Mommy's Wake-up Call

I thought I'd give everyone a glimpse into nights as a new breastfeeding mother. Since birth she has pretty much been eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours around the clock. She would eat about 15-20 minutes on each side, then burp/spitup, and finally needing rocked for about 20 minutes back to sleep. This gives me approximately 2 hours to return to bed and fall asleep before she is up and hungry again. I love the time we have at night to snuggle and rock and sing but this is no way to get a restful night.

Near the end of the first week she began having a night here and there where she was fairly unhappy for no apparent reason and had to be held, fed, and rocked for long periods at a time. The longest one I did not lay in my bed until 5:30 in the morning. Fortunately they were always followed with some really great nights where she ate and went right to sleep.

We then transitioned to having a 2-4 hour fussy period in the evening where nothing was consoling except breastfeeding or me walking around with her in the sling. It is draining to feel like you can't find some way to console them when they seem to be in distress. We always come around eventually and then have a great night where she sleeps for 3-4 hours at time and goes right back to sleep. It is amazing what a difference 4 hours is when you are having interrupted sleep. A couple of nights ago I read in my "A Nursing Mother's Companion" that at around 2-3 weeks babies have a growth spurt and can want to nurse more frequently. So, for the last few days when she gets fussy I just let her eat an extra meal and we are having less and less fussy times and at night she usually eats around 10 or 11 and then once in the middle of the night and then at around 5 or 6 in the morning. So we are getting there and I think we have learned a lot about how to meet each other's needs and we're a pretty good pair!

Around 2 weeks old Dan came home with this shirt for her "Mommy's Wake-Up Call" which is more than fitting for little miss. :)