We lost our 5 hour stretch at night, she'll hit it once in a while, her long stretch is usually four. She likes to eat every three hours but she's all business at night and I feed her and put her back down. When she first falls asleep at 7ish she will go a long while but we are still awake then. She isn't a very sound sleeper, she has trouble going back to sleep and thrashes in her chair. She still sleeps tightly, and I mean tightly swaddled because otherwise her thrashing arms hit her in the face and keep her up or she won't stop rubbing her eyes until she is awake. She eventually tires herself out with the thrashing but sometimes that can be up to an hour or more. She doesn't cry, she just can't get cozy or something. She makes noises while thrashing too. Andre and I have a white noise app on our phones that we put through a portable speaker to drown out her noises, it helps us all sleep. Sometimes I put an ear plug in one ear that's facing up so I don't hear her thrashing about, I know I'd hear her cry in a second so I'm not worried about sleeping through anything serious. She has been on a pretty good routine for sleeping during the day now, she is up anywhere from 7 to 8:30 depending on her feeding and needs to be back to bed by 10, she'll usually sleep a few hours, be up an hour or so and sleep a few more hours. Sometimes her naps aren't long, maybe 45 minutes or so but she's much happier during her awake hours now. Her fits are less and less, I think she was just way tired and I didn't realize how to put her down correctly. I have to swaddle her and she needs her pacifier and she usually likes to lay on her own but I need to stay close as she spits out her pacifier and needs it to sleep. When she is tired I get her all situated and put her in her chair, she is even sometimes good at falling asleep without any help from me, that's a great step! If you remember Maggie from the Simpson's, that's what she does with her pacifier, she is quite talented at it, she will stick it almost all the way out and suck it back in with a whine, but that routine helps her get herself to sleep, sometimes she spits it too far though and loses it. She has gotten good at rooting around for it and finding it, even using the back of her hands to get it back in but normally being swaddled prevents this. She will rub her eyes with the backs of her hands when she is tired now, it's too cute.
Corrie gave me this sling, I tried carrying her in it when she was a few weeks old and she didn't like it. I tried it again recently and she loves it. She can sit up in it now and that's her favorite way to be held, sitting up, facing out. The sling is great, it frees up my hands. Clara and I made Christmas Breakfast Casserole for our New Years company together, we even go on a walks with it since it's much easier than getting the stroller and car seat set up. She usually falls asleep in it and it's much easier to get her out of it than the other carrier I was using so I can keep her asleep much better when I put her down. So long are the days of her being cradled in your arms, she never really liked that but she hates it now, even when she is tired. She likes to be up and down, if awake, facing out to see all that's going on. I think liking being up and down has to do with her acid reflux, we hold her up as often as possible to keep her food down. Her medicine has really helped, she is having fewer issues with spitting up. She still does on a regular basis and always needs a bib but it's less coming up. She no longer sleeps through noise and company, she wants to see what's going on all the time and doesn't want to miss a beat. Her eye lids will be falling shut and she'll manage to keep them opening, even when they are red and sleepy, she doesn't miss anything. She likes to sit on the couch, in the crack with daddy and I, she is more content on her own there than she is in arms, she is usually restlsess in arms. She is fine if you're up and moving but if you're sitting, she'd prefer to sit on her own or lay looking up at the fan. This is a good thing, I know, but sometimes after she falls asleep I'll lay down with her and snuggle, I can't help it. It's now January, I have less than a month before work, I'm already having great anxiety about going back and being away from her. I'm very worried about her not liking to sit still in arms though, our flight to NY might be a long one!!
I have left her a few times now. With Andre of course, once when Aunt Barb was here, and recently for the New Year, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Ed watched her while mama cut loose. It was weird not being with her but I was not worried one bit since it was them. We had a lot of fun and she slept the entire time. I couldn't help but keep her extra close the next day, there was no doubt I missed her.
She still hates tummy time. She will either cry or lay her head down and rest. This is the time where babies grow the muscles in their backs for sitting up and crawling now that they sleep on their backs. When she is upset she has NO problem holding her head up and cranking it way back, she has been able to turn her head from side to side it seems almost always, I'm not sure if that's enough or not. I put her on my chest and lay at an angle and she holds her head up then. She balances herself when she stands on my lap on a regular basis, I'm not sure if this is enough, I just cannot get her to enjoy to be on her tummy, she doesn't mind sleeping on her tummy when she is on my chest but she doesn't want to play on her tummy. We go back to the doctor for her three month check up January 14, daddy's birthday, so I'll see if I'm in trouble then.
Andre and I are still taking turns in the evening sometimes. Many times I just take her because I can't go to sleep. I am very tired around 5 or 6 pm but by 8 or 9 I end up overtired and wide awake. Usually she'll be napping around 4 and that's when I loose steam and lay down on the couch and nap for thirty minutes or so until Andre gets home. I have been sneaking caffeine too. My stinkin doctor put me back on birth control with no warnings that it could cause me to produce less milk, so I thought Clara was going on strike with my boob but she was just frustrated because there wasn't enough. Thankfully I pump so I realized this pretty soon. It took a week for me to realize the change that took place was my birth control. So, I stopped taking it, started taking some herb that increases my milk supply and we're getting back on track. I still am having trouble keeping her latched, she needs to suck for a while before "let down" when the milk starts to really flow and she doesn't fight for it now like she used to, she just starts crying thinking it's empty, so I have to use a few tricks to get her to eat but it's not been fun. One of the tricks is putting her pacifier back in when she cries then switching her back to my boob, back and fourth until it's flowing enough to make her happy. So, due to lack of supply I started pumping as often as possible to increase my production so I'm empty sometimes when she's hungry so she has been eating from a bottle more often. It's good for me because I can sneak a cup of coffee in the morning sometimes. However she isn't getting back into the swing of things with breast feeding like I need her to. On top of that I have a clogged gland so now my left side is very painful, these past two weeks of feeding have been challenging. Thankfully, usually, at night she will eat fine, I have to get her before she is too awake and too hungry or I'm out of luck though.
Watching all her changes each day make me so very happy. I cannot imagine being away from my little angel. I love to stare at her, talk to her, sing to her, read to her and play with her, most of all hug and kiss her. I don't ever want to miss a beat. She makes me so happy! I love you Clara Belle!
I'm going to post this and add pictures later, the last two times I saved it and tried to post another day it wouldn't and I lost it all...so to be continued.
My sleeping beauty...
So big!
Hi Ma!
Daddy got a new fish she loves to watch in the tank. She can easily spot "Bonnie" our new fish since she's so bright. Clara loves to watch the fish tank and track them as they swim.
Our new sling that works great for multi-tasking and putting her to sleep.
Nighty night. She loves holding onto Sophie's legs, perfect size for her little hands.
This one is much easier and cozier to set her down in since it's only thin cloth and it doesn't cover her face.
I love her smiles in the morning. It's so easy to make her smile and laugh. She is such a silly baby girl.
Serious face. She always has her hands in a tight first.
I love our days together Clara, I'm going to miss them more than anything. I hate that January is here. I'm soaking up every last second with you. I love you so so much! You make me so happy every day, I can't ever imagine life without you. You are the best baby girl!!
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