On Sleeping

Amelia is almost 3 weeks old! She is currently stirring in her pack-n-play bassinet. I just fed her, but she will want to eat again soon. For the last few days, she has been on something of a schedule: hungry, cheery and bright-eyed in the mornings, eating every half hour or so, then one longish afternoon nap, and a L-O-N-G nap from about 5:00 to 7:30 or 8:00 in the evening. The evening nap makes us nervous that she won't sleep at night, but after 8:00 she is up--and somewhat fussy--till about 10:00 or so, and goes to sleep for the "night" around 10:00 pm. She sleeps till about 1:00 am, eats for awhile, and what with the nursing, burping and diaper change I usually get in her back in the co-sleeper in about an hour. Then she wakes up to eat again in another 2 or, if we are lucky, 3 hours, and sleeps again till about 6:30 or so.

At night, I feed her in bed lying down, and I have been falling asleep as she eats. Some of the books recommend this method as a way for the mother to get more rest, and others caution not to have the baby in bed with you so you don't accidentally smother her in your sleep. While I was pregnant, I thought I would NEVER have her in bed with me--I thought I would be too scared. But lying in bed skin-to-skin with her, staying awake pretty much the entire night and feeding her on demand, was how I finally got her to start breastfeeding in the hospital. Then when we got home, for a few nights I thought she was too lonely in the co-sleeper, and I worried about her, so I just kept her near me. When I sleep with her, though, I don't move AT ALL, and I wake up very stiff and sore, plus I sleep very lightly. So now I do put in her in the co-sleeper after she eats and stops being squirmy. Sometimes I have to hold her so she's belly down on my chest for her to burp and get calm. But when I do put her in the co=sleeper, I don't worry so much anymore. I am just glad to get to really sleep for awhile.

All this just goes to show how little you can plan. Dean and I ALSO thought we wanted to bring her home by ourselves for the first week, but we changed our tune about an hour after my mother left the hospital. The next day we were placing urgent calls to the grandmothers, asking when they could come back up and how long they could stay!

I had to take a break from writing to feed Amelia and she is currently half-asleep, half-sucking at my breast, as I type with the computer way down at my knees. (We are on the couch, using a lot of pillows for support. Dean is at the grocery store.) All in all, I think we are doing very well. Amelia seems mostly to be a very cheerful and calm baby. I still get nervous around 5 each evening--the "witching hour"--but as I said she usually goes to sleep for a long nap around that time. We would much rather have her sleep then than cry inconsolably!