Can I Get an Amen for Sleeping Through the Night?!?!?!

Thank you, Jesus! We experimented Friday night and put Stella to sleep sans swaddling AND in her crib for the first time. I admit, I was a bit brave to make those 2 big changes together and without much of a plan, but Matt and I spent most of last week staring at the clock waiting for the day to end so we could crawl in bed so we were ready for another sleepless night with Stella crying if this would put us on the path to one day sleeping through the night!.

A little back story - Stella recently started sleeping horribly during the night AND during daytime naps and as I researched the probable causes I discovered a few theories:

1. night time sleep disruptions interfere with daytime naps and thus daytime moods - then it creates a vicious cycle and we noticed her temperment affected her evening and bedtime ritual which eventually meant everyone is awake at 2am and 3am and 4am and 5 am...I'm not kidding. 
2. baby outgrows swaddling - if she outgrows swaddling, she'll kick and fight in her sleep until she's broken the swaddle. If she doesn't break the swaddle, she'll wake up crying. Stella kept breaking her swaddle and waking up throughout the night, so I thought, why not try it without swaddling one night?

Since both of those theories matched up to Stella's situation I thought it couldn't hurt to test the waters and see how she does! Here's a little background on her sleeping style.

For the first month or so of her life she slept in the bed with us (don't freak out, people, we had a co sleeper thing for her to lay in that went in between us called the "Snuggle Nest" - however safe it was, it did NOT leave room for Matt and I!) Then we transitioned her to sleep in the cradle next to our bed. All the while she was tightly swaddled like a bug in a rug. She loved being swaddled and so I swaddled her all the time! She slept through the night one time before she was 2 months old so we thought, hey, this is working. We settled into a routine of feeding her one last time between 10pm and 11pm and she'd usually wake up around 4am, but all the while she'd wake herself up and we'd have to put the paci back in her mouth or shh her or re-swaddle her if she came out of her swaddle, so needless to say, even though she wasn't wide awake and refusing to go back to sleep, we were still up all night with her just making sure she'd get back to that deep sleep.

Since she kept breaking her swaddle and waking herself up, I thought we may need to try removing the swaddle from the nighttime equation. Since she's also around 4 pounds heavier and 4 inches taller than she was when she first came home, I thought moving her out of the cradle and into her crib might be a good idea, too. We bit the bullet and didn't swaddle her Friday night, put her in her comfy crib around 9:30 with the monitor on full volume in our room and to our surprise she slept right through the night! She woke up around 6am and I thought - "it's a miracle!" Saturday and Sunday nights she followed suit and is now sleeping in her  crib exclusively without being swaddled and we couldn't be prouder! She is getting so big, so this is bittersweet for me! But man are we glad to get a full nights sleep again! Katie Pugh, you were right - month 3 is the magic age!

Life Lately With Stella!!

I have been terrible about blogging lately - my apologies. We have been busy around here! Since the last time I posted, which was early August, she's passed 8, 9 and 10 weeks old. She just turned 11 weeks this past Tuesday and is growing right in front of my eyes! We've been working on our schedule, like I mentioned in my last post. She is still sleeping in the cradle next to our bed and I have to be honest, we are not moving very fast on the track to get her in her own crib. However, we ARE working to get her to take steady naps (instead of 30 to 45 minute ones) during the day and to sleep 8-10 hours at night, and last night was HUGE progress! She ate at 9 and went down immediately and woke around 3 fussing a bit, but I did not feed her, though I wanted to. I changed her and swaddled her and put her back down and rocked the cradle for about 20 minutes and she was out! She stirred a few more times in the night but to my amazement, 6am rolled around and she was still asleep! It's a miracle! Now, she may never do that again, and I realize that - but we know its possible!! 3 stars for Stella!

We had a monumental weekend last weekend where Stella stayed with her Daddy and Che Che for the WHOLE weekend while Mommy went out of town! It was the hardest thing in the world to do and I almost came home early once, but in the end, with the help of my AMAZING husband, I got to see her in videos a few times each day and managed to enjoy my entire trip. Here are some videos:)

...and here's another one...

...and another...

These videos made the entire separation bearable. I have such an amazing husband! My trip was that much more enjoyable because of him!

We are currently missing taking our evening walks with Stella because someone (my sweet husband) ran over our stroller. Oops. I am pretty sure its salvageable - the company is sending us a replacement wheel and I think it will work like new! Fingers crossed!

