The top picture is one-day old Sophie, and the second is Sophie today, almost 6 weeks old. I can't believe she used to fit that tiny hat!
mommy and baby finally getting some sleep after a restless night.
I have been meaning to write an update on this blog for over a week now, but something always happens to pull me away from the computer. Sophie gets hungry or just stirs from her sleep because she wants to be held, or the clothes dryer buzzer goes off, or I have to go to the bathroom and then get distracted doing other things. Mothering is becoming quite a full time job, even with grandma here preparing all the meals and holding the baby for long periods of time to allow me to catch up on sleep.
The last few days have been the roughest since Sophie was born, as she has hit her four week growth spurt. Three out of four nights, she has been insatiable, constantly wanting to eat, popping off the breast, crying, wanting more, and unable to sleep. I wonder, "Why are you popping off if you still want more???" It's pretty frustrating because when she does that, my milk leaks all over....ick and it takes me a while to reposition her in the dark. Four nights ago, I don't think I had enough milk to fill her, so she suckled and cried and suckled and cried until 4:00am, never being satisfied until she finally fell asleep by my side. This is where breastfeeding gets really tough, because even if Jensen and my mom wanted to help calm the baby at night, they just don't have the stuff she wants.
Last night was the ultimate challenge. After a full day of lots of awake time with Uncle Leland and Aunt Tilina, we were hoping she would be tired enough to sleep a good chunk of time through the night. Leland and Tilina had booked a nice hotel in Alexandria for the night, but ended up having to leave early. Jensen and I decided to take advantage of the hotel stay and not let it go to waste. After all, it's our 1 Year wedding anniversary today, and we thought it'd be fun to get out, but of course, baby must come with. Sophie slept at the hotel about two hours very soundy, but awakened around midnight to feed, and fussed and fed for the next five hours without a break!!! I'm not sure whether it was the change of environment that over-stimulated her senses (this hotel had lots of bright colors and busy patterns in it's decor) or the fact that I had eaten three girl scout cookies and a slice of chocolate cake (the caffeine could have passed through the breast milk?), or just a continuation of the grown spurt that caused all the fussiness. But after a day of entertaining visitors and a night of trying to calm a fussy baby, I was painfully exhausted. We decided to head home around 5:30am when we found that it was useless trying to get Sophie to sleep. Fortunately, the car ride home did the trick, and she has been asleep ever since today except for a few quick feedings. So Jensen and I are now celebrating our anniversary catching up on sleep.
