Against the Books

It's been quite an adjustment, being the mother of a brand-new baby again. I thought I had a grip on a schedule and that was all blown to hell Monday night. In fact, for the past two nights, Indy has had a bath at 8, fed on a bottle directly after and stayed awake looking at me (getting diaper changes and two more bottles before finally crashing sometime after 11). She then gets up again at 2 and stays awake for an hour, then I have to get up by 5 to take the babe to my mother's house so that she can take her to school. That probably doesn't sound so terrible, but she was going to bed at 10, waking at 2 then again at 4 or 5. That was giving me 6 good hours of sleep. Arrghhh! Thankfully, hubby was home last night and was very supportive during all the turmoil. I did discover somethings last night that I hope will help in the nights to come.

She's been eating about 3 ounces ever two hours or so. Last night, I would have to get up and get another bottle because she would continue to fuss once the three ounces were gone. So, she's really eating about 4 ounces now. Then, I burp her and most times she gives me a good belch, but sometimes, I've got to beat her back for what seems like an eternity until the burp finally comes. Then, sometimes during the burping, she'll explode in her diaper again. It's just been loads of fun, can you tell? She also is not comfortable sleeping on her back (this is where the controversy comes in). Yes, yes. I know. I thoroughly practiced the "Back to Sleep" campaign with my first daughter with complete success. Indy doesn't do very well on her back (or so I discovered last night). She sacks right out on her side. I've got her supported, so that she won't turn, but I know every pediatrician and medical expert would say that I'm a bad mother.

So, I called my mother to get her advice. Years ago when she was a new mom, she placed me and my sister on our bellies (boy, have things changed!). The stats say that, even though this is a comfortable position for babies, it is this reason that may attribute to SIDS. They sleep so heavily that they may not wake up like they should. It's funny, for all the medical expertise, sometimes a mother's common sense and the trials she goes through may win out for the baby's best interest in the end, or so I feel. My mother said that with me, I was on formula for two weeks then the formula was supplemented with rice cereal after that. It was because of this and my happily full tummy that my mother said helped me to sleep through the night so quickly. Nowadays, doctor's don't start talking about solid foods until the fourth month (my mother actually gave my oldest a bit of rice when she was two months. It was Thanksgiving and she didn't want the baby to be jealous. After that, I kept it coming. Her teeth were pretty much in by her fourth month. I can even remember complete strangers commenting on how many teeth she had for so young). Food was introduced, so the body compensated.

I love this little girl to pieces, but it has been really frustrating the past couple of nights. Despite the "no, nos", I'm going to see how this goes. I hope it helps because I only have a few weeks left before she's in daycare. Granted, she'll establish a schedule there, but I'd love to have her going strong on a schedule in the evenings; however, I do understand that life will do whatever it's going to do.

I'll be popping onto this and my "Enchantress"site, now. Today is the first day of trying to be a hot mom again. Go check it out when you have a chance.