Another Milestone!

August 29, 2010

For the past week, I have been trying to get Jack back on a regular eating and feeding schedule.  Well, actually, it would be more correct to say that I have been trying to get him on any schedule, at all, not back.  I did lots of research on how to set up and keep a schedule with a baby, from books, to magazines, to websites, to my never-fails-baby-guru, Aunt Katie.  I finally decided that a baby-led schedule was what we had been doing, and it was most definitely not working for me.  I also decided that a completely mommy-led schedule wouldn't work, because Jack is fairly unreasonable at times.  So we went with an amalgum of the two, and worked together on it.  Basically, there are things I want to accomplish during the day, and I look for Jack's cues as to when to do them.  For example, he has to eat, sleep, play, and have an outing.  I worried that it would take forever to get him on a schedule that would work with my own eat, sleep, play desires, but to my astonishment, within two days, Jack was fully on board, and last night..........

JACK SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!  And I don't mean the 5-hour block that all the books say will be how a baby "sleeps through the night."  I mean a full 7 and a half hour sleep through the night!  I was completely amazed!  And if I had been able to leave him alone for the whole night, I would have been well rested, too.  But of course I had to get up to check on him three times to make sure he was breathing.    At one point, I watched him stretch out his little arms and legs, past where they would have previously encountered the ever-shrinking bassinet he had been sleeping in, and I swear his face seemed to say, "whoa!  My new digs are huge!"

To make it even better, Jack slept in his nursery, and I slept in my own bed.  For the first time ever!  We were upstairs, and I had taken a cooler with bottles up there in case he woke up, but we didn't even need them!  I just can't believe how well it all went!  When I woke up, the sun was up, and my phone was alarming with a text, and that's the only reason I woke up.  It was glorious!

So now that Jack has shown that he is capable of sleeping through the night, I fully expect him to do so every night for the rest of his life.  That's how babies operate, right?  I'm home free, yes?  We'll see how that goes, right?

Tomorrow morning (Monday), Jack has an appointment with his cardiologist.  This visit will mark six weeks since the last heart cath.  Hopefully, the EKG, oxygen saturations, vitals, and his heart sounds will be great.  We continue to pray that his heart is "relaxing" and that the pulmonary valve is opening well, and that everything, in general, is doing what it's supposed to be doing.  Basically, that "his ticker's ticking like they say it should."

Also, on Tuesday, Jack will be 20 weeks old!   He continues to thrive, and amaze me with is strength and reslience.  I don't know that I've ever been sure of where I'm supposed to be in life, or what I'm supposed to be doing, but at least now, I know with whom I'm supposed to be living.  This is the best life, for sure.

Love
Maggie