We are fully registered for daycare at Old Mandeville Preschool - yay! Stella was given her bag with her name on it and everything. While I am excited we FINALLY have child care secured for her, I am so sad to think about not having Dawn, our nanny here with her everyday. We love her and know she loves Stella so much...I hate to think of her last day with Stella. It breaks my heart! The good news is that she has offered to keep Stella anytime the daycare is closed or Stella is sick, so Stella will still be able to see her.

In other news, we've set up Stella's baptism for Sunday, September 26! It will be here in Mandeville at our church, Our Lady of Lake, which is beautiful and only a few steps from our house. She'll be dressed in our family baptismal gown and cap that we all wore - though Mom waited so long to get me baptized that they had to 'drape' the gown over me because I was too big for it! Mae Mae has taken care of the gown since it was made for her children and will have everyone's initials who's worn the gown monogrammed on the hem by the time its Stella's turn. What a special, beautiful tradition!

I'll leave you with some recent pics of "Beaner", which is her newest nickname from Daddy, shorty for "Butterbean". 

I'm judging you (yes, she's picked up my trait of 'flaring the nostrils')

Hungry hungry hippo!!!

I'm a bow head

RrrrraaaRRRRRR! Look what I can do!

Party Time - Sarah D's Baby Shower!

Che Che and Stella!

Soon to be Mommy Sarah D practices with Stella!

I wear only day gowns when my Che Che keeps me:) This was actually Mommy's day gown!

Smiles for everyone! "I love people!"

I love my cousin Millie!!!

Stella is 2 Months Old!!!

We cannot believe that yesterday marked Stella's 2 month birthday! We miserably celebrated that fact by getting her 2 month shots today:( She is sleeping right now, and has been all day, poor baby. She did well with the shots - screamed for a few minutes and then fell asleep in the car seat, thanks to the pre-doctor's appointment dose of Infant's Tylenol we gave her. I am so happy I love our nanny because tomorrow is the first day I'll leave Stella longer than an hour - I am headed to the Natchez office for the day for the first time since before my maternity leave and Stella will stay with our nanny. Since I'm still breastfeeding, our nanny will use some of our freezer reserve of breast milk to feed her via bottle while I'm gone, and I'll figure out the joys of pumping at work:) Here's hoping that she sleeps all night tonight and doesn't give Matt too much trouble while he keeps her before and after the nanny leaves! Let's also pray for Mommy's nerves...I know I'll be a basket case tomorrow.

2 Month Stats:
Weight: 10lbs, 6 oz (she's gained exactly 2 pounds in the last month!)
Height: 22 1/2 inches
Milestones: first smile, lots of cooing, can lift her head up like a little turtle and hold it there for a few seconds when you hold her up on your shoulder - it's the most precious thing ever, can grab objects like Mommy's hair and skin (ouch) and follows the sound of my voice

She is currently sleeping in about 5-6 hour stretches on average, though this past week we had a few nights where she woke at 1am, 3am and 5am. We deeply hope that does not continue! The doctor said not only is she a gorgeous baby, but she is doing wonderfully on all developmental milestones. She wants us to firm up her feeding and sleeping schedule so that we have a routine down - waking for the day, feedings, naps and bath time/bedtime prep should happen at the same time each day, that way we can get her sleep schedule (and ours) more regulated. Our goal is to have 7 hours of straight sleep for her at this point, so we've got our work cut out for us!

Just over the weekend she's been pretty fussy with tummy troubles and the doctor is doing some lab work on her stools to rule out a stomach/intestinal infection, so we hope everything comes out ok in the tests! In her second month she is much more fussy than her first month, but we were blessed with an almost silent baby during her first 4-5 weeks. She ONLY cried if she was starving! Now that she is growing and developing her little system, I just think she is more aware and sensitive to her surroundings - it's no wonder, with Matt and I as parents and these two crazy dogs as a brother and sister, its no wonder she's fussy - her nervous system is in overload (just kiddin', puddin':)!

I have been reading TONS on child development/infancy and can say we've become accustomed to the swaddling, shhhhing, sucking, shaking (lightly - not like child abuse) side-lying art of calming Stella down - I tell you what, it works every time. Dr. Karp's "Happiest Baby on the Block" book is a life saver! I recommend it to each and every new parent. I'm not super into the methods of Baby Wise yet because of the foundation from which it came, but I must admit I am reading the book to learn how to better adapt to this schedule our pediatrician wants us to follow. Baby Wise can be a bit strict, so we are taking it one chapter at a time:)

Until next time!