October 20, 2010
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{let’s pretend that airplanes in the night sky are shooting stars…}
Finally got my wish last night~I slept for five uninterrupted hours!!
Read that sentence again and say, “uninterrupted,” very loudly and with enthusiasm and you’ll capture the emotion I was feeling when I wrote that!
We’ve all had colds round here with these killer sore throats! Even baby.
Well, not sure about the sore throat – she can’t exactly tell me that.
But her little nose has been plugged so bad and I think she gets frustrated sleeping.
After trying to make her comfortable for awhile last night, I finally rolled her on her belly and that did the trick.
All my babies have been big belly sleepers.
They love it.
I admit though, I always feel a bit like I’m breaking a good parent rule when I let them sleep on their belly.
But, in the end I go with my gut over “rules” made by people not raising my kids!
Besides the fact that the medical community is forever changing it’s minds on what those rules are exactly…
Used to be in my mom’s generation you were told to put your baby on their belly.
Then they decided that wasn’t best, so it was the back. Then.. not good either, so onto the side…
and, as one pediatrician told me, switch their positions often so their soft skull will not become indented!
huh?
Then there’s the whole whether to give them a binky or not.
On the second night in the hospital I asked the nurse for one.
She looked at me with this disappointed type face and said,
“Oh, the lactition specialist don’t recommend pacifiers if you’re nursing…”
I felt my eyes drop with a sudden feeling of guilt for even asking.
Then. suddenly remembered something – Hey! Wait a sec… I’m the Mom!!
So I smiled and said politely,
“Well if that lactition specialist is going to come hold my crying baby at 3 in the morning then, okay. If not.. I think I’d like that pacifier.”
And the umbilical chord… used to be you had to put alcohol on it each time you changed them.
Now. nope. u-uh. not needed.
The doctor said they’ve discovered that they fall off just as fast without using the alcohol.
Well, I’m sorry. My baby’s didn’t… I’ve never had one take that long to come off actually.
I started worrying maybe she’d be the only 18 year old with a piece of umbilical chord still sticking out her belly button!!!
So I bought me some alcohol.
Rubbing, that is.
Anyway. yes.. much of motherhood is simply following your gut.
Speaking of which – I’m looking around this place wondering what my 5 hour re-charged energy should tackle first?
Amazing what a little sleep will do for ya!
I’m going this afternoon to get my hair done for the first time in a long time…
not sure what I’m going to do – it definitely needs cut. maybe some bangs? who knows.
Looking forward to it. I LOVE me some nice girly salon time.
Hoping to get up birth day posts soon…
maybe now that I can hold my eyes open without them going crossed I’ll do that.
haPpy wedNesdAy!¸.·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber
Comments (45)
WAAAHOOOOO for sleep!!!! 5 uninterrupted hours is like the mother load when you are sleep deprived!!! I know you are feeling like a new woman today!!!
So sorry your fam has been sick, ugh!
Oh and you are so right on the motherly gut thing…besides, the medical “experts” will change their minds next year anyhow. :/
Sleep yeah! And uninterruped hours they that is a Wahoo! Love the pictures, adorable. Hope everyone in your home is feeling better soon.
You GO Mama! You ARE the Mom and it’s not like you’re without ‘sperience!! =))) Glad you got some sleep.
Yay for 5 hours of UNINTERRUPTED sleep!
I am so with you on breaking all the “rules” with babies. It’s so odd how quickly they change anyways. Somewhere between having each kid something major changes.
I hope your day goes smoothly and that this 5 hours is the beginning of a pattern!
Giggled through the whole post~ I’m so proud of you. Enjoy your bit of girly pampering!
Oh you just crack me up!!! Glad you mother by your own instincts!
An 18 yr old with a umbilical chord would be quite disturbing. My boys both slept best on their bellies as well. I kept blanket’s and pillows away. Did you tell the nurse that? About the pacifier? If you did I will give you a good pat on the back. 
Beautiful baby girl you got! So precious. Now I want one of my own.
Missed the thought of having you here last night and this morning. 
Thought about it all day yesterday how I could possibly have a house full of dear friends here, instead….a messy house and five cup’s of coffee. That is how I pout. lol
Have a wonderful week!!
Oh, I applaud you as a great mom!! I did the belly sleep thing with all of mine…and believe it or not…they survived. (and the whole thing about SIDS with belly sleeping does not wash with me. What about the 2 year old…they roll any way they want). And the pacifier thing…they CAN breastfeed and take a pacifier. REally, they can. I think people just get too fanatical about it.
