Last weekend was my sister's wedding. And I heard from quite a few people how much they love reading about our adventures. This I know was a really nice way of saying, start writing again you slacker! Okay, I am sure no one thought slacker. But it's kind of how I feel seeing as I just looked and my last post was in JULY!
A lot has happened since July. One of the biggest, and worst, things that has happened is that my baby went from a sleeps through the night baby to a doesn't ever sleep baby. And the only thing worse than a baby that doesn't sleep, is a baby who USED to sleep. Maybe it was a growth spurt, maybe it was switching to sleeping in the crib, but whatever the cause, we don't sleep anymore.
At Vivian's 6 month appointment, which was exactly a month ago, the doctor basically said there was no reason for her to still be waking up every 3 hours and it was time to get tough. We went through a "cry it out" phase with Evelyn, so I wasn't opposed to the idea. I had been planning it myself, just hadn't really put it into effect.
So I made a plan. That weekend we would implement cry it out. Steve and Evelyn were both going to be away (maintaining their sleep was one of the main reasons I ran every time I heard a cry). It was just Vivian and me. Mommy and baby. It was on.
I caved. There is just something about hearing a baby cry in the middle of the night that is just impossible to ignore.
Steve got home, I got amped up to try it again. 20 minutes of crying it out. Screaming...not just whining. There was a problem. The problem was a growth spurt. When I finally went in there she ate like she had never eaten before. And again 3 hours later. And this went on for a few nights. When I was finally sure that the growth spurt was over, I geared up for crying it out take two. A night or so into round two...Vivian came down with her first cold. I couldn't very well let her cry it out when she was already completely congested, so there we were up again every three house. About two weeks into the "cry it out" fight, and Mommy was losing big time.
Cold cleared up. Round three was going to be a Mommy win. It had to be. But suddenly instead of up every 3-4 hours, we had a night that we were barely getting 2-3. I was beside myself. Then I reached into her mouth the next morning (which happened to be wedding day) to pull out something she stuck in there and felt...a tooth! I mean, come on! Growth spurt, cold, now teeth??? This kid was using every trick in the book!
She cut two teeth that weekend, and I was thinking that was it. It was time for a breakthrough with the sleeping. And I was right. She slept for 5-6 hours for the next two nights. The only problem was that apparently she pulled her big sister into her little game, and Evelyn was up every 3-4 hours for the next few nights.
At this point, it's been a month and there is no real progress. Last night I geared back up again for a round of crying it out. 2:00 rolled around and she started crying, then screaming. What could she possibly need? What could she throw at us that she hasn't pulled yet?? Poop. A nice two am poop. The kind that requires a complete jammie change. And for some reason there were no wipes in her room. The extra packs are all in Evelyn's room (why...WHY???).
And that brings us to today. I have no strength. One of these days Mommy has to get a win in, right??
