Monday, November 10, 2008

Update, Advice, and Videos...oh my!

Yes, it's late, and once again...I CAN'T SLEEP! Don't get me wrong, I love sleep, but night time has become "Emily Time." It's my time to clean the house, get things done that I've been needing to, and just relax. My days are filled with lots and lots of Reagan bliss (I can never get enough) and not much Reagan nap time. She has become a fan of lots of 15-20 minute naps throughout the day. There's probably some theory or book about scheduling that would have a hayday with ripping apart and trying to fix our schedule but so far it works for us and that's all that matters. One thing that I AM excited about, though, is Reagan sleeping through the night. I know I am probably jinxing this, but for the past few nights she has been sleeping for 10+ hours. This doesn't mean that I am getting LOTS more sleep, since I am still up a lot checking on her. (I'm a paranoid parent...dang it), but it does mean that I can actually rest and am not constantly getting up feeding her and trying to get her back to sleep. Few problems with this...maybe all of you out there in blogging world can help a mother out.
1) Blow-outs...every night. I was under the impression that it was okay to not change their diapers in the middle of the night until they got up in the morning, but so far this advice has not rung true. I used to change it every time it needed to be changed, but this made for many a sleepless night. Reagan is not prone to diaper rash at all, so that is not the problem, but nearly every morning I find her "filled to the brim" and more often than not, overflowing. Oops. Do I change her diaper once during the night, as discretely as possible, so as not to wake her up? Note: she is a VERY light sleeper, unfortunately. Changing her diaper would mean her definitely waking up. What does everyone else do? This actually wasn't a problem until we had to switch types of diapers. She never blew out with Pampers Swaddlers (our favorite), but it is very hard to find these in Size 3, so we've had to resort to the Pampers Baby Dry kind. I guess I need diaper advice? Not really sure. Tonight I honestly thought about putting two diapers on her. Probably not the best idea. haha
2) Since she is sleeping through most of the night, I am not nursing as often during the early morning hours but unfortunately, how do I say this tactfully, I am also "filled to the brim" by the time morning comes (different than Reagan, don't worry...with milk). It has become really painful being so "swollen" when I wake up in the morning. I am assuming this will eventually die down as my milk supply lessens, but for right now getting her to nurse off of two extremely inflated, about-to-burst, water (or should I say milk) balloons in the morning has been an interesting experience. I would get up in the middle of the night and pump, but to be honest - really don't want to, and my pump just recently stopped working. Anyone know of any decent, cheap breast pumps? Is it REALLY gross to buy them secondhand? Because I must say, it is SO much cheaper that way, but it grosses me out just a little bit. What to do??
3) Aright, just one more advice request. (Sorry to bore everyone!) So, we swaddled Reagan for quite a while when she slept at night, because she slept so much better that way. But, since she is too big to swaddle now, and she should probably get used to NOT being wrapped up, we have stopped. She is sleeping just fine without it, but now she moves all over the place while she sleeps. She rolls around in her crib in her sleep, which may be weird, but it's just how she rolls. =) Anyways, every book I read says that it is still important for her to sleep on her back, but good luck with that! She almost always ends up on her tummy, and although I turn her over a couple times before I go to bed, I can't be doing this all night. Is it ok for her to sleep on her tummy? I know that people did it for years before the whole "babies must sleep on their backs" thing, but as a paranoid parent, it still scares me. She seems to do whatever she can to scare me - sleep on her tummy, face smothered in blankets or up against the side of her crib, etc. She is always fine, but it makes me a bit uneasy. She does know how to roll both ways, so should I not be too worried? (Yes, I added pictures to make it less boring. Did it work?) =) Other than these few little concerns (which are pretty much just all me, not Reagan), she is just the happiest little camper, and I am so grateful every day that I have such an easy-going little girl. When we have our next baby, I am not going to be prepared to deal with a fussy one because she has been so easy. I really have not had to learn any major "calming down" techniques or anything. She is just not a crier. In fact, when she does cry, I think it's so cute (I'm so mean) and sometimes wish she'd do it more often so I know that she is actually human! She is cracking us up with her rolling and scooting everywhere, and we love her babbling. I still have not gotten a very good video of her saying "Obama," but one of these days I will. Also, some of you may have noticed that our Halloween pictures aren't up yet. I'm debating whether or not to ever try and get them up here. They are certainly cute, but our camera is just not wanting to put pictures onto the computer. And by the time we figure it out, it may be too late! Would it be a "blogging-sin" to put them up this late? Anyways, thank you (in advance) everyone for your advice. I really appreciate it. Here are some videos for your enjoyment. One of them is Reagan babbling (if you listen closely, it sounds like she says "hello, dad"). The other is Reagan cracking up at Tiana as she runs and falls onto the wood floor. She just adores Tiana. And, if you can hear her laughing at all amidst my very loud obnoxious laughing, it's pretty cute).

7 comments:

Amanda said...

oh reagan. i can't get over how cute she is. i'm so happy you guys live up here again i love seeing her every week. i love your blog header you should start your own business!! seriously it's so cute. twee and i wanted to come visit teach sometime in the next week or two it would probably be around the same time (3:30) if that works for you. if you wanted me to i could come over a little early and teach you how to knit. it's up to you. anyways let me know if anydays work better than others.

