Sleeping Around

The second question everybody asks, after "How are you all doing?" is "How is she sleeping?" On that front, we do finally have some good news to report, which is that for the last two nights, Allison Clare has slept for 7 1/2 hours and 6 hours respectively. I actually got over 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep two nights ago. In the morning, I felt like Superwoman!

We're crediting the bedtime routine with it, at least in part. During her first 5-6 weeks, she was just uncomfortable ALL THE TIME with gassiness and we let her sleep whenever she could get comfortable enough to do so. Then there were a few weeks of colicky evenings as things settled down, but by 8 or 9 weeks, we started getting her to bed every night by 9:00--I put her into an overnight diaper, change her into her pajamas, feed her one last time, and cuddle and pray for her as she gets sleepy. Then I put her down, and Sam and I enjoy about an hour and a half of freedom before I head to bed. The first few nights, we were beside ourselves with excitement, like kids whose parents had left us alone for the evening.

We haven't gotten into a daytime routine that is quite as regular. I wish I could say that I was able to keep her on a 3-hour routine, as I do think it's very good for them to have that regularity, but she's often quite hungry ahead of schedule (I can't fault her for something she got from me, can I?), or falls asleep early or late in the 3-hour window. I can't bring myself to wake her up, just to try to get her back to sleep 45 minutes later, but I am trying to give her a basic routine of eating, playing a little, and then sleeping, within a timeframe close to 3 hours, especially ensuring that she's not awake for more than 2 hours at a time, after which time life becomes much less pleasant for everybody.

Mostly our days begin around 7:00, give or take a half hour, when she wakes up. I feed her, then put her back in her bassinet or cuddle with her in bed, hoping without a shred of optimism that she'll go back to sleep. As this inevitably does not happen, we get up at about 8:00, and she likes to eat again at about 9:00 and then take a nap of about 45 minutes. Everyone says "Sleep when the baby sleeps!" but I don't know how those people get any housework done, much less keep up with their friends' blogs. ;) So when she sleeps, I eat breakfast and read or race around dusting half a room for now, or starting loads of laundry.

And so it goes, a carousel of feedings and diaper changes and laundry, with some meal preparation for us, or errands, or walks outside on nice days thrown in. It's impossible but true that I've never been happier.