Yeah for 5 hours of sleep!! Got make the most of it…LOL.
Post pix of the “new do”.
5 hours!!!!! YAH!!!! belly sleeping worked best at our house too and I figured God had a plan and He loved them more then me
. Enjoy that salon time, love, love having my head scrubbed! 
Reese is so precious, and her little sleeper-thingy is adorable! I began to be reminded of those interminable days without sleep because of babies when Mama began not sleeping – ever! Even this morning I was begging God for a way to stay in bed and sleep a little longer! I got up, though, and lived to tell about it!
When I was having babies, it was “put them on their sides with a prop behind their back.” All of my babies quickly moved to their tummies! We would have NEVER laid them on their backs “in the old days” – the idea being that they could choke on their spit-up. Amazing how ideas are always changing! One thing hasn’t changed – God made YOU the mother of YOUR children, and He did it on purpose! No one knows them like you!
Hope you enjoy your bit of energy and your salon day! Don’t overdo!
Sleep is sweet when you get not be interrupted….glad for you!
‘Go with your gut’ yeah! I had a doctor tell me my little 5 # baby was crying because he was “spoiled” and not to hold him so much…………….talk about intimidating a 19 year old Mother 1200 miles from her Mother…..yikes! That was before the ‘do not let them sleep on their belly’. A friend told me to not let him sleep always on their back or his head would be odd shaped and if he’d spit up he’d choke or so her doctor had decreed. And he was most likelyl right in 1965. ‘Go with your gut’ you know your baby better than anyone else does. I do hope she allows you a good night’s rest it helps so much to get through the day when rested. Take care. I appreciate your updates, it brings up those memories when I was a young Mom.
oh, and I LOVE your new header. so preatty. i really need to learn how to do that…..
5 hours is HUGE!! glad you got that much and here’s to many more nights with that much–or more….i must admit that is one thing that gives me (momentary)cold feet about having a baby again is that whole sleep deprivation period, mixed in w/ the weepy post-partum baby blues, and c-section recovery….ugh. i just hated how that all made me feel.
But thankfully it’s not forever. I loved what you said about the contradictory things ‘they’ say. So very true. I think belly sleeping seems much more natural for a lil’ baby, but could never get past my fear of SIDS. Prly would have saved baby some tears along the way.
BTW did i ever mention that it’s always a pleasure when you update?? just sayin.
Yay for sleep, I know how nice sleep is. I’m still not getting a lot of it myself. I just had my son 3 months ago, I was still told to use alcohol. Funny how one doc says one thing and another will tell you something else. I too have learned to go with my gut. That is an adorable little sheep you have there
Such cute pictures! I agree, you have to go with your gut! Jackson would only sleep on his tummy. I always felt a little guilty and paranoid about it, but what can you do??? My pediatrician at the time even said he disagrees with the back rule, because if they are big spitters (which both of mine were) they can choke and aspirate on their back. I love your reply to the nurse about the binky, hahaha. Everyone has their own crazy opinions. One doctor told me my daughter (who was 12 months old) should be drinking more WATER and less breastmilk/formula. Whaaa???? A lactation consultant one time said I should be nursing every 2 hours round the clock til the baby is a year old. cRAZY. Have a great time at the salon, and here’s hoping you will get at least 5 hours again tonight.
Actually, now that I think of it, she was only like 9 months old at the time they said more water.
5 hours! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay for sleep!! I remember the first time my oldest slept through the night. I actually woke up before she woke me up, and then I freaked out that she wasn’t breathing or something and rushed to her crib. She was fine, of course, and I learned to enjoy those rare occurances after that! I totally agree with you about going with your gut as a mother. I got to the point where I would just smile and nod at medical advice, and then go home and do what actually worked! Rubbing alcohol helps the umbilical cord fall off faster and stay cleaner in the mean time. Don’t know how they come up with their “new” reccommendations, but I don’t think it is in a home with an actual baby! Anyway, have a blast at the salon! Oh, and your soft little black and white puppy is cute, cute, cute!!
So happy you got some interrupted sleep!!!
I always went by my gut and I put all three of my babies on their bellies.. they sleep so much better that way.
your pics are adorable!!
Yeah for sleep…. and i’m all about putting babies on their belly’s to sleep. and binky’s. and alcohol and cords dropping off before 18. You crack me up.
