Monday, April 21, 2008

New Mommy Milestone!

I woke up yesterday, to Dax whimpering and beginning to cry at about 4:15am... so I brought him to bed with me for a snack.
Now, if you're breastfeeding, and it's early morning/late night, and you're tired, I think the number one way to do it is lying down on your side. I honestly hadn't tried it until about two days before this - and I have to say it's fantastic. Baby can find you, you're right there, and you can lay your head down... (I fell asleep the second time I did this, and woke to find Dax still attached and dreaming about eating, I presume - he was still working his mouth, but the sheets were wet underneath our little join)
So anyway. I think this position is great - and if you fall asleep, you fall asleep... no big deal.
But I was laying there in bed yesterday morning, and Dax had just finished eating (he pulls away, with a very full-looking, satisfied milk-face, pursed lips meaning he can eat no more), and I rolled him a bit more onto his back, and then snuggled him. We both slept for about three hours before he woke up again.
It was so lovely.

It was too lovely. Danger Will! I thought...
If it felt this good to snuggle with my baby in bed... chances were good I'd do it all the time... and then I'd have a toddler in bed with us, maybe even a teenager, if I wasn't careful!!

So it just so happened that yesterday I was feeling good (when I finally got out of bed around noon), and thought that I'd tidy up the baby's room (gifts had been slowly sifting in, and placed on the big chair and ottoman, laundry had been done, but hadn't been put away, etc...). Perfect time to test out his crib, right? :)
I laid him gently in his crib after I had fed him and diapered him, and he stayed asleep, through my bustling and rustling around in his room - that's so great, I thought!
I did this the entire day, including through the evening, and even through the night.
He went four hours between a feeding the first evening bedtime lay-down, and three hours the next! (see you later, two-hour feeding schedule!)

I woke up at 6 this morning to him wiggling and making his morning sounds (about to be crying-for-food sounds), and I realized how incredible the night had been - I got a few hours of sleep in a row! He slept well! The baby monitor had worked! The crib rocked!
But the realization hit me, as I heard my husband say - Wow! Only four weeks old, and he's already grown up!

So I snuggled him into bed with me for a morning feeding and nap.
:)


1 comment:

Sara said...

It may be hard letting him grow up but it also means you are doing all the right things. Also, good sleep makes for a happier baby and happier momma.