Random Updates

Howdy, everyone... How's life?

Yeah, I've neglected the whole writing thing lately. Bad Tena, bad!

Anyway.

Dee is now totally night weaned (yay!!). This took telling her that we only nurse at bedtime and morning (which I count as 5am at the earliest) and that if she wakes up at night (which she does, usually once or twice at 1-2am) we will hug her and snuggle her and put her back in her bed.

I'm much happier and more sane off of Mirena, still. I've been charting CM, which seems to be working pretty well for us (also using VCF spermicide films, not just checking CM). I'm not a huge fan of the short LP I've been having (9 days? no thanks), but I started taking B6 a couple days ago. I'm currently on 10DPO but PMSing like crazy, so waiting for AF to show at any second. Bleh. Hopefully the B6 will help so I'm not like oh, hey, it's period time again. It helped in the past (between kiddos).

I haven't been running in ages, though my legs are all better. I was planning on going this week but between working on J's Halloween costume (a pteranodon) and someone having made off with my shoe inserts I don't see it happening. I really need to find those, I have no idea where they went. They were on my night stand one morning and that afternoon, poof! Vanished.

I think that's all for the moment. I'm going to take my wedding ring in to get resized and replated today. Whee! Do I know how to live or what?! It needs to be made bigger...turns out that yes, my finger got fatter over the last almost 10 years, and that gaining 20 pounds in that same time frame doesn't mean my fingers are still the same size that they were when I was 20/21.

Status of The Night Weaning Attempt

Dee is only waking up once per night (yay!!) but I still suck at putting her back in her bed. So we're making progress, but we're not there yet. My mom informed me that my brother used to be like this, and he is *still* a terrible sleeper at 24. So that's not particularly encouraging.

And here's a picture of Dee (with a cold) with pigtails *squeee!!* (Not squeeing for the cold, just the pigtails. That cold was hellish.)

November 2, 2012 - Eleven Blissful Hours

Guess who I had to actually *wake up* this morning? (and boy, was she hungry...)

November 1, 2012 - Abracadabra!

To be fair, C took this picture, but I love it so I'm sharing it anyway.

In Night-Weaning News:
L came to bed with us at about 2 or 3, but again, this was the first (only?) waking she had. I just was too damn tired to stay up and nurse her. She slept peacefully and nicely while she was in bed with me, though, so it was nice and snuggly and sweet. She did nurse a good bit, but I still think we're making progress. 

In Which Dee Did Not Sleep (Through) Last Night.

Yeah...

She was mostly awake and thrashy for the hour I had her in bed with us and she nursed non-stop. From 2-3 am. Though that was the first time she had woken up, so I guess we're getting better?

I'll call this a draw. One night feeding dropped, but one hour of hell.

Pass the coffee, would you?

The Night-Weaning Diaries: SUCCESS!!

Maybe it was a fluke, but for the first time EVER, L slept the entire night. Like 10-6:30 all night. And in her own bed! She was able to get herself back to sleep after coughing.

YAY!

Night Weaning: Nights 2, 3, 4

Night 2 (Friday night): Still nursed twice, brought her to bed at around 4 or 5.

Night 3 (Saturday night): Nursed twice, but slept in her own bed all night! YAY!

Night 4 (Sunday night): L caught her cousin's cold. Has croupy cough all night, and ends up in bed with me at 10 after having woken up 4 times in 2 hours. I need more sleep and more caffeine.

The Night-Weaning Diaries: Night 1

J was a great sleeper from early on. He started sleeping through the night (as in, all night long. Not just 6 hours in a stretch) at 2 months old. He still sleeps wonderfully, and will sleep through a thunderstorm that wakes up everyone else in the house, he'll sleep through me coming in to check on him or say goodbye in the morning, and he'll sleep through his sister's night wakings.

Which brings us to L. She wakes up at least twice every night. Usually at around 11 or 12, and again at around 3 or 4. She likes to nurse at these times. If she wakes up more than twice, it will be between 7:30 and 10pm. *That* one I can usually get her back down without nursing. The others? *shudder* Not so much.

I am tired of being tired all day because I was kept awake for 2 intervals in the night. I am tired of not being able to sleep the whole night through (which, at this point, I haven't done for 2 years). I think L would be a happier kid if she was better rested, too. I got some advice from a friend (whose own L was an equally bad sleeper!) and I'm trying her ideas (including telling the little one that the milk has gone night-night, though L totally didn't buy that one last night) and telling myself that persistence is key.

We have two issues going on. One is that she wants to eat twice at night, which she could easily make up the calories for during the day, so that's (theoretically) easy enough. The other is that she is very deeply conditioned to come to bed with me at 3 or 4 am, and sleep with me, and nurse off and on until I get up in the morning. Oy. That one is the more difficult thing to change. It also means that when she wakes up, she's full, and won't eat breakfast, so then she wants a big snack mid morning, and won't eat lunch, and so on.

I am pretty good at just feeding her and putting her back down at 11/12 (I just sit in the rocking chair in the kids' room). Last night I tried doing the same for her second waking. Heh. I sat down, nursed her, soothed her, put her in her crib. She popped right back up, crying. I gave her a pacifier, wrapped a blanket around her, and we cuddled a while while I rocked. I put her back in her bed. She cried. I went to the bathroom and let her alone for a few minutes, to see if she'd soothe herself and go back to sleep. No dice.

C suggested that trying this while she's cutting her canines may not be the best time, so I went and got her and brought her to bed with me. *sigh*

We'll try again tonight. If I could just eliminate one of the wakings...