Someone is growing up. He has slept in his own crib, in his own room, for the last four nights now. Three of those nights, I slept in the twin bed in his room, on standby for any frequent night wakings due to the new environment. Last night, I slept back in my own room, with Benjamin. I was sad, sentimentally so. Jax has been sleeping inside me, next to me, in my arms, or in my room for over a year now. It's the first night we spent apart.
Day 1: Me in twin bed, Jax in crib. Nursed to sleep in my arms, put him in crib and he woke up. Fussed and cried off and on for five minutes and fell asleep. Heard him sucking on his blanket and stuffed animal while putting himself to sleep. During the night, he woke every two to three hours. I expected this. Total time in bed, eleven hours, minus multiple wakings to nurse.
Day 2: Me in twin bed, Jax in crib. Nursed to sleep in my arms, put him in crib and he woke up. He screamed bloody murder for three minutes before I picked him up and nursed him to sleep again. During the night, he slept for six hours, nursed, then slept three hours, then stayed in the twin bed with me for three more hours, sleeping and nursing in spurts. Total time in bed, twelve hours, with six-hour-straight chunk, minus two wakings, including three hours of nurse/sleep/nurse/sleep.
Day 3: Me in twin bed, Jax in crib. Nursed to sleep in my arms, put him in crib and he woke up. Fussed and cried off and on for five minutes and fell asleep. This time after he fell asleep, and I checked to see how he had fallen asleep, I found him on his back, surrounded by his blanket and stuffed animals. They had been in the corner of the crib, and he pulled them close to him. I flipped him onto his tummy so he would sleep better. During the night, he woke three times, spent one or two minutes coughing (his prelude to crying), then put himself back to sleep. Sometimes on his tummy, sometimes on his back. During the night, he slept for seven hours, nursed, then slept two hours, nursed, then slept two more hours before waking for the day. Total time in bed, eleven hours, with a seven-hour-straight chunk, minus two wakings.
Day 4. Last night. Me in my own room, Jax in crib. Nursed to sleep in my arms (in his room), put him in crib and he woke up. Fussed for only two minutes and fell asleep. Slept for nine hours straight (8:00 p.m. last night to 5:20 a.m. this morning). I woke up in the middle of the night at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:15 a.m. At the last waking, I couldn't go back to sleep. At 4:30, Benjamin woke up to get ready for work, and I sent him into the baby's room to be sure Jax was still alive! We had tested the baby monitor before Jax went to sleep the night before, so I "knew" it was working. But I hadn't heard a single peep from him on it all night long, and it had been over eight hours. Benjamin checked on him, and of course he was still alive, sleeping soundly. When Jax finally woke up at 5:20 this morning, I was desperate for him to nurse, so I got in the twin bed in his room and pulled him in with me. After nursing, he slept two more hours before waking again to nurse, then up for the day. Total time in bed, eleven hours, with a nine-hour-straight chunk!
Now if I could just get my own body to stop waking up all night long and sleep for nine hours straight, we'd be in business.
So....I'm a bit sad. A bit sentimental. Especially last night as I put him down in the crib and left his room. As I laid in bed with Benjamin, wishing Jax was still in the room with us. It was, of course, nice to cuddle with Benjamin, and nice to wake up on my own, without a baby telling me when to wake up.
Between 4:15 and 5:20 this morning, I couldn't sleep at all. I finally turned on the lights and did some devotions, which was wonderful. Then after Jax woke and nursed, I slept again for the next two hours until a bit after seven when he woke for the day.
I guess we're heading into a new season. A season where he sleeps longer at night, and I eventually get used to sleeping longer at night as well. I know there will be teething, and sickness, where he will get me up again during the night, and that will be okay. I've survived thus far.
And honestly, I'm really grateful that I haven't had to do anything too extreme to get him to sleep (yet). Hopefully, I won't have to. I've never had to let him cry longer than ten minutes at bedtime, and that was only necessary a handful of times, when he was exhausted and already crying in my arms anyway, so I just put him down.
We're still working on naptime, but that is much improved as well. I'm so grateful to be home with him, to not have to worry about whether I'm exhausted or not from being up in the night. To be able to follow his cues, and gently, gradually, with much prayer, help him sleep longer and longer at night.
And as to our outfits, well, they're comfy and cool. We're staying home today, doing laundry, making Flan de Coco (coconut flan) for my co-worker's birthday, cooking parts of some meals, maybe hitting up the grocery store. The kind of stay-at-home-mom day I look forward to. Especially when it keeps us indoors out of this incessant heat! Fall will be here soon.....
HERS | Blouse Old Navy | Tank Old Navy | Shorts Old Navy | Shoes Crocs Adrina Flip | Necklace, gift, vintage (and one Jax's very favorite necklaces that I wear, as he grabs the round ball into his fist and sucks on the beads and chain).