I hope the hair turn out the way you want it too… and you will please show us pictures, right? thought so.
Happy energized day to you.
Definatley use the alcohol on the umbelical cord!!!! I learned the hard way about that- they told me NOT to use alcohol on my daughter and the cord started smelling SOOOOO bad. It was soooo embarrassing. The top of the cord dried out and was loose but the underside was still smelly and holding on for dear life. It was awful…. and as soon as I started using alcohol it finally fell off after about 3 days. It was DISGUSTING. Trust me on this.
Reese is adorable.
I hope you post pics of your new hair- I had mine done last night- and I feel so much better. <3 Amazing what a little pampering can do.
wow. . .is she filling out quick. . . love the little cheeks
)
Way to go on the mothering instinct. Love, love, LoVe what you told the nurse! How dumb do they think babies are? They really think they aren’t going to figure out that one kind of nipple gives milk and one doesn’t? Really. Don’t you just wonder how many things they tell you are about avoiding law suits? Like probably some mom didn’t get it and put waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much alcohol (rubbing … love how you clarified that for us) on her baby and burned its skin and now they have to tell every mom to put up with umbilical cords hanging on forever because you can’t use any. When Adam was born you were supposed to use it once right after their bath and his STILL stayed on for 21 days. Kid you not. I thought I’d never give him a real bath. So happy for you on the sleep!! Wahoo!
Isn’t it just *amazing* how *different* a person can feel with several hours of uninterrupted sleep?! It seems that I was at that stage not so long ago, and I well remember! So happy for you! And beautiful little Reese is getting chubby little cheeks! There are few things I like more than babies with little chubbers like that.
Happy pampering… there is nothing quite like it!
aww! sooo glad you got some uninterrupted sleep last night! who cares about the recommended 8 hours we all need a night; any mom knows that what you got last night is just the ticket!!
i laughed at the whole binky thing. i think the more kids you have either the bolder you get, or the more you know that a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do! with my first one, i followed the advice of my lactation consultant and did not give him a binky til he was almsost 3 weeks old, so he would not get confused with the nursing? hello!! guess WHO was the binky during those three weeks of torture!! being a human pacifier is just not all it’s (literally!!!) cracked up to be!
and, the tummy sleeping.
snort.
ah, shoot.
i’ve never said i was a good mom, so….tummy sleepers i have had too. ;O)
GO!!! get some pampering done!! you deserve it big time!! if i was closer, i’d come watch that sweet little Reese while you go!!
happy wednesday!
♥ ya!
Oh look how super cute she is!!!
YAY for a goodnight’s sleep!!! How lovely!!!
I agree with you….”You’re the mom!” I haven’t had a baby in a while, so I’m not sure which position they are saying to lay the baby..back, front, side, upside down. I always broke the “Rule” and put them to sleep on their tummy! They seem to sleep best that way. =)
Hope all your colds feel better soon. =(
Oh yeah, and have a fun haircut! Make sure you show us pictures!
I am so proud of you for sticking up for yourself, Amber!
As precious as the hospital experience is,
it can be just as vulnerable!
and you did it….
You stood up for you!
We had belly sleepers here too.
I always felt a little dishonest at their Dr. appts. when they casually questioned me.
I never had to outright lie,
just kind of skirted the whole issue….
so much for standing up for ME!
Haha! great post! All of mine were belly sleepers, 4 took binkys and 1 thumbsucker! All of them
turned out fine. And now that they are all over 10, they sleep alot more than I do!
I had a nurse in the hospital tell me that I needed to wake them up every 2-3 hours to feed them!!
…to which my pediatrician laughed out loud…he said that he knew of No babies who ever starved
to death because they forgot to wake up to eat
God gave us all wonderful mothering instincts…you are using yours well!
Reese is such a little punkin’ ~
oh my gosh…what an adorable outfit! you are so good for following your mothering instincts, especially if it helps you get some extra rest and peace in your life
.
It is funny how the advice changes over the years and there’s so much fuss about it…when I think we usually end up following our instincts…which usually boils down to whatever works!
I’ve been thinking about you a lot and praying for you with all that you’ve got going on. I haven’t been around Xanga a whole lot lately but you are often on my mind. Hope you all get over your colds soon!
YaY for uninterrupted sleep. It really is THEEE best gift when one is sleep-deprived!
