My daughter has finally settled into a pattern that allows me to get a full night's sleep. Hooray! I know a lot of people who are expecting...or just had another baby...and it brings me back to our first few days/weeks home with our newborn. Everyone said, "Make sure you get your sleep!" I knew we would be up a lot tending to our newborn. However, I didn't realize the full dynamics. No one told me that our baby would come home and not know the difference between day and night.  So for those who have yet to experience this...I want to be sure you are well equipped with a reality check:

1. Newborns eat often and take a long time to nurse. No sooner are you done nursing and getting baby changed, settled, and grabbed something to eat yourself if you are lucky...they are ready to eat again. Which means there is not too much you can get done. So find a comfortable spot and get some magazines, the phone, a drink, and anything else you may need within reach while you are nursing for 30-40 minutes stretches 8-12 times a day. You do the math! So plan ahead and enjoy your time together.

2. Newborns don't know when the day is over. Their cycles simply rely on food, sleep, and being changed. They will nap the same amount of times during the day as night. Which means you are up around the clock every few hours. If fact, I'm afraid to say mine slept MORE during the day the first week than at night! I would find myself nodding off as I was rocking our tiny infant in the palm of my hands just waiting for her to nod off so I could skillfully place her in the bassinet and catch some craved for Zzzzs. I felt like my husband and I would pass in the night. The only clue that another day began was the sun was shining.

3. I was so afraid that if I let her sleep too long during the day she would be up all night. I soon realized not to fight it or try to "hold her out."  If she wanted to nap 6pm, 8pm, or 9pm at night...I let her do so. Because when she was tired, it wasn't worth telling her otherwise...and within an hour or so after waking she was usually ready to nod off again.

4. A sleep pattern lasting only 2 days is not a pattern so don't get too excited too soon. This happened to me half a dozen times. I'd be teased with a long stretch only to revert back the next day. I learned that if I didn't have expectations, I couldn't be let down. I became realistic and knew that at some point in the night she would be waking...so I would take what I could get. Sure enough she would wake, I would tend to her, but her sweet face was always worth the effort. Not once did I resent her for it. It's amazing how much patience you can have, even when you haven't slept the night in weeks! =)

5. In the beginning it was so hard to juggle going out with her. She ate often...and could only bear to be awake for an hour and a half intervals at most. Everyone is excited to see and "play" with a newborn. However, if she ate, was dry, and up for a short time...it wasn't long before she would start to lose her stamina...becoming cranky. I would suggest not to let them get overstimulated. If they are tired, give them the chance they need to rest...after all...that is the signal they are giving you to meet. They aren't a bundle of laughs...yet...but soon!!!

6. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Slowly I would see her sleeping spells stretched longer. What a difference it was to get a 5 hour stretch every few nights. Her naps became more routine and I could predict how much time I had left before she was ready to crash. As they say, when a baby yawns, they are already overtired. I saw many a yawns!

Our 5 month old has outgrown her infant stage and is now all "baby". She is animated, sitting up, grabbing at any object within reach, and enjoying each waking moment. However, she now enjoys her crib when it's time to sleep. I think she sees it as her down time and haven. Although from 4 weeks old, when we started using her crib, she would go down with hardly any resistance at night, naps were another story. She seemed to prefer her swing. Every other day I would try the crib but she would fight it. Then, as soon as she started flipping onto her belly to sleep, the swing would not do. She wanted to be in her crib. Success!

We still use the swing for catnaps...but when she's ready for her scheduled one, it's her room she prefers, and that works well by me to get stuff done without having to tip-toe around her!

To sum it all up, with minimal guidance, Abigail did work her timing out. While I did take her lead, I also picked up quickly on cues and was quick to respond. When I see she's tired and it's around that time...I start the sleep routine and she knows her needs are met. In retrospect...I wish I was forewarned that the first 2 weeks would not be my own. I wish someone said I would sleep more during the day when she napped then at night. But we survived, she thrived, and here we are all sleeping through the night...not a creature stirring...ok except maybe our two cats and the glow from her video monitor on my dresser.

(Photo above was taken of her in her swing on a chilly April morning..explaining the sea of blankets!)