Alone At Last

I guess I really shouldn't say "at last" because I really enjoyed having some help here. My mom was here the first week, then Chris' the second. It was nice to have someone here to hold Amelia when I was hurting or just too tired. Its just good to not have to worry about "entertaining" someone when you just really don't feel like doing anything. I wasn't worried about that so much with my mom as I was with Chris'. I could just tell that she was bored out of her mind. We're also able to let Amelia cry a little at night now. I felt bad about her doing it while they were here, and its not like she could do it while Chris' mom was here. Sometimes she was in there with Amelia before I was even out of bed.

Amelia's starting to do a little better at night. We've had a couple of nights where she slept for 4-5 hour stretches. Those nights were so nice. I'd put her down fully expecting to be woken up an hour later, but, to my surprise, I would be woken up hours later. Last night, however, she was back on her 2-2.5 hour sleep stretches. She's not really on any kind of schedule, which probably isn't helping too much. But its hard for her to have feed/wake/sleep time during the day when she falls asleep right after feed time. And believe me, there's nothing that will wake up an infant when they don't want to be awake, short of pouring cold water on them. Everyone says "tickle her feet, rub her face, blow on her." Those worked for a little while, but she has caught onto that game. When she falls asleep now, she's asleep. And I'm kind of to the point where I don't really want to wake her up after she's asleep. And its hard to have feed/sleep time at night when she's still awake when she's done eating and then has gas for 20 minutes. Then after we finally get over the gas, she gets the hiccups for 15. She yawns the whole time with the hiccups, and the second they are over, she's wide awake.

Friday afternoon was our first time really alone. And it was not fun. I think she was going through a growth spurt or something. She was wanting to be fed every hour. Then she would be gassy, and I couldn't walk around with her cause I was sore. So she would be fussy in my lap. Then she'd need to be changed and fed and it all started over again. Finally after 4 hours, I'd had it. I put her down in the pack n' play, and ten minutes later she started crying. I of course was crying as well. I called Chris, and he came home to both of us crying. Hers stopped right when he picked her up. Mine continued for the rest of the night. I was really feeling those "postpartum hormones" that day. I think Amelia realized she had pushed me too far that day cause that was the beginning of her "good" nights.

We had our first full day alone on Monday. And I learned a very valuable lesson that day. Don't hold your child on your lap when they haven't pooped in over 24 hours. The result isn't pretty. I've got pictures cause I had to show Chris when he got home, but I won't post them. It would probably gross too many people out. This isn't the first escapade I've had with her and diapers though, its just the worst, so far. Now anytime we hear her having a dirty diaper, we put a changing pad or burp cloth underneath us and just ride out the storm, hoping that it won't get on us. I'm just glad that I didn't "get dressed" that day cause I would have been pissed if she got that on my jeans instead of my pajamas.