~I Think it Was My Fault~

I just love "AHA" moments. I had one yesterday morning.

Josef had his four month checkup on Wednesday and I mentioned to his pediatrician that he had been sleeping through the night (midnight to 6AM) consistently for over a month, but has been waking up every three hours again over the last few weeks. I feel like I have a newborn again, and I am exhausted.

She suggested that maybe I was getting him up too soon and that I should wait until he's really crying before going in to his room. If I have to go in there she said not to feed him, but offer a bottle of water if necessary.

So, I had resolved to take her advice and not feed him that night (I already don't go in there unless he is crying, but I did try to let him cry awhile longer that night). He went to sleep for the night about 11:30, and by midnight he was crying. I waited, and he just cried harder. So, I went in and rocked him for a few minutes and he fell right back to sleep. Victory.

Or so I thought.

Just as I was drifting off the crying started again - 12:35. Waiting did no good - he just screamed.

Rocking did no good - he screamed louder.

The boy was HUNGRY.

Since he will hardly even take a bottle of breast milk anymore, I knew a bottle of water was out of the question. So an hour into the great experiment, I gave up and nursed him until he fell asleep. 1 AM and I was back to bed.

2:30 AM.

He is crying.

2:35 AM.

He is screaming and I am exhausted and ready to cry myself.

This is not working.

Rocking him was useless. After nursing for a few minutes he started to drift off.

And then I remembered...

When he was a newborn I had to work to keep him awake during feeding. If I did, he slept longer.

So this time I made him stay awake until he finished one breast and then tucked him back into his crib. He slept until 6:45. And I slept until 6:45.

And then I remembered....

He started sleeping through the night when I started giving him a full bottle of breast milk at his 11 PM feeding. I haven't been doing that lately because he hasn't seemed that hungry and simply breastfeeding seemed to be enough, but why?

Then I had my A-HA moment.

In late October I had some stress related milk production issues, so I went back to demand feeding to re-establish my milk supply. Also, it turned to winter here in the Frozen Tundra and we have been spending our evenings in the family room with a fire in the fireplace just being together as a family. And during that time he has fallen into a routine of having several short feedings and little catnaps all evening long. Since he has snacked and napped several times during the evening, he is not that hungry at 11 PM, nor is he that tired.

Yep. I did it. I let him snack and catnap all evening, and cost my self a night of sleep. Or many nights of sleep.

So yesterday I went back to scheduled feedings and didn't let him nap after dinnertime. He nursed at 8PM and then took a full 4oz bottle of expressed milk and nursed from both sides at 11PM. He slept NINE HOURS STRAIGHT last night!!

I just love A-HA moments. And sleep.

Thankful Thursday - Girls Night Out

I had a very special treat this week.

I had an evening out (without Jojo) with a few very special childhood/high school friends and sisters in Christ.

(From left to right: Me, Elissa, Anita, Suzanne, and Christy)

With the exception of Elissa, who I see about once a year, I hadn't seen them since Elissa's wedding 14 years ago.

We met for coffee, or my case orange juice, Tuesday evening and it was so wonderful to see how everyone has grown to be such wonderful women of faith.

What a wonderful blessing friends are, and I rejoice at the thought of spending eternity with them.

Thank you to Iris at Grace Alone for hosting Thankful Thursday this week.

Thankful Thursday - Christ in the OT

Isaiah 9

6 For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 

 

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;

And when we see Him,

There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And they made His grave with the wicked—

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

11 He shall see the labor of His soul,and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,

And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,

Because He poured out His soul unto death,

And He was numbered with the transgressors,

And He bore the sin of many,

And made intercession for the transgressors.

************

This week I am celebrating the fulfillment of the first advent prophecies while looking for the second.

Happy Thankful Thursday and Merry Christmas everyone!

Thank you to Iris over at Grace Alone for hosting Thankful Thursday this week.

Saturday Snapshots

This week started with a lot of snow, so Jojo and I spent most of the week inside.

We love our new sling (http://www.sevenslings.com/).

Jojo is figuring out how to use his Johnny Jump Up.

Share the snapshots of your week at an ordinary mom.

Thankful Thursday

Jojo has been so happy and smiley this week. A happy baby truly is a blessing!

Psalm 127:3 ESV

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Thankful Thursday is being hosted by Iris at Grace Alone this month.

Saturday Snapshots

Loving the new hat!

Eating his hand...

Eating his blanket...

And back to loving the new hat...

Yes, he's entered the "everything goes staight into the mouth" stage.

Check out An Ordinary Mom for more Saturday Snapshots.

Thankful Thursday

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the LORD

and put their trust in him.

Psalm 40:1-3

Sometimes the Scriptures speak my heart far better than what I can express in my own words.

Thankful Thursday is being hosted by Iris at Grace Alone this month.

The Rainbow Cake Revisited - Not Me Monday

Alternately titled "Yes, I'm Another Year Older"

Do you remember this?

(The Rainbow Cake December 2009)

This was last years birthday cake, which I made for myself just a little late.

After someone posted a cute song on my Facebook wall this morning about putting another candle on the cake I thought I would make myself a birthday cake on my birthday this year.

Then I remembered.....

The rainbow cake is *not* STILL in the freezer.

Of course not. I would *never* leave a cake in the freezer for a whole year.

(The Rainbow Cake December 2010)

And I most certainly did *not* take the cake out of the freezer and decide it would do for this year as well.

Oh no...*not me*

-Though Mckmama is no longer hosting Not Me Monday, I think I will post my own from time to time; it's just too much fun.

Word-Filled Wednesday

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

-Matthew 11:28

Check other Word Filled Wednesday posts here.