Contemplations over Coffee.

The Sleep Saga -

You Never Know How Much You Love Something Until It's Gone.

If you read my blog with Norah, you know that the first 8 months of her life, nearly every post mentioned sleep...and not in a good way. Everyone said that our second child would be a breeze, and sleep would come easy. I am a ~~pessimist~~ realist, so I knew this would likely not be true. And I wish I enjoyed sticking my tongue out and saying "Told You So" more! Don't get me wrong, it isn't as bad as Norah was....yet, ha ha. I'm preparing myself for the worst, while praying for the best!

This is sweet baby Evelynn sleeping in her swing seat (and her sleep sack...basically a little sleeping bag with arm holes ;).

No, this isn't recommended by anyone, and when she starts being able to move more, I'm sure we may have to come up with another solution. But for now, this one is what is allowing me a tiny bit of sleep at night. Evy just seems to sleep better when she is at a bit of an angle. Because of this, and some crying during eating, we took her to the doctor a couple of weeks ago. I was guessing that she has Reflux, just as Norah did, and sure enough Dr. P agreed with me. So, he put her on Ranitidine, which I would rather not do, however, I also don't want baby girl in pain, and if left untreated, he said it could get worse, and really hurt the lining of her esophagus. So, for now, she is on the medicine and we will re-evaulate soon.

A typical night for us right now looks like this:

8:00pm Nurse, actually in bed asleep by 9:00.

11:00-12:00ish Ev will wake up and I will nurse, put back to bed, (it's been taking about an hour to feed, change (sometimes twice) and get her back to sleep)

3:00-4:00ish Ev wakes up again, I nurse again, and within an hour we are all back asleep.

4:00-5:00 Somewhere in here, Norah has begun to wake up and yell at me to come in to her room for some reason or another. She has slept fabulously for the past year and a half, and now, when I'm sleep deprived she has decided to start this. ;) Good thing I love her so much.

6:00-6:30ish Wake up for the day. Ironically, the one time where it seems Ev might keep sleeping, we usually wake her up, because Norah is up, and it's time for Ev to eat.

Promises I'm making to myself regarding sleep that I learned the first time around. (And I'm sharing with ya'll to hold myself accountable)

I will not bring Evelynn into bed with us at night, no matter how much I love snuggling her and no matter how easily she would sleep all night. (For numerous reasons, the top 3 being: It's dangerous, Sleep isn't good quality because I'd be worrying all night and watching her, and it will be even harder to eventually stop doing this.)
I will not nurse her if it's been less than 3 hours (no more than twice/night). Unless of course she is sick or something. I nursed Norah whenever she woke up for a while, because it was simply the easiest (in the short term ;) way to get her back to sleep and I was desperate for sleep. But, I think in the long run this kept her waking up more often.
I will try my hardest to set her down for a nap once/day drowsy but awake.

Here are some pics from a recent walk (with the new double stroller!) down to connected lakes by our house....absolutely gorgeous!