I Win Mother of the Year

I failed to blog about my child's 1st birthday! Bad Mommy!!

Davis ended up being sick for his 1st birthday, poor kid. The doctor thought it was a mild case of rotovirus and on top of it he had a cold (so did I) In fact, my cold is still hanging on, it is almost gone though. We had his party scheduled for Saturday, March 20, but had to re-schedule for Sunday, March 21. He felt well enough Sunday that we just went ahead with it. Our friend Angi made us two awesome cakes, one for the adults and one for Davis to smash into. (Angi has a fan page on Facebook called How Sweet It Is)

Here are a few pictures from Davis' special day:

That's How He Rolls

Thanks to cousin Amy for this sweet t-shirt! She gave me a bunch of her son's old clothes before Davis was even born, I love this t-shirt and it finally fits him!!! I've been waiting over a year for him to be able to wear it.

Same Jacket, Different Year

1 Month Old - April 2009


1 Year Old - March 2010

Bittersweet

One year ago today my water broke. I remember that day like it was last week. I had just finished scrubbing my house from top to bottom a few days before and was ready for relaxation for the next 2-3 weeks as my due date was still a few weeks off and since I was convinced I'd be past my due date I had a long road ahead of me. I was pretty uncomfortable that morning, I was experiencing some cramping, lots of what I thought were braxton hicks contractions, tiny little episodes of what I thought was peeing myself and my legs felt really weird like they could give out on me. But, I was a first time mom and no first time mom's have babies early. I even called my OB's office to tell them what was going on but they put me on hold and I got scared and hung up. I thought, eh, this is not it and I don't want to be a crazy lady. I went on about my day, I baked 2 loaves of banana bread that morning, cleaned my entire house, went to the grocery store, went to the library for a few books to keep me busy while I awaited my due date and cooked a big mexican dinner. It was during the cooking of dinner that I started feeling really awful. I didn't say anything to Jeff though, I just dealt with it. That evening I sat down to watch Grey's Anatomy and it happened, a big trickle and almost a weird internal "pop" feeling which is hard to explain unless you have felt your water broke. I got to the bathroom and GUSH! Uh-Oh I thought, THIS IS IT!!! I'm not going to type out the rest of the story because I already did it before, so to entertain you here is a link to my actual birth story that I typed a few days after Davis' early arrival (16 days early to be exact)

THE BIRTH STORY

Ferber Update - Day 6

Davis had swimming today, which he loved by the way. I figured he'd come home and take a really long nap as it was exhausting, but he napped for 50 minutes. He crashed at bedtime, in fact he fell asleep next to Jeff on the family room floor. Whe changed his diaper while he slept and gave him a little bit of formula too, but he only drank 3 oz. He was in bed by 8 p.m.

Tonights waits were as follows: first wait is 30 minutes, second wait is 35 minutes and subsequent waits 40 minutes

2:16 a.m. I hear major crying from his room, oh boy, he is really upset. I really almost got up and rocked him. I kept thinking about those long waits and was convinced that because they were so long and he was so upset from what I could hear that I'd be up until 5 a.m. Ferbering. 2:18 a.m., complete silence. Huh??? He went from a total mess to silence. Nah, he is gonna start up again, 5 minutes later, still silence. I go in to check on him, he is really out of it, the blankets are all messed up but who cares, I'm not fixing them he will live without them.

He woke up for the day at 7:20 a.m.

SUPER SUCCESS!!!!

Davis has slept all night for nearly 12 hours each night for two nights in a row. I cannot remember the last time this happened. I know it was before December though, December is when our big sleep problems started happening. I'm starting to think this Ferber thing does work, if you can get through it, it works. I'm a believer. If you are having any sort of sleep issues with your child, do it, you will see results.

Tonight is our 7th night of Ferber!!! It went by really quickly, let's hope we get a 3rd night of all night sleep in.

Tomorrrow Jeff and I are headed to Cleveland for a weekend getaway sans baby!! Woo hoo!!!

9 Days Later

I found this post from last year.

Funny, my water broke exactly 9 days later.

I remember Jeff went out of town the weekend after I lost the plug and neither of us were really worried. I mean, I kinda was, but you know first time moms have babies way, way overdue and I was sooooooooo gonna be one of those. You know, the one sitting in her OB's office begging for an induction, a c-section, anything, just get that kid outta there!!!

