I’ve been saving this photo for my One Word Wednesday post this week….but as I was up in the middle of the night nursing this little fellow it occurred to me that today is actually Thursday. That’s what sleep deprivation will do to you. Apollo did sleep for five hours straight one night this week. I slept from 11:00 to 4:15…and felt so refreshed I actually had trouble getting back to sleep.
When I get discouraged about his frequent night waking I remind myself that we successfully fought through some very difficult early breastfeeding days due to his being tongue tied at birth. He did not have his frenulectomy until he was 2 1/2 weeks old. By that point he had done significant damage to my, um, milk-supplying parts. The procedure was quick (less than a minute) and he nursed immediately afterwards with a good latch for the first time. It took five more weeks for my body to heal completely. Perhaps he would sleep longer if I tanked him up with formula or a little cereal before bed, but you know what? He’s gained over five pounds since birth and thriving on breastmilk.
I do plan to work on his frequent night waking (on a bad night every hour and a half to two hours), but he’s sick at the moment so we are up because of that. He’s never been a baby to nurse more than every three hours or so…in fact if I try to nurse him at night and he’s not hungry he gets irritated with me and pushes me away. Lately, I’ve just been patting his back and shushing him and he seems pretty happy with that. When I pick him up it’s obvious he wants to go back to sleep (he rubs his head back and forth, arches his back until I lay him back down, etc).
Such a reassuring post you cannot believe! Am at home with my first 10 day old baby who is so beautiful and with whom I am totally besotted but was feeling super tired and weepy when logged on to read some blogs with him on my shoulder. Lovely to read about Apollo and you and finding your own rhythem together as even in 10 short days I feel overwhelmed by the amount of people who feel they need to offer “advice” on my tiny babys sleeping and eating!
Just wish I could fly over for a quick photo session now!! x
Verity, I just had to take a minute to reply to your sweet comment. First of all, congratulations on your little guy! Whats his name?
Now Im going to share with you something about my first baby. If I have any regrets about my first days/weeks/months with her, its that I worried too much and listened to other peoples advice too much. Adalia was born 2 1/2 weeks early and weighed only 6 pounds. She nursed ever hour to 1.5 hours. I was constantly told that she was nursing too often and I NEEDED to space out her feedings. I fretted and worried over this all the time. I tried to space out her feedings, but she would cry and demand to eat every hour or so. I wondered what I was doing wrong but couldnt leave her to cry when she was obviously
hungry. In hindsight, she NEEDED to that frequently. She was only six pounds! Why people felt the need to harp on me about it, Ill never know…
Apollo and I had a VERY rough start. I think its safe to say having him was my most difficult adjustment. Between his scary arrival, the drugs from the c-section, his being tongue tied…I was a physical and emotional mess. And I had a very fussy baby on my hands. But we survived…one day at a time. Now Apollo is learning to sleep, I feel well physically and emotionally…
Take it easy, enjoy your baby, and try not to worry!
Renee
thank you so much for your reply- we were up nursing every 2 hours last night so I loved reading about your experiences with Adelia as it was far more real to what’s happening here than the advice books I have been given! So many of the new mums I know here have already switched to formula but my little Gabriel is gaining weight and seems very happy so we are going to carry on as we are 🙂 your blog is greatly supporting this new mummy for one! Xx
I’m sure you (of all people) know this, but…it is just a phase. Someday when you (and I) have much more sleep, we will look back on these days fondly. (My daughter is 4 months too)