Although I usually write when I am happy, and on cloud nine about my offspring, life is not always a bed of roses. Now that I think about it, there are two public Tori's. There is the:"happy go lucky, my life couldn't be better, blessed beyond measure, sorry you're life pales in comparison" Tori #1. Or there is Tori #2: "Sob Sob Sob, Stress Stress Stress, I need Help," Tori. The are both very real people they just tend to take their life situation and stretch it over to one side of the spectrum. Some people call it dramatic or extreme...I like to call it exuberant and creative.
Well last night I was feeling tired, slightly agitated and unsuccessful as a mother. I tried to keep life in perspective and not jump to my oh so familiar extreme emotion. Violet is a good baby girl, but nights have been confusing me, and two nights ago was our worst. I know that I can't complain about one (or a few) bad night as I know other parents and babies get to much more desperate places in their childrens sleeping stories, but it seemed bad and I was more than ready for bed at 8:00 and so 9:00 seemed like an ungodly hour. I knew that I had two babies who were pretty good sleepers in the grand scheme of things, and that I couldn't complain about my rest or work load, compared to others, but for some reason I was struggling keeping my eyes open, following sentences and lacking the desire to put any effort into entertaining Violet. I started her sleep prep at 9:45...nursing in the bedroom with the sleep sheep sounding, and the hair dryer running as back up.
Attempt 1 was a complete fail. After nursing, Violet just looked up at me with her big blue eyes and smiled. So I geared myself up to put on my "momma hat" for a little while longer. At 10:15 I tried again...nursing didn't go that well, so we just sat in the bathroom with the lights off and the hair dryer running for white noise. 5 minutes later Violet was out cold, and I laid her in her bassinet. 5 minutes later, she let me know I had been tricked and that she didn't want to sleep after all. 11:00 attempt #3 = the same story as attempt #2. And the the story continued...nursing...dryer...bouncing...laying down awake...5 min naps...so on and so forth...till sleep ensued at 1:00a.m. She then slept till 7:30, which was awesome, but my appreciation was limited with memory of the long long night that preceded.
Well, I now started tracking Violets day. She's not "on a schedule" per say, but I am keeping track of her sleep, her nursing, and her diapers. I need to now how she rolls, before I try to alter it. I'm not passionate that she's managed by the clock, but I do want to make sure she's getting the most out of life that she can...that her sleep is quality, and that her awake time is happy!
So far on Day 1 she slept 14 hrs total and they say that should be around 15.5 at her age. Today was a complete failure at getting her to sleep more. I guess I can't say for sure that we failed, because the day isn't over, but we started out the day in cloth (it was a prefold, and I've now determined she won't sleep after tinkling in a prefold) and took only cat naps all morning. I went to work for a little over an hour and she was a beautiful mess while I was gone, and then only took a good two hour nap this afternoon. We need to get about 10 hrs of sleep in the next 11 hrs to make it to 15!
She's pooing just once a day which is fine with me!, and is a little more attached to her momma than her momma would like. I mean I'm flattered, but it does make me a little claustrophobic. Her dad gets a little frustrated when I go to work, so we hope that she starts taking the bottle pretty quick!''
Well here's to scheduling and getting to sleep before midnight on a regular basis! If anyone wants me to email them the chart that I'm using ( courtesy of Joel!) just let me know! I love my chart, even if it makes me a nerdy mom!
3 comments:
Hannah Beth has had some difficulty with her napping too..I've been reading a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and it's been helpful. Hope Violet starts doing better. She's a cutie!
That's so awesome that you are so organized!! I also loved the description of yourself- "sorry you're life pales in comparison." Definitely got a good laugh out of that!
Call or email me if you want to talk about stuff. I have learned a lot about sleeping babies and our lives are wonderful because of what we're going. I know that sounds totally perfect and annoying but I love that I have time for Jared, God, my new business, friends, giving, etc etc and it's not based on a super strict schedule or anything. It has allowed me to really enjoy my child and my life.
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