Ferber Update - Day 5

Davis had a great day today, despite the fact he had mommy up a long time the night before and woke up waaaaayyyyy too early. He attended Kindermusik and was beat afterwards so he got a nice, long nap. I'm starting to think a good nap is the key to better sleep at night, but that is just a theory, after reading this you will see why. He had no bath tonight as he was going swimming the next day and I figured that would be his bath (yeah, I'm one of those now). Jeff joked that I should take my baby shampoo with me and scrub him down. haha Okay, back to Ferber.

Tonights waits were as follows: first wait is 25 minutes, second wait is 30 minutes and subsequent waits are 35 minutes.

Well, folks, we had no waiting. Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!!! Davis slept from 7:30 p.m. until 7 a.m. What a success!! I cannot really remember the last time he did that, he did do it the night he had surgery, but he truly was not with it so it doesn't count because he was drugged. I heard him wake up several times, fuss slightly, but after a few minutes fell back asleep. Has he learned to self soothe??? I'm starting to wonder, time will tell!

Ferber Update - Day 4

Davis went to bed like usual, he had a bath around 6:30 p.m., we turned the lights down and relaxed afterwards until he started showing signs of being tired around 7:30 p.m. He took his entire 7 oz. bottle before bed, so I thought yep, he is gonna sleep good tonight.

The day 4 wait times are as follows, the first wait is 20 minutes, the second wait is 25 minutes and subsequent waits are 30 minutes.

Davis woke up at 2:15 a.m., I had to let him cry for 20 minutes, I went into his room and rubbed his back and said soothing things to him for 2-3 minutes, he did start to fall asleep, but my time was up and I had to go. The next wait was 25 minutes, this wait was pretty hard because it was the longest we had waited yet. I went in after 23 minutes (I just couldn't stand it anymore), I rubbed his back and said soothing things again, he fell asleep, but woke up a few minutes later. But now we get to go back to the minimum wait, he fussed for 20 minutes, I went in and rubbed his back and said soothing things for about 4 minutes (yes, I went over) but in my defense I went over because he really was falling asleep and I knew just 1 more minute of me rubbing his back would have him out and I was correct. This entire process took me until nearly 4 a.m.

He decided to wake up a mere 2.5 hours later. Joy! I was exhausted to say the least.

I suppose this night was a success in the fact that I didn't cave in and rock him, but I felt like this was the worst night we had yet. It took the longest to get him back to sleep.

Ferber Update - Day 3

Day 3 of Ferber was a pretty good night in my book. The wait times for day 3 are 15 minutes for the first wait, 20 minutes for the 2nd wait, 25 minutes for subsequent waits.

Davis did not nap but for an hour this day so I was sure he'd sleep all night. We gave him his bath around 6:30 p.m. and he was already rubbing his eyes. After his bath we had about 10 minutes of relaxation time and he was cranky, ready for bed. I got him a 7 oz bottle and he fell asleep around 7:15 p.m. after only drinking 3 oz.

3:38 a.m. rolls around and he is crying like a mad man. I got up and went out to the couch for the 15 minute wait, Jeff also got up. After 15 minutes I went into his room and rubbed his back for 2-3 minutes while telling him to go sleep and that I loved him. He fell asleep! Woot!! He woke up for the day around 7:30 a.m.

Success!!!

Ferber Update - Day 2

Last night did not go as well as Saturday night, but I expected as much. We gave Davis his bath around 6:30 p.m., he had a little oatmeal at 7 p.m., we turned the lights down and had relaxation time around 7:30 p.m., he started rubbing his eyes not too long after that so I got a 7 oz bottle of formula ready and he was out by 8 p.m.

Davis slept from 8 p.m. until 3:15 a.m. and woke up crying.

Day 2 of Ferber, the first wait is 10 minutes, the next wait is 15 minutes and subsequent waits are 20 minutes.

