14 September 2008

Always Eating, Seldom Sleeping



The first few nights of being at home with Noah were such a teaser. He slept for 4-5 hours at a time! Oh my, how those sweet few days have passed. Now, we're up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours it seems. My pediatrician told us to teach him the difference between day and night by waking him up every two to three hours during the day, and then let him sleep as long as he will at night. I've been doing this, but Noah still wakes up fairly often at night. Does anyone have experience with this method? Are there other methods for getting babies to sleep more during the night?
In addition to this sleeping speed bump, Noah seems to want to eat A LOT. I mean every hour and a half or so. I went to a La Leche meeting a few nights ago, and the ladies there assured me that this was normal and that he would soon develop a more spread out feeding schedule. I'm just so stinkin' sore...which I can deal with just fine because breastfeeding is such a sweet experience, but I can't seem to get anything done during the day. Pre-Noah, I had heard stories of women who were lucky to get a shower in on some days, but I thought that seemed a little ridiculous. Now, I'm eating my thoughts big time. The only productive thing I got done yesterday was going through my mail that had stacked up throughout the week. No shower, and I was in my nightgown all day. Kind of hilarious. And this is with my mom HERE to help me out. She's taking care of all of the chores around the house, so I don't even have to worry about laundry or cleaning the bathroom. My responsibilities consist of feeding Noah and getting him to sleep. How does this take up literally all of my time? I don't know, but it just does. I'm sure I'll get all of this figured out soon...right? Right. I know I will. Any advice?
More midnight moments:
1. In the middle of the night, as I was putting Noah in his cradle, Matt calls me over to his side of the bed and asks, "Is there any leftover breastfeeding stuff?" I reply, "Honey, what breastfeeding stuff?" He says, "You know, like milk." I say, "Matt, are you awake?" He replies in an annoyed tone, "Yes." I say, "I'm sorry, I'm just not sure what you're talking about," and he says, "well, if you're just going to look at me like that then forget it." (He remembered none of this conversation the next day.)
2. This same night, I woke up to Matt looking under and patting the covers on our bed. I assumed he was looking for Noah, as this has happened to both of us multiple times. I said, "Babe, Noah's in his cradle." He said, "I'm not looking for Noah" and I reply, "Well, what are you looking for?" He said, "the thing that goes in his mouth." I said, "You mean his pacifier?" He said, "yes," and I giggled and told him that "Noah's pacifier was not in our bed." He looked a little more, and then fell right back asleep.

4 comments:

The Edgren Family said...

Oh girl, do I know more than ever! I'll write more via e-mail.

Jesse and Kristin Moore said...

Oh guys, I just love the midnight moments. :) Too funny and we can totally relate! Oh and I know what you mean about not being able to get anything done!

Evie I might see you tomorrow! :D
-Kristin

Hammocks and High Tea said...

Well, I'm afraid I can't relate yet, but I've always heard the first three months are nightmarish in a way. You at least sound somewhat happy if not frustrated. I guess you can just look at this as your "job" for now and know that it will end soon. I don't know why I'm trying to give advice! So I'll stop! Love ya.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Evie! I am so feeling your pain. When Micah was first born, Nate had me write down everything I did all day because I thought I was so unproductive. By the end of the day, I had quite a long list. Granted the list consisted of the same items "change diaper," "breastfeed," "rock baby." Sometimes the order changed. Sometimes I got the mail.

For what it's worth, I tried not to talk or play with my babies or turn on lights in the middle of night. Who knows if that worked. They both seemed to figure out night and day around five or six weeks though. Love your funny night time stories. :)