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).