I went out to the family room for the first 10 minute wait, of course Jeff didn't think I was up and I could hear him in Davis' room. I yelled out quietly to him, ugh, he was in there soothing Davis. So, he stopped, came out to the family room to wait with me. After the 10 minutes were up, I went in his room and rubbed his back and re-assured him he was fine and told him to go sleepy. He kept crying. My 2-3 minutes were up and I left. I then decided for the 15 minute wait to use the computer to pass the time, after the 15 minutes were up, I went in and rubbed his back, told him to go sleepy, etc... Ugh!!! Still crying!!! I had to leave because my 2-3 minutes were up. During the next wait which was now going to be 20 minutes he fell asleep. Success!!! Not so fast. My husband just had to go check on Davis which woke Davis up. More crying!! But since Davis fell asleep, according to the Ferber plan you start back over to the minimum amount of wait time. During those 10 minutes Davis managed to fall back asleep. I did feel like this night was a success because I really stood my ground about not going in there and scooping him out of his crib like I wanted to. I felt really good about myself and felt good that after an hour Davis did manage to fall asleep on his own.

He slept until 9 a.m.!!

Ferber Update - Day 1

Last night was our first night of the Ferbering process. It was fairly successful and I hope tonight goes just as well. I'm also weaning him from the night bottle along with trying to get him to be a better sleeper. He no longer needs a bottle before bed, he is going to be a year in a few weeks and I have to do it sooner or later.

Davis was in bed last night by 8 p.m., sleeping soundly. Around 10:30 p.m. he started crying, aaaahhhh, okay I thought, time to crack the whip. I got my cell phone out and started timing, it was brutal to hear him cry, but honestly after the first 2 minutes he simmered it down to a whine. After our 5 minutes were up I went into his room for the suggested 2-3 minutes of calming, reassurance. I re-adjusted him, covered him back up, rubbed his back and said in a soothing voice, ssshhh, go sleepy baby, sssshhh go sleepy baby, I said this over and over again. He fell asleep. I stood there in shock, walked out of his room grinning ear to ear!!! He did it!! He did it!!! He did it!!! I was praying he did not wake up anymore and he did not, he awoke around 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Phew!!

Day 1 of Ferber = SUCCESS!!!!

Ferber

Davis had a succesful surgery, he no longer snores, he is breathing happily through his NOSE and seems much better as far as breathing is concerned.

One thing surgery did not fix was his inability to fall asleep on his own. This has become a huge problem in our house, we knew it was a huge problem, but we have been waiting until after his surgery to do something about it.

Enter Ferber.

I know many sleep solution books are "forbidden" by some moms, but we cannot live like this anymore, Davis doesn't sleep well, I don't sleep well and neither does Jeff. The 3 of us cannot survive on 4 hours of sleep per night, yep, you got it, between all the wake ups we pretty much get 4 hours a night, sometimes we get lucky because Davis is exhausted from many nights in a row of disrupted sleep that he will sleep 8 hours, but like I said, that is after many nights (think 7 or 8 nights of little sleep). Lack of sleep is not only terrible for adults it is even worse for infants and toddlers. After Kindermusik today I dropped Mr. Sleepless off at my mom's house for a few hours, went to the library and got my books written by Richard Ferber.

Tonight is night one. Well, sort of. I did put him to bed with a bottle. The bottle and being rocked by mommy is his crutch. He is currently asleep, but if tonight is a typical night he will wake up sometime between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. The first wakeup we are to wait 5 minutes, then go in for 2-3 minutes and pat his back and assure him it is ok, after those 2-3 minutes are up we leave again, if he is not asleep in 10 minutes we go back in, repeat the 2-3 minutes, if he is not asleep then, we leave for 15 minutes, we repeat the 2-3 minutes, if he is still not asleep we leave again for 15 minutes, at this point we keep repeating this until he finally falls asleep. We might be in for a long night people!!!

The other thing I'm doing is weaning him off his bottle crutch, I've decided to use the guide in Richard Ferber's book for this. I just don't think I can take that bedtime bottle away cold turkey so tomorrow night we will only give him 7 oz of formula rather than 8 oz. On night #2 he gets 6 oz., night #3 he gets 5 oz. and so on until no more bottle. By night #7 he will get 1 oz. and then hopefully we are done with the bedtime bottle. I'm not going to have one of those kids that still carries a bottle around at 3.

I will be writing another post tomorrow as a follow up to how our night went.

If you are interested in reading a truly successful Ferber story, check out my friend Jene's blog, she did it and after re-reading her blog entries for like the hundredth time I'm confident we can do this!! I know if we can get through the first few nights it will be so worth it in the end.