Her Rose

The last good night of sleep I had was Saturday night. It really caught up with me last night. The longest stretch was 2 1/2 hours and since that started at 8:15 it was only 90 minutes of sleep for me. From then on she woke up about every 90 minutes. My head hurt so badly it felt like it might explode. I had only had one nap in the last few days due to cleaning the house, doing those projects for school, etc. Unfortunately today wasn't a good day in terms of naps for her either although I did get her to sleep in the crib for 45 minutes so I did take a nap then as well. Today she cried any time I put her down. Usually she'll be happy for at least 5 minutes in the bouncer or boppy or swing. Sometimes of course I just had to let her cry or I'd never be able to go to the bathroom or fix myself a sandwich for lunch, etc. I forgot to try the sling. The sling worked well at the mall, but I keep forgetting to try using it at home.

Although the main points are the same in both Babywise and Baby Whisperer, I have found at least one significant difference. Baby Whisperer does not advocate letting the baby cry it out. She advocates picking the baby up, comforting him/her, and then putting the baby back down and repeating as many times as necessary (even if it's 120 times). She also advocates using a pacifier to help until the baby is 3 months old. So I think I'm going to try this tomorrow. Letting her cry it out does not seem to work. Even if I go in and comfort her after say 15 minutes, she resumes crying once I put her down and she will cry for at least an hour total without falling asleep. Both books advocate starting very early. Babywise advocates starting once the baby is one week old, and Baby Whisperer advocates starting on day one. However both say that you can start later even if "bad habits" have already been established. Hopefully tonight will be a better night as I am really, really tired!

The photo is of the rose that was on the organ at church on June 29 in Nadia's honor. The pastor and his wife gave it to us last night along with a gift from them of a pack of Pampers and a picture frame. So I have now received the two gifts I thought were common baby gifts which I didn't receive at a baby shower - Krissy (whom I met online in 2003) gave me some receiving blankets 5 weeks ago and the Pastor and his wife gave us some diapers. We discussed Nadia's dedication, and we have scheduled it for Sept. 28 based on the schedules of our family members who are planning to attend. Nadia will be wearing the same white dress that I wore 36 years ago at my dedication. She will be the 6th girl in our family to wear it (first me then my 2 sisters then my 2 nieces). So many times I have gotten emotional when I've seen "yet another" rose on the organ. The hardest time was around Feb 2006 (when our first baby was due); there were quite a few roses on the organ back then. Of course I wasn't in church on 6-29 (we were still in the hospital for one thing!) so I am really glad I now get to see the flower that was placed in her honor. Donna had already given me the bulletin which announced her arrival. Baby dedications have also sometimes been a very emotional experience for me; so it is with GREAT joy that I think about the fact that in about 6 weeks I will be participating in one rather than watching and wondering whether I would ever be a mother. Thank you Lord for this precious little girl!!!