Patterns

Last night was a good night. Bailey slept through the night, only waking every 3 hours or so for her feedings. We are all feeling pretty good this morning. Now, if we can only figure out how to get her to sleep comfortably when she's not with us, in our arms or in our bed!!! We're giving her the first two weeks. We keep putting her in her bassinet and letting her stay there for a while. We give her a few minutes to try to self-soothe, but she's just too young for us to expect much.

Around week 3 or 4, we'll move her into her crib and start pushing a real pattern. Until then, we're just going with the flow and getting rest when and how we can. It's working for all of us...

Bailey is going to be a formula-fed baby. My milk struggled to come in because of the surgery and the anemia that followed. Also, I kind of gave up. I was feeling so overwhelmed by having to feed her formula while waiting for my milk and pump when I wasn't feeding her to preserve and promote my supply. I know that it's ideal for a child to drink breast milk, but there is a point where my sanity is equally important. If Momma is going crazy, the detriments to Bailey will be worse than just feeding her formula.

It's interesting how things change when confronted with reality. However, in true Mikki-fashion, I refuse to feel guilty. Kelly and I have made the choice that is right for our family and for our child. Now that we've worked through the pros and cons, I'm comfortable with the decision.

Maybe the next baby will have a different outcome.

Simple patterns are starting to emerge, and it's wonderful. We can predict when Bailey will wake, based on when it's time to eat. We are learning how to catch her before she gets really wound up...thus helping her keep sleeping (a trick that worked WONDERFULLY) last night. I've said it before, but we really are starting to get the hang of this...