Glad it was only rubbing alcohol–that poor lactation consultant would have more to worry about than binkys if indeed it wasn’t….
my nursed were always more that happy to hand over a binky–I must have had the high-maintenance kind of newborns.:)
Love that little baby.
yay for sleep! It just makes you feel sooo much better!
You are so right, go with the,”I’m the mom”. Now when “whatever” isn’t working, then go for some more ideas. My babies nursed fine, and had binkies at first. Yes, the stomach was the way they had us put them to sleep, or on the side when swaddled, never on the back as they startled awake. When I read that was the preferred way now, I was so surprised.
love those pink little chubby cheeks!
your baby is so stinkin adorable! goodness. wish mine was still that tiny!
but then…what do i know?? 
ha.
yup. mothering is the one time when you finally get to do
it the way you want to. i love the way you made your decision on
the binky.
….and bangs would be super cute on you…would be very young
and mod looking.
hava happy.
NICE! while I’ve never had kids, I know so many that do..and i KNOW that five hours of uninterupted sleep with a new little one is a gem of a gift. so great and i’m sure that extra bit of rest will empower you for the day ahead
I think its probably tough being a mom as far as taking care of the kids…cause you are forever trying to see what your gut says vs what the medical community says and striving to do what is best for them. i guess that most people would like to every now and again have a ‘manual’ at least for some things having to do with kids…but i hear that since every kid is so different (praise God for that!) it would be a difficult book to right.
i’m excited to read about your journey with the Hutch 6 now
hope that you are doing okay with packing and having a new born. how is your heart in all of this. I am selfishly excited that you will be in Ontario, but I also know how hard it is to not only move but to leave somewhere that you have dear ones so close knit around you. i also know this isn’t your first time in Ontario (but i wonder if the kids have lived here…i can’t remember) so i hope that it will be a pleasant experience for you.
you are loved Amber.
I couldn’t agree more- mom knows best! I started putting my babies on their tummy to sleep with baby #4 and he just LOVED it! I was a little nervous but talked to lots of moms w/ many kids and they all put their babies on their tummies. Maybe it has something to do with getting some sleep!!!
After being up for two nights after Abigail was born, I got two hours of uninterrupted sleep and it felt wonderful! Isn’t it amazing how little sleep you can function on with a new baby?
My babies were tummy sleepers too. And they used pacifiers. AND we let them sleep in our bed a lot too (gasp!!) But somehow they are well adjusted elementary age children. Its just amazing
Glad you had a good night sleep!!
i heard all the cheering! so that was YOU with uninterrupted sleep?!!!
i can say that word loudly and with enthusiasm. i kinda remember those days!
yes indeedy! that is definitely something to celebrate!
lovelovelove what you clarified with the nurse! i am a little weary of all the f.e.a.r.
communicated these days over things like binkies and baby swings and whether or not your baby likes organic okra.
i think that if the binkie means braces or whatever they are so afraid of down the road
that they are worth every doggone penny! howabout it?! babies and mommies are so much better
at being babies and mommies with REST!!!
and i had two belly sleepers too. so many things that i was scared To DO…
were the same dang things that another generation was scared Not To Do!
like parenting isn’t hard enough!
i am wishing that i could skuh-weeze your little Reese!
please, whisper in her sweet ear that one of your hugs is from me!
Once you’re on your 4th kid…turns out you know quite a lot yourself…from experience. And I agree…a lot of times its best to trust your own judgment. Cuz ask 3 different people and you’ll get 3 different answers a lot of times anyway.
And if it makes you feel any better…all my kids had pacifiers. And I’m sure they had them long past the recommended age. And none of them ended up with buck teeth.
LOVED your response to that nurse. That’s the kind of humor to have when mothering.
Adorable pictures. No doubt about it – sleep is the drug of choice for the mom of little ones.
SO GLAD you were refreshed enough to post for us all! oh! i adore little reese! just wanna hug the puddin’ outta her! XOXOXOXOXO
YEAH!!! 5 hours is great!!!! i remember my first time of 5 hours…LOL granted i was miserable cuz i was needing to nurse her..but the sleep was great!!! hope u enjoyed ur time of pampering…Yes go with ya mother instinct. God gave it to us with good reason..=)
momma’s know best!
My Sarah sleeps in any position she wants, just as long as she’ll sleep! Last night I couldn’t get her to settle down so I put her in the swing, covered her up with blankies, turned it on and off to bed I went. She slept 5 hours in it, swinging. LOL