your first day at daycare, but I know that it will make the afternoons when I pick you up that much sweeter. Daddy will stay home with you two days a week, so you will only be going to day care three days a week.

We learn more and more about you each day. While I thought that I would never be able to distinguish your cries, it is now so natural to know what you need just by listening to your cry. You really don't cry very much, which is a great blessing! You are such a good & sweet baby and we are enjoying this time with you so much. You love bath time, and after your bath each morning we spend time singing and reading in the glider in your room. This is my most favorite time of the day. You also have really started looking around, whether we are at the store, or you are in your crib looking at your toys--I love that everything is so new to you and you are enjoying learning about all of it!

When I get sad about you growing so quickly, I remember to be thankful that you are growing and healthy. God has blessed us with you and we thank Him for you each day.

We love you to the moon & back, angel baby!

Love,
Momma and Daddy

Pictures from 1 month-2 months:

Sweet November

I can't believe it is already November!! Fall is flying by, which is really too bad because it is my favorite time of year. The anticipation of the upcoming holidays, cooler weather, pretty leaves (not too much in Lubbock), football, and fires in the fireplace. Oh, and this year-Lorelei & maternity leave. Which makes Fall even better :)

Halloween weekend Rob's Dad and stepmom, Cathy came for a visit! It was the first time they got to meet Lorelei! We were so thankful that they made the long drive to visit.

I have started my Christmas shopping and gotten our stockings embroidered with our names! Funny thing about my stockings. When Rob and I first got married I had the idea that I wanted our family stockings to match. You know, how you see in Pottery Barn where all family members have the same or coordinating stockings. Well, I wasn't sure how to accomplish this since I didn't want to buy new stockings every time we had another baby, and I was certain a stocking pattern wouldn't be around each time we had a new baby. So, being the crazy planner that I am, I pre-purchased stockings for our family. Mind you this was before we had any babies. So, we had talked about wanting maybe 4 kids, so I bought 6 stockings from Pottery Barn Kids. We have a Santa, snowman, train, Christmas tree, and 2 others I can't think of right now. So this year is the BIG year for stockings! Rob decided to be Santa and I am the Christmas tree. Lorelei is the snowman snowgirl. When I went to the attic to get the stockings this year Rob asked how many more kids we could have. 1 is here, 3 to go. 4 stockings. No more, no less. So there you have it. My crazy and controlling stocking story. So you can call me nuts, but I will be the one with a fireplace full of perfectly coordinating stockings when my family is complete :)

Later this month we are going to visit Chicago! This will be the first time that Natalie and Melanie get to meet their little niece!! We plan to visit the Shedd aquarium and visit downtown while we are there! Last time we stayed up in Lake Forest at my parent's and didn't venture downtown. This time Natalie has agreed to be our tour guide :)

Lorelei had her first sit in her Bumbo seat this weekend. I took a few pictures and then decided to video her. The video is below. By the time we started videoing, the newness had worn off and she was pretty much tired of holding her head up!!

An Art Project

Okay, well it is not REALLY an art project...but my little friend and I made a Christmas ornament with her handprint impression on it. However, I really wasn't thinking when I decided to buy it because when I went to actually do the print, I realized that babies don't really spread their fingers out!! What was I thinking? A footprint would have been much easier, but I was determined to do a handprint. So, it took me numerous times of rolling out the molding and then attempting to spread her fingers out and smooch her hand down before I got an impression I was happy with. Then, I got so excited that it turned out, I took a picture of L and her first art project! It is currently in the drying stage and once it is dry I will add the ribbon.

As you might guess, she was exhausted after our big project. Hey, having mom smooch your hand down over and over until it was just perfect was hard work! So, right after we finished, Lorelei got into her burrito and took a nap in her swing. Here she is, clearly very ready to be left alone and go to sleep!