goodbye to the magic...almost

I am currently on the floor of Charlotte’s dark nursery typing this blog as quietly as i can, my fingers moving very slowly and the computer as dimmed as it can go while letting me to still see what I am typing.

The past month here has been pretty good as naps are concerned.  We were concerned that all of our travelings would mess up C’s sleep schedule, but she did pretty good.  Although Charlotte has only been here a short four and a half months I can remember each month very clearly. (People say when you have a baby you block out/forget all of the trials and difficulties, but I remember all of them perfectly well.  Evidently, I am still knee deep in the craziness.)  Anyways, Charlotte's report card for napping goes something like this:

Month 1:all she did was sleep: A

Month 2: did a good deal of sleeping on us and in swing: B

Month 3: would not sleep unless touching someone and would only fall asleep after 30 minutes of bouncing, shushing and yes, sometimes the electric slide: D

Month 4: one three hour nap in the morning, one hour in the afternoon in her crib: A

We were doing great, I was having some free time, all was well and then at our four month check up (which actually happened when she was 4 1/2) the pediatrician dropped the bomb on us, NO MORE SWADDLING!  Now, Charlotte has been swaddled from day one, the first time I saw her she was tightly swaddled, I am convinced she came out swaddled.  She started being swaddled in two hospital blankets, moved to two bigger blankets when she out grew the previous, moved to swaddlers when she outgrew the previous and then we found the magic blanket...and boy was it ever magic!  With the combination of a noise machine that friends suggested to us and this huge houdini wrap we were in business cranking out some great sleep.  As soon as we have found our groove the doctor says that we have to start transitioning away from it!?!?When I anxiously asked the doctor will she ever sleep again she kindly replied, “never”, with a smile and that is all that was said.  I did not want to seem incompetent so I let it slide and decided to deal with it later.

Well after watching little C almost roll over in her crib while being swaddled on several occasions I am terrified that she is going to get rolled over on her tummy and not be able to get her back over.  So transitioning is what we have been doing for the past three days.  Transitioning is exhausting, for me and Charlotte.  She has gone from cumulatively four hours of naps a day to maybe one hour if you add up all the five minute increments.  Thus is the reasoning of me sitting on the floor in a dark nursery.  In the twenty minutes that I have been writing I have got up, shushed, replugged and laid hands on (and I will admit praying) five times.  That averages every four minutes.  

Yesterday I actually tried doing tasks in between running up and down the stairs and it did not work, you can’t get much done in four minutes.  Needless to say the magic is over, the magic blanket is currently wrapped around her body under her armpits making her look a lot like a mermaid.  This is my peebrain, feeble attempt at trying to make her feel somewhat normal.

Later that afternoon.

So after 90 minutes of honestly a failed attempt this morning, we came downstairs for a shower and lunch for myself.  Only being downstairs for one hour and Charlotte was so cranky that we came back up to try again.  I fed her (although she has not been eating much due to the fact that she keeps falling asleep while eating) and laid her down in her bed and I quietly laid down in the guest bed, 40 minutes later, we had a successful nap, or so I thought.  When I went to her room she gave me a quick smile and then began to cry and the crying would not let up no matter what I did...different positions, standing up, rocking, even trying to get her up and dressed.  SHE IS JUST SO TIRED.  So in a fit of desperation I swaddled her, this is her third day of crappy naps and the poor thing is just completely tuckered.  

Right now she is asleep in her crib all strapped down houdini style once again.  After telling Jay of all of our napping woes last night he suggested maybe just try with one nap a day and then we can move to two.  Maybe we will start his idea...poor baby...so tired.

Hopefully in the near future I can blog about my un-swaddled baby, a sleeping baby without the use of a magic blanket, but not today.  It is 3:30 and I have already logged in three hours just on the carpet of her nursery.

-melissa