Sleepless in Greeneville
Journal Entry 5 - January 6, 2013
After a good "first night", we had a good day at home with our little man. Colton's great Mamaw and Papaw Bishop came to visit him and that was the highlight of his day. The rest of the day he just did baby stuff (eat, poop, sleep and be super cute). I was starting to feel the lack of sleep from the past several days and Colton had switched from waking up every 3 hours to every 2 hours to eat. Since I'm breastfeeding, I can't really tell how much milk he is actually getting. Because my milk supply hasn't come in fully, he is eating more frequently and I'm hoping he's getting enough to fill his little belly. As the day went on, I found myself stuck in the "feeding position" on the couch for more hours out of the day than I care to count. That time with him is precious and I know it won't last long.
By evening time, Colton started getting very fussy and that didn't change right up to bedtime. He is such a good baby that I knew something was up. He only cries (knock on wood) when he's hungry or needs a new diaper. He doesn't take a pacifier, he's a self soother. He's just a really, really good baby. So as the night went on, he would eat and then about 5 minutes later, he would cry, fuss, whine and not sleep. As the time got up in to the early morning hours (3 and 4 AM) and he was still not sleeping, I checked everything. I checked his temperature, his diaper, offered a pacifier, changed his clothes, checked to see if he was hot or cold, massaged his belly and back thinking it might be gas and nothing satisfied him.
Colton did so great with breastfeeding in the hospital that we never went over any other options for feeding him. It was something we were going to talk to Dr. Woods about during his 1 week check up appointment, so I had in my mind that as my milk was coming in, he was still getting enough to eat through breastfeeding. By 5:30AM and going on NO sleep with a very unhappy baby, I was about to pull my hair out. I wanted to cry right along with him because I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my sweet, pitiful baby. Finally, I figured it had to be that he was still hungry. Because I was desperate, I fixed a bottle with formula and prayed that he would 1) eat it and stop crying and 2) not be allergic to it. He sucked that bottle down like a champ, burped and went sound to sleep. I cried. How could I have taken to long to figure that out? It was so simple and I felt like a horrible mom for keeping him hungry for so long.
I guess because I'm not used to hearing him cry, it made me hurt for him. His little nose was all stuffy sounding, his cry was raspy and hoarse and he felt warm (even though he didn't have an elevated temperature). I think he was just worked up from all the crying and it hurt my heart to think that all I had to do was feed him. I learned an important lesson during the long, sleepless hours of this Sunday night - I have instincts and I need to listen to them (the sooner the better)!
After a good "first night", we had a good day at home with our little man. Colton's great Mamaw and Papaw Bishop came to visit him and that was the highlight of his day. The rest of the day he just did baby stuff (eat, poop, sleep and be super cute). I was starting to feel the lack of sleep from the past several days and Colton had switched from waking up every 3 hours to every 2 hours to eat. Since I'm breastfeeding, I can't really tell how much milk he is actually getting. Because my milk supply hasn't come in fully, he is eating more frequently and I'm hoping he's getting enough to fill his little belly. As the day went on, I found myself stuck in the "feeding position" on the couch for more hours out of the day than I care to count. That time with him is precious and I know it won't last long.
By evening time, Colton started getting very fussy and that didn't change right up to bedtime. He is such a good baby that I knew something was up. He only cries (knock on wood) when he's hungry or needs a new diaper. He doesn't take a pacifier, he's a self soother. He's just a really, really good baby. So as the night went on, he would eat and then about 5 minutes later, he would cry, fuss, whine and not sleep. As the time got up in to the early morning hours (3 and 4 AM) and he was still not sleeping, I checked everything. I checked his temperature, his diaper, offered a pacifier, changed his clothes, checked to see if he was hot or cold, massaged his belly and back thinking it might be gas and nothing satisfied him.
Colton did so great with breastfeeding in the hospital that we never went over any other options for feeding him. It was something we were going to talk to Dr. Woods about during his 1 week check up appointment, so I had in my mind that as my milk was coming in, he was still getting enough to eat through breastfeeding. By 5:30AM and going on NO sleep with a very unhappy baby, I was about to pull my hair out. I wanted to cry right along with him because I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my sweet, pitiful baby. Finally, I figured it had to be that he was still hungry. Because I was desperate, I fixed a bottle with formula and prayed that he would 1) eat it and stop crying and 2) not be allergic to it. He sucked that bottle down like a champ, burped and went sound to sleep. I cried. How could I have taken to long to figure that out? It was so simple and I felt like a horrible mom for keeping him hungry for so long.
I guess because I'm not used to hearing him cry, it made me hurt for him. His little nose was all stuffy sounding, his cry was raspy and hoarse and he felt warm (even though he didn't have an elevated temperature). I think he was just worked up from all the crying and it hurt my heart to think that all I had to do was feed him. I learned an important lesson during the long, sleepless hours of this Sunday night - I have instincts and I need to listen to them (the sooner the better)!
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