Liz said...

well, first off, i was blog stalking and found you. i don't have a whole lot of advice on the nursing thing since i gave it up way too early (3 months), and as far as the diapers, i really don't think that you can prevent little messes in the morning after they sleep that long. just about every morning i have to give brooklin a bath because she has pee everywhere. i'm a firm believer in letting them sleep. i'd much rather clean up the mess than go back to only 4 hours of sleep at night. :) brooklin also moves a lot at night that's how we discovered that she rolled over when she was just barely 2 months. at first i was a little freaked out but i figured that she knows how to control her body enough to move around, hopefully if she's having trouble breathing she'll switch positions. she still likes to nuzzle up against the bumpers and i do try to move her away from them since i can do that without much disturbance, but i let her sleep on her tummy and she actually sleeps better that way. it's really hard to not be a paranoid mom, this coming from someone who only lets her sister watch her baby. you just don't want anything to happen/hurt her. it's totally normal, at least i hope so. :) sorry this was so long!

Peter and Lesha said...

well girl friends you asked for advice and I hope your ready for it cause every mom loves giving advice. hahaha pick and choose what works for you:) I change Carson's diaper once at night cause he tends to pee out by the morning time and then he is not a happy camper. He is wide awake when I change him but he goes right back to sleep with in secs. And as far as being full of milk in the morning I say thats what you get for having such a fabulous baby who sleeps through the night already! hahahahaha just kidding (kind of) I can't help you there Carson is almost nine months and wont sleep through the night, it seems once we finally get him too he gets sick or we go out of town or he gets more teeth and then it's back to square one. I know a hot shower does help a lot maybe try one at night and in the morning:). I might be a crazy mom (ok I am) but Carson rolls around too and if they can roll around and lift their heads they are fine to be on their tummies. How do you think we were all raised? sleeping on our tummies. It's funny that you check on her:) I wake up some nights at like 3am and think, wow Carson is still sleep I should go check on him and then I think, no I am really tired:) ok I shouldn't admit that but o'well Hope this helps a little. she is so precious. I think she looks like you.

Me and My Boys said...

Hey I'm no expert, but here is what I found to work.
1. the diaper thing, every baby bum is so different what works for one kid doesn't work for another so just try different diapers, White cloud works the best for mine, that and swaddlers, but finding sizes is an issue.
2. the nursing thing. I totally know how you feel, how incredibly painful and uncomfortable, I found at least for me, that nursing right before bed is good and then in the morning. Like you said the milk will eventually lessen. But I do know that if you pump your body will produce more milk, and you don't want that.
3. Tummy sleeping. I had the same question for the Dr. when London was a babe, The Dr. said that if they can roll over and she puts herself in that position she is alright, and not to worry.
Hope that helps, but I know your a great Mom because if you weren't you wouldn't worry so much, it's a natural instinct that us momma's have. All though it can be a bit tiresome, it's just because we love them so. Good Luck and you doing GREAT!!!!

Grace said...

So here is my advice....Pampers are always the best, Swaddlers or not. i dont think they make Swaddlers past size 2. Cruisers are the best once you get past Swaddlers. These, however, are the most expensive. We use the Baby Dry and there are times when Eli overflows and has wet his sleeper and blanket...he doesnt seem to mind. This doesnt happen every night so I dont feel the need to change/wake him during the night. Considering Reagan's situation with being a light sleeper and filling her diaper often you may want to try a diaper insert..its like a maxi pad offering extra absorbency. I've never used them but Babies R Us should carry them. Now about being engorged... it will balance out but if you need some relief the Medela Harmony hand pump is great for the occasional pumper :)...its about $30...if I remember correctly. You can get it at Target or Babies R Us. If you do decide to pump I wouldn't completely empty yourself because it will just keep your production the same. If you pump just enough to feel better during the night, your night production will slowly decrease As far as Reagan rolling in her sleep if she can lift her head, tummy sleeping is fine and she is old enough to let you know if she needs your help. Wow...that is alot of advice..sorry. But I hope it helps...by the way I never read a single book about getting Jack on a schedule or took anyone's advice about it...so we just went with the flow and it was great! With Eli I've read too much and listened to too many people about schedule's and I've gone crazy over it...Eli is not the sleeper that Jack was so I was trying to figure out how to make him be his brother...not fun. So I'm going back to my old ways of just going with the flow...its much better. With that said I think you are doing great and we love seeing Reagan sweet face! I hope we can meet her soon! Love yall!

Vashti said...

I find with the diaper thing that if you change it right before bed time that there is less risk of blow outs. I also changed her first thing when she woke up before I nursed her (she tended to do her business during feedings) she would scream during the changing b/c she was hungry but it was worth it not to have to wash her down. Also it only takes 30 min or so for liquid to go through a baby's system, this might not work with her, but if you nurse her before bed time she will have had a chance to pee some of it out so it's not all happening at night. I know some babies need to nurse to fall asleep, but it helped out so much to do this with Olivia. Plus that way they get used to falling asleep themselves instead of nursing/rock to sleep.
Back when Liv was that age I would nurse her and then hang out and have quiet time with her then change the diaper and just chill with her so she was mellow and lay her down for bed.
As far as overproduction goes, I know for me after 4-5 days it regulated itself out-I think if you keep on pumping then your body still thinks it needs to make that much-I was always surprised with how my body would adjust to Olivia's needs. I also find when I am an insomniac I always produce more milk. It's like my body knows when I am awake to produce more and it slows down when I sleep, so I know for me if I have trouble sleeping and am up for a long time I always have extra milk in the am. This might just be me.
Also babies r us sells pampers swaddlers in a 2-3 jumbo box kind-for like $39 for over 200 which is the best deal on those I've found. Whenever we go to the temple we stop at Alderwood mall and get a box. Plus they will mail you coupons. Sorry this is so long I hope it helps! I feel like this is a novel ;)

Ernest Pratt said...

I love reading your blog Em! I want a baby.