"MY CUP RUNNETH OVER": 8 weeks old already?!?!

Introducing my best friend.....

the box fan!

Remember how I told you about the vacuum cleaner??? Well, I love this thing just as much, if not more! It won't calm her down if she's crying, but it puts her to sleep in minutes most of the time. Before, she fought sleep really bad sometimes. For about 20 minutes after I could tell she was starting to get sleepy I would have to rock her while patting her butt, until she finally gave in and went to sleep. She would fuss and thrash around the whole time until she finally fell asleep. It would be so funny because she would be yawning and her little eyes would be so red, so I KNEW she was sleepy, but she just didn't wouldn't go to sleep. She would be so miserable, but just fought it for some reason. You could always tell when she was getting sleepy, because she is normally so pleasant and will just lay there and kick and look around, and if you talk to her, she will smile at you. Once she started to get sleepy though, she would get super cranky. Nothing you did would make her happy. Now that I have this fan, she pretty much goes right to sleep. All I have to do is lay her on my chest and turn the fan on. No more bouncing/rocking/patting most of the time. Getting her to sleep is almost effortless now. Not only will she go to sleep a lot easier, but she will sleep more soundly. It's loud enough to where it puts her to sleep, but not so loud to where you can't hear the TV or hear her crying if she wakes up. The vacuum works wonders when she's crying, because she immediately stops when you turn it on. There were quite a few occasions where I had to turn the vacuum on to get her to sleep, but I hated it because it was so loud. Sometimes after she fell asleep, I would turn it off and she would immediately wake back up. I was getting so tired of the vacuum that I actually bought a CD from Amazon with nothing but the sound of a vacuum on it. The box fan is so much better though! I actually like it myself and think that I will turn this on anytime she is sleeping from here on out. It just drowns out all the noises in the house without being too loud. Let me end this rant by saying, please don't get the wrong idea. Anderson is a really good and sweet baby most of the time. She just has some issues with fighting sleep, as do a lot of babies. Since the discovery of the fan, there have been a couple of days where she pretty much didn't cry AT ALL. She may have fussed a little bit when it was time to eat or something, but that was it. I will FOREVER be grateful to my mom for thinking of it and bringing it over for me to try. It has made everything so much easier! I only hope it stays this way.

Anyway, onto the more important stuff. I weighed her yesterday morning and she weighed 13.6 pounds! I have a feeling by the time we go to the doctor for her 2 month check-up (she will actually be 2 months and 6 days), she will be over 14 pounds. In the past week, she has gone from eating 3 1/2 ounces every feeding to 4 ounces and occasionally 5. She used to eat 8 times a day (every 3 hours), but is only eating 6-7 times a day now. Thankfully, she is going about 6 hours every night without eating and sometimes 4 hours during the day. She usually eats around 9:00 at night and goes to sleep, then will not wake up to eat again until around 3:00-3:30, then again about 6:30-7:00. Last night she actually SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT for the first time! She ate about 9:00, went to sleep around 10:00, then didn't wake up until 5:30! When I woke up, I was so confused that I had to sit there for a minute and think about if I had gotten up to feed her and not remembered it. I can't even begin to tell you how nice it was to get 6 1/2 consecutive hours of sleep. It has been over 2 months since that has happened! I'm hoping she'll continue that, but if not, at least I'm only getting up once in the middle of the night now. Once is much better than the 2 or 3 times you have to get up in the beginning. I already miss her being that little, but I do not miss the sleep schedule!

Last night was a big night for us! Not only did she sleep through the night, but she also nursed. She has done this a few times in the last couple of weeks. I think she would do it more if I was there during the day to work with her. I am going to try and work on it this weekend, because it would be so nice if I only had to pump at work and she would nurse when I was at home. Since she's eating fewer times a day, I'm pumping fewer times a day, but it would still be nice to not have to do it while I was at home. I'm so glad that I didn't totally give up and would still try to get her to nurse occasionally. It just goes to show you that she knows how to do it, but she's just stubborn! If you are pregnant and plan on breastfeeding/pumping, please know that yes, it takes extra time and can be frustrating, but stick with it and it will eventually get better. I know that 6 weeks ago I felt like all I did was pump, and pump, and pump some more. It seriously was my life. I had made a commitment to myself that I would do it for at least 6 months, but 6 weeks ago I was wondering how in the world I was going last that long. I felt like I didn't have time for anything else and all I did was pump. Now though, I only have to pump 6 times a day and it isn't bad at all. Would it be easier if she would nurse all the time? Yes, but it still isn't bad. Just know that it does get easier and easier, and although 8 weeks feels like an eternity away in the beginning, when you are feeding the baby every 2-3 hours, it goes by so quickly. Before you know it, your baby will be sleeping for 6 hours at a time at night. Not judging anyone who doesn't give their baby breastmilk, but if it's something you want to do, just stick with it and it WILL get easier!