Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

I'm lucky enough right now that my baby girl is sleeping in her car seat after the drive home so I'm able to write this post . . . although Paul's tempting fate and pulling her out of her seat now. So I guess I'll type fast!

Side Lying Position

I'd been warned that the sleep deprivation the first couple of weeks would be hard. Just like any life experience, you don't really know what it's like until you've been there. Well, we've been there. Everyone copes with this period of infant parenting differently I imagine. With all of the challenges of Charlotte latching and eating properly I was glad that at least I'd begun to conquer the side-lying latch with the help of the nipple guard. With this trick up my sleeve I've been able to feed her when she wakes up and then I can just leave her and doze until she's done. Before I was having to completely wake up and sit up to feed her.

Well, last night my strategy wasn't so successful. After I'd fed her this way twice on each side with no cessation of her crying and fussing, I had to get up. I tried feeding her sitting up, but still she fussed. I got up and sat in my recliner in the living room where I attempted to feed her again. Nothing was working. She had stopped crying and was just chattering so I figured maybe if I just held her she'd go to sleep. I dozed but she ended up screaming again. After about 3 and half hours of this I couldn't take anymore. I'd only gotten about two hours of sleep at this point. I started screaming and sobbing. Paul got up and I handed her to him and just sat and cried in despair.

I went back to the bed to try to sleep while Paul consoled Charlotte in the living room, but I couldn't fall asleep listening to her cry. Probably 20 minutes later Paul came back in and suggested I try feeding her again. I sat up and fed her and finally she fell asleep as did I. At this point it was daylight outside.

I woke up around 9 feeling much more rested than I expected on 3 hours of sleep. The light was so nice this morning that I attempted to take some pictures of Charlotte on the bed. I was hoping to feed her and get her to go back to sleep, but she wasn't having any of it. It took about 2 1/2 hours, but I managed to get a couple of decent photos. They weren't what I was going for, but they're not bad. I have newfound respect for people who get amazing shots of sleeping infants. This is what I ended up with. I think I will try a couple more times to figure out how to get the pictures I really want of her.

Black & White...

and Color

Twinkle Toes!

We went to my parents today for a barbecue where more family could meet the new baby. My mom and aunt suggested that the reason she was so fussy last night was because of something I ate. Then it occurred to me that I had eaten some pretty funky food at the summer festival and Uwajimayas the day before. Apparently squid and octopus don't agree with my little one. Lesson learned! Now I'm going to research some more to find out what foods I should avoid with breastfeeding so I don't have more sleepless nights! 

For now, time to get some more sleep!