Sleep, Magical Sleep (Week 11, Day 1& 2)

It happened! The magical sleep has arrived, at least for one night!! 

Saturday we spent the morning at brunch with the girls (because Maddy just loves brunch and girl time) and then a trip to the suburbs to see the grandparents. We planned to come back to the city before dinner, so we could put Maddy to bed at a reasonable hour and watch the Blackhawks game. Maddy fell asleep on the car ride home, giving us a chance to make a quick grocery run. When she woke up, we changed her, fed her and put her to bed, and over SEVEN hours later she woke up. SEVEN. You read that correctly. I couldn't believe it. I almost didn't know what to do with myself - I felt like I should stay up and make up all that extra time I spent sleeping as a celebration! I don't want to be overly optimistic that this will now become a routine quite yet, so right now I will sit and bask in the 3AM glory of knowing that these longer sleeps are possible, and are slowly but surely becoming a reality.

Making Mommy's Night

Fuss Buckets and Rainy Day Blues (Week 7, Day 4)

The forecast in Chicago is showing rain and thunderstorms for the next three days, really cramping our outdoor adventure style. Today we spend the morning recovering from the long weekend and Roadtrip (aka napping) and going to the regularly scheduled new mom support group. As always, it's comforting to hear the other new moms questions, and know that we are all struggling to figure out the nuances of our little people. Many of the moms have become friends, and I have play dates with a few later in the week.

Madeline is now past the "peak" fussy stage that occurs at four to six weeks, with just a residual 30 minutes of her fuss bucket time happening at the end of each day. I've been working to follow the sleep doctor's advice, and begin to look for signs of "bedtime" behaviors from my babe starting between five and seven. Each night, I get her changed into jammies, swaddle her up, and go through my small repertoire of songs to put her to sleep. All of this works like a charm, with her nodding off somewhere between "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "You are My Sunshine". However, each time I put Maddy down in the crib during this witching hour, she inevitably wakes right up and begins to cry. As she is not a terribly fussy child, this can be very frustrating. The only cure I can find is for her to sleep ON me - literally wrapped around me with her head nestled into my chest.

I can't say I mind this position all that much - any parent will tell you it is the best feeling in the world to have a baby cuddle on your chest, and they would be right. The serenity on an infants face, their deep satisfying breaths and sighs, and their changing expressions as they dream provide a soothing effect to even the most stressed out person. The only downside - the position very much restricts you from doing just about anything else - no laundry, no dishes, no making dinner (or eating it either). The only other feat I'm capable of is perhaps writing this wildly entertaining blog on my smart phone :)

I know that soon enough, she'll be too big to sleep on my stomach all cuddly and close. And I'll miss her head on my chest, her heartbeat so close to mine. These quiet moments together will be fleeting, and soon enough she'll be a teenager and not want me in her room at all. So for now, I let the dishes pile up, the laundry go unwashed, and leave the dinner plans to the husband. And I sit and enjoy some quality time with my darling little girl.

The Battle of the Fuss Bucket

The Magical Sixth Week (Week 6, Day 5)

From the first day at the New Moms Support Group, the doctor has talked about this magical time in week six of a child's development in which they begin to distinguish day from night, and develop circadian rhythms - the nervous systems "urge to sleep". The doctor basically said babies will begin a fussy period from four to six weeks of age, and then at six weeks begin shows signs of wanting to go to bed at night, and longer intervals of sleep.

Phil and I have been counting down the days until this monumental occurrence, and here we are, smack dab in week six. And nothing. Okay, not nothing, but no fairy tale land of a non fussy baby blissfully dozing off to sleep at 6 and sleeping for a good six hours. My little munchkin is still wailing every evening in pure fussiness, and seems to be holding on for dear life to her 2 hour sleep interval schedule. Sure, she'll give me a 3 hour stretch here or there, but I'm not quite jumping for joy with the added continuous zz's yet.

And so we wait, like Cinderella waiting for Prince Charming, we wait for our beautiful sleep to arrive.

The elusive sleep

Teenage Drama Prequel (Week 4)

Day 1 -7: 

Week four is similar to week three - I’m feeling more confident in my mothering abilites every day, and getting out of the house as much as possible in between feedings. The daily walks are doing my brain, and my post delivery body good, and the utter exhaustion that comes with a baby that wakes up every two hours round the clock settles into a more normal tired state.

I am grateful that at the two week pediatrician appointment, the doctor highlights two key things that will come into play this week:

1) Many babies will become much more fussy at 4-6 weeks of age, until they begin to have circadian sleep rhythms, and

2) Many babies will experience ‘baby acne’ at 4 - 8 weeks of age

It's important that we are aware of this information, because on the first day of her 4th week, both arrive like clockwork. All moms talk of a "witching hour" - a time of the day where their children transform from contented mini people to inconsolable balls of tears. This is mainly because their body's nervous system is developing, and is in the process of correctly "wiring" the baby to have the urge to sleep at night. Maddy seems fine all day, and at five o'clock, without fail, will begin to wail, and no amount of soothing, diaper changing or nursing will console her. As the doctors say this will last until she is six weeks, we begin counting down the days. The good news - supposedly after 6 weeks, babies will begin to have the urge to go to bed at night, and begin sleeping longer intervals at a time. Another important reason to begin counting down the days.

As far the acne, it too arrives like clockwork. One morning the smooth, perfect baby complexion is replaced with that of a teenager with a serious acne issue. This shouldn't seem like a big deal, however my worried mom brain goes into overdrive, and in my head I'm diving back in my teenage years, when I WAS that teenager with the serious acne issue. I didn't have the normal teenage acne - a few pimples here and there, embarrassing but manageable. I had the full fledged face encompassing acne that could not be controlled or hidden under any layer of makeup. The kind that caused cruel kids to have just the angle they needed for torment. I distinctly remember one such peer persuading a foreign exchange student to ask me if I had chicken pox as a prank. While the ridicule and torment I suffered helped me to develop a thick skin and taught me a valuable lesson in compassion, it wasn't a joy to endure at the time.

Seeing this baby acne on my beautiful little girl, I'm reminded (and worried) that like it or not, she may inherit some of my more undesirable genes, and have to suffer through some awkward teenage years. While I know it will build character, and she will stumble through it like all teenagers inevitably do, I pray the peers she has will be less cruel about whatever awkwardness befalls her.