Archive for October, 2007
What a Difference a Chair Makes
Getting Natalie to sleep is still a project. She’s not the type of baby we can put in the crib when it’s bedtime and expect her to go to sleep by herself. Most nights I nurse her to sleep, sometimes I nurse and then Chris walks her. Even when she falls asleep nursing, I cannot unlatch her. Sometimes she will sleep sort of half-nursing for a long time until she finally relaxes enough to open her mouth.
Not only does she need to be put to sleep, but she must be in a DEEP sleep before we can put her down. If she’s only in a light sleep, she will wake up and cry the second her body hits the mattress. She must be laid down ever so gently, then we have to practically lay on top of her for a few moments before slowly pulling our arms out from under her. This whole process makes transferring her into a crib impossible. So for a while she was sleeping on our mattress; just this week we put her mattress on the floor next to ours.
On a good night (rare) this whole process takes 10 minutes. On a really bad night, it can take up to an hour and a half. Usually it’s about half an hour. Every night I remind myself to be patient and not try to unlatch her or put her down before she’s ready. And every night I get impatient at some point, try to speed up the process by doing one of those things. This makes Natalie cry and take even longer to fall asleep. Then I chastise myself and think that if I were more patient, the whole affair would be easier and take less time. Finally, I vow that the next night, I won’t try to rush it.
I was getting upset and frustrated by all of this—about how long it took Natalie to go to sleep, but more so by how impatient I was. Chris, being more patient than I, was 100% more successful than me in terms of not putting her down until she was completely asleep, which didn’t make me feel any better. I did a lot of soul searching about why I couldn’t just enjoy some quiet time with Natalie before bed. I questioned over and over what my hurry was and why I was impatient when I know I have the ability to be very patient in other situations.
Last Tuesday, I figured it out. The rocking chair I nurse Natalie in is really. really. UNCOMFORTABLE!!! I’m not sure how it escaped me, but it finally dawned on me that my butt hurt, my back was killing me, my legs ached and my neck was like a ball of knots. Duh! I’m not impatient, I was just in pain! No wonder I couldn’t wait for Natalie to fall asleep.
The rocking chair was inherited from my mom, who inherited it from her great-aunt Ida (I think). I was very excited about rocking Natalie to sleep in the same chair that my mom rocked me to sleep in. Not only did they give us the chair, but Mom and Smoky very generously took it to a “furniture doctor” to be fixed up before Natalie was born. That’s all very sweet in theory, but I’m not so sentimental that I’ll continue to sit in an uncomfortable chair.
So we decided to buy a glider and ottoman. I’ve used it two nights now and getting Natalie to sleep has been a breeze. It doesn’t necessarily take less time, but I’m happy to sit with her as long as it takes. It’s so comfortable that I can relax, put my feet up and lean my head back, neither of which I could do in the rocking chair. Last night I actually fell asleep too! I have no doubt that Natalie was picking up on my tension, making it harder for her to fall sleep, and now that she feels I’m relaxed, it’s easier for her to peacefully drift off.
Now I’m kicking myself for not getting one sooner. There are other benefits to the glider besides my own comfort. One, it doesn’t make the floor boards squeak when it rocks. Two, it has padded arm rests, so I don’t have to pick up or adjust a blanket every few minutes to make sure that Natalie doesn’t hit her head on the wooden arms. And three, it doesn’t make terrible squeaks and cracks when I stand up, making a much smoother transition from the chair to the mattress.
What a relief!
Ten Months Old!
Wow, does time fly. Seems like yesterday we were writing about Natalie turning nine months old…
Chris took a series of pictures yesterday evening, so they are a bit blurry due to low light. I just love the expressions he caught, so I don’t care. Natalie was very happily playing on the new toddler slide Grandma got her. Thanks, Grandma!
Natalie standing on top of her slide, looking like she’s on top of the world:
Here is a close-up of Natalie mid-laugh:
In this photo you can see how vigorously Natalie likes to wave. It looks like she’s frowning—not sure why:
I love this picture, because Natalie looks so happy and content. Plus it was really humid so you can see her beautiful ringlet curls. Looks like she’ll have Dad’s blond hair with Mama’s curls:
To pump or not to pump?
I’ve been debating about whether or not to continue pumping so Natalie can have breast milk while I’m at work. Natalie is eating enough solid food that she only gets one bottle each day I work, so that’s only 3 bottles per week. The bottles are mostly for comfort and for aid in getting her down for a nap, not really for hunger.
On the one hand, it really isn’t that hard to pump at work. I am extremely lucky to work for a feminist organization where I feel totally comfortable pumping at my desk and can schedule my clients around when I need time to pump. Plus I worked really hard to pump enough breast milk so that Natalie wouldn’t need any more formula, since we used it to supplement when I was struggling with thrush and when I first returned to work. It’s not like formula is evil or anything, but it is expensive and feels unnatural. I felt a certain pride about Natalie only getting breast milk for the past 5 months or so. For these reasons, I felt like I should just continue to pump.
One the other hand, pumping is kind of a pain (literally and figuratively). Not only does it take time from my day at work and make scheduling clients tedious, but when I get home from work, I need to hand wash all the parts to get the pump ready for the next work day. Also, Natalie is still nursing around the clock, so she’s getting plenty of breast milk. There’s no harm in her getting formula three times a week as a supplement. So there’d really be nothing wrong with not pumping anymore and using formula as a supplement when I’m away from Natalie.
Neither side of the argument felt compelling enough to outweigh the other, so I’ve been going back and forth, unable to figure out what I truly wanted or what I felt was best for Natalie. Then my pump broke! It fell off the counter and I didn’t even realize it was broken until I went to work the next day. Freud would say there are no accidents, that I must have left the pump in a precarious place unconsciously. Others might say it was a divine intervention.
Whatever, I’m just happy to not have to wrestle with this decision anymore. I had a Lansinoh Double Electric Pump that cost $150—actually pretty cheap compared to other electric pumps—and we’re not replacing it at this point.
After talking to lots of other moms and the nurse at Natalie’s pediatrician’s office, I realized that Natalie can have cow’s milk as a supplement. That eliminates the problem of using expensive, unnatural formula. Today she had her first taste of organic whole cow’s milk (in a sippy cup). At first she seemed to like it and drank a lot quickly, but then after she ate some peas, she didn’t like it quite so much. Natalie is accustomed to having water with solid food, so perhaps the milk was just too thick to wash down her food with. We’re going to watch her over the next few days for any signs of lactose intolerance and then see how she likes the milk in a bottle from Grandma.
Natalie looking unsure about the cow’s milk:
Okay, now she’s definitely not happy about it:
