Mikayla continues to be a little delight. On a typical day, she wakes up around 5 or 6 to feed (this morning it was 6:30) and then goes back to sleep for a bit. She wakes up again around 7 and spends some time grunting and "fussing" in her bassinet (though she's not really unhappy; just maybe needs another diaper change, or to expend some energy). Usually this wakes mama up, but last night, because Mikayla is such a big four-week-old girl now, she spent the whole night in her own room! This gave mama a wonderful opportunity to sleep until an unprecedented 8:30 a.m., at which time Mikayla became slightly more insistent that I go in and change her diaper. After a change and a bite to eat, Mikayla conked out for another nap.
She sleeps from around 9:30 - 10:30 and then wants to be changed and eat again. That's her shortest stretch of sleep, and has been pretty typical the past week or so. Then she snoozes some more until just after noon, though the last few days she has stretched that nap to last until more like 1:30! She then spends quite awhile awake - several hours at least - and takes another shortish nap in the late afternoon/early evening. She gets serious about sleeping around dinner time, when she naps until mama is about ready to go to bed. Of course. Then she's awake til midnight or 1 a.m., again not unhappy, but fussy and easily bored and wanting to be held, rocked, sung to, etc.
Last night I thought I'd be smart and wake her up at 9 p.m., hoping that she'd be ready to drop back off to sleep by around 11. Wrong! Though it did move her sleepy time from 1 a.m. up to midnight, which was a nice bonus. But from 11 until 12, she faked sleep in my arms, but any time I put her into her crib, she IMMEDIATELY went into a full-out, you-shot-my-dog wail. Ugh. I'm opting for this controlled-ignoring approach to sleep training (which she's still a little young for, but it seems to have worked so far) in which I pick her up if she is truly crying, soothe her until she is calm, and put her back down when she is drowsy but awake. So we did this until about 1 a.m. and she finally went down happily to sleep until 5:30 a.m.!
I should add here that I'm not sure she actually slept until 5:30 a.m....but that is when this mama woke up and noticed that the video monitor handset had apparently died at some point and needed to be recharged. Oops! I could hear her fussing (not wailing, thankfully! I would probably never forgive myself!) and sure enough, she was ready to be changed and fed. I don't know whether I woke up due to her fussing, or my own sense that it had been awhile and she probably needed something. We are just so in tune with each other these days.
Did I say "in tune"? Well that's rich, coming from someone who on Saturday night cried three times (I probably cried more than Mikayla did) because she refused to sleep, and I had no idea what to do. We have had some difficult times this past week - I blame a growth spurt! She was on a fantastic 3 1/2 hour cycle for a few weeks, and I really thought I was catching onto this Mom thing....and then, last Wednesday, she ate every hour for eight hours straight! And since then, we have been trying to get back into some kind of groove (read: I spent four or five days constantly pleading with the Lord to give me wisdom and some sleep).
Turns out? Mikayla is a huge fan of the gas drops, and has occasional difficulties with acid reflux. Now, we feed in a more upright position, burp more often, and I do a football hold when feeding her on the left side so that she doesn't lie on her right (lying on the right increases acid reflux, which I also learned during my third trimester!). If she starts to cry while nursing, we burp, and I give her gas drops. I'm pretty sure that gas drops came down from heaven along with manna for the Israelites. Miracle cure!! Since using the gas drops and paying more attention to her feeding position, we've at least cut back on the massive spitting up that was happening.
In other news, cloth diapers continue to be a huge success. She had a rather massive...digestive episode...this morning, and the diaper cover did its job! It was a three-wiper, and halfway through the change, she decided to throw a little spit up into the mix. Yes, I took a picture with my phone and sent it to Joel. I thought he should see what his digestive genes have contributed to my new lifestyle!
In spite of the feeding and spitting up issues we've negotiated lately, Mikayla continues to grow! She doesn't fit into her newborn clothes anymore, for certain (the cloth diapers also ensure this), and she has a couple of 0-3 month shirts that aren't long enough. She is a tall girl! But she looks adorable in her 0-3 and 3 month clothes. Many thanks to my Aunt Bonnie, who just sent along a package of baby items that included seven (seven!!) long-sleeved 3-month onesies. Talk about Providence from the Lord! It is so great to have some long-sleeved shirts for her to wear when she is just hanging out at home with mama. Poor thing, some of her fussiness has also been due to being cold (doh!), so we've learned to keep her in several layers, especially overnight.
It's amazing how doing what your baby needs, can make her so much happier. Warmth? Gas drops? Makes me feel like a mommy guru when I can quiet her right down and help her snuggle happily in my arms. Then, of course, she sends a liter of spit up down the "spit-up chute" (down inside the front of my shirt...no more v-necks for me!), and humbles me yet again.
It's also amazing how much I need the support of other moms. I have gained so much wisdom from my sister and sister-in-law, not to mention the grandmas, and have sent out several S-O-S messages on Facebook which were answered by so many smart mamas! It is so helpful to be reminded what is normal, and that this season will pass (too) quickly.
Just a few other quick updates, and I'll wrap up. Mikayla has started with tummy time and is doing a great job of holding her head up for what feels like a long time (at least 10 seconds in a row). She can pick up her head and turn it from side to side when I am holding her, and while lying on her tummy. She loves it when mama sings "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and seems to be recognizing my voice and/or the tune, because she soothes more quickly when I sing it. Dadda prefers to sing her Psalm from the Psalter - Psalm 113 - but I don't know all the words yet. Mikayla makes eye contact with us and seems to be recognizing our faces, too. Dada claims that she smiled at him this past weekend. I've seen several smiles, but they haven't seemed to be purposeful or directed at me just yet.
Overall, we can see Mikayla growing from a newborn into a baby, with a greater sense of herself and more comfort in her own skin. One thing doesn't change, though: she continues to be every bit a blessing to her grateful parents. As her name suggests, we are in awe of our great God, who has been gracious to grant us a child.
We have photos on the way! When Joel gets home from work, our project is to take one-month photos, and upload several that are already on the camera. I took some photos of Mikayla during tummy time (let's be honest...she totally fell asleep instead of exercising her neck meat...) and haven't had a chance to share them with the world. In the meantime, please enjoy this proof that while her mama might not be the hugest football fan, the black and gold does indeed course through Mikayla's tiny veins...don't tell Dadda...
Cheering on our hometown heroes Sunday night, in her 3T Stiller shirt:
SDG!
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