Baby Sleep Part 1! Learning to go with the flow...

Having a new baby is hard. Very hard. There are the sleepless nights, the screams and cries you can't quite seem to calm, the constant nursing, the constant baby bouncing... Shall I go on? When you are deep in the trenches it's so hard to see the other side, but eventually the clouds do part and you come out the other side, relatively unscathed. One of my biggest pieces of advice to new mothers is that you need to let go of the idea that you are going to have any kind of control over the situation (i.e. your baby). This is hard for those type A's out there, like myself, but I swear, once you accept that you have very little control things will start to get so much better. This was particularly true for us with Madeline's sleep.

Sometime around 3 weeks old, we decided Madeline should be going to bed earlier than her normal 11pm bedtime. We were both exhausted, and we wanted some time to ourselves before going to bed. I read about lots of babies who were going to sleep for the night at 8pm, why wasn't our baby doing this?? We started trying to get her to sleep earlier, we tried to establish a bedtime routine of bath, reading, swaddle, nurse, bed. However, it went more like this: bath, reading over her screams, swaddle, nurse, scream, nurse, scream, scream scream, nurse, bounce, scream, nurse, bounce, bounce, unswaddle, watch some tv, nurse, bed at 11pm. It was so awful and stressful. My husband and I hardly ever fight and we were arguing non-stop. No matter what time we started this routine Madeline went to sleep for the night at 11pm. Finally we just said screw it. She will do what she wants, and the stress was just not worth it. We started doing the routine more like this: bath, reading (although she still screamed while we read, she just wasn't into sitting and not moving at this age), go downstairs and take turns bouncing her around, nursing her when she showed signs of hunger, and then, finally, around 10 or 10:30 we swaddled her and put her to bed.

This new routine has caused so much less stress. We are all much happier. My husband and I have both accepted that we have virtually no control over the sleep situation at this point. Over time Madeline's bed time has gotten earlier, at 3 months she's going to bed some time between 9:30-10, with the occasional night at 9:15, or the unfortunate occasional night at 10:30-10:45. I am convinced that she will slowly get down to that coveted 8pm bedtime, so for now we are just following her lead.

I am definitely not a baby sleep expert, and I am sure there are lots of people out there who think I am doing it wrong. Maybe they think my baby is spoiled because we let her decide our bedtime, whatever. I really don't care because it works for us. Anyway, this is all to say that I certainly would not want to give anyone advice about baby sleep. I don't know how to get a baby to sleep better, longer, earlier, whatever. I have no clue. We have been blessed with a relatively good sleeper. However, I regularly dispense the "go with the flow" advice, because I really do think that can work well for everyone. In my very limited experience, babies don't do what you want them to do, so why spend all of your time trying to make them?

Stay tuned for Part 2, dealing with an overtired baby!

I'm back!

These last three months have been such a whirlwind of emotions: happy, excited, frustrated, tired, confused, insecure, inadequate… I could go on and on. I’m pretty sure I’ve felt almost every emotion or feeling there is since Madeline has been born. I have missed the blogosphere so much and am only feeling human enough to make my way back here now.  So, hello friends J

Madeline is napping and I am spending way too much time watching Gossip Girl while she does. It’s so bad but so addictive, isn’t it?? This is the second series I am embarking on, I watched the entire series of Friday Night Lights first. Some day my sweet baby girl won’t be napping this much so I am trying to take advantage of the “me” time I am being given for now.

I have been pondering the level of online privacy I would like for my family. In the past I have been pretty much an open book, but it’s shocking how different I have felt since Madeline came along. I feel so protective of her and that is why I have yet to share any photos. I’m scared of putting her pretty little face out there, when the internet is so vast and I have no idea who will be looking at my photos, or what they might be doing with them. I never thought I would be this paranoid, but that’s where I’m at right now. I hope you will all understand and continue to read my blog. I’m working on some baby posts, some tips and tricks, and just general ideas I have about parenting. For now, no photos L

If you do want to check out some pictures of Madeline, you can add me to instagram (mcsarahanne)… it’s a private profile but I’ll add anyone who doesn’t look like an internet creepo :P

She's arrived!!

Madeline Rose arrived on Sunday, April 21st, 12 long days late, at 5:15am. She was 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. She's absolutely beautiful and so far is a really great baby! We are so smitten!

Waiting on baby...

Well folks. 41 weeks has arrived... 7 days overdue. Welcome to my pity party of one! Although it's apparently common for first time mothers to go about a week late, I am still really down in the dumps about it. I have been in pain since about 15/16 weeks, my hips have been hurting a lot during sleep. Now, my feet are cramping, my hips, back, and knees all hurt pretty much all of the time.

So what do I do when I'm down in the dumps, and have been trapped in the house for a while? Redecorate of course! I have been thinking that our yellow bedspread was too pale and our bedroom needed something a bit brighter. I have been coveting this aqua bedspread for a few weeks, maybe even months. It's SO pretty. I made the trip out yesterday and I couldn't believe they still had one, so I took that as a sign that I definitely needed to buy it :)

Here's our little master bedroom makeover:

If this baby takes much longer to come I am going to have to go shopping again. I wonder what I could redecorate next? I did see an awesome ottoman while I was at Home Sense, but I couldn't find a price on it, so I didn't bother. It would look perfect in our new, bright bedroom! It was in the clearance section so maybe I will go back and see how much it was :)

Bump photo outtakes...

STILL PREGNANT. UGH.

I thought it might be fun to share some outtakes from our weeks of bump photo taking (I'm not including the weeks where I was taking my fabulous bathroom self portraits!). My husband has sure caught some gems...

40 Weeks!

Well, friends, my due date has come and gone, so I am officially overdue. I figured this would happen, since according to my What To Expect ap, 50% of pregnancies go past 40 weeks. I guess I was hoping to be part of the lucky 50% and have this baby sometime between 39 and 40 weeks. I am officially extremely cranky, and I shouldn't interact with anyone but my husband at this point! Leroy is an ok companion too, because he doesn't talk back or complain that I am complaining too much... This is what he's been up to every day since I have been on maternity leave:

He's a pretty lazy animal. I hope he keeps this up once the baby is here!! This week I have been working on all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls. I am almost done, I will be really sad if I finish before the baby comes because I didn't expect that. I've been reading too, I figure I might not get a chance to read too much soon, although maybe during feedings? Anyhow, that's about it for now. I took my bump picture but I am facing the wrong way, oops.

39 Weeks!

My maternity leave is well on its way... Almost a week in! No baby yet. I'm cranky and uncomfortable. That's about it...