Tuesday, November 20, 2012

3 Months Old!

 Today we are celebrating that Emma Lee is 3 months old! (we made it!! woooo!) I remember when we we first brought her home... what a doosy of a first month lol But I hear that its like that for everyone their first night so now that I look back, it wasn't so bad.
Who am I kidding, it was terrible! Trying to nurse with no milk, trying to get a flailing baby to sleep on her back without whacking herself in the head, trying to handle my own emotions that were so out there I could have been from a different planet! But with the help of my best friend, coffee - we made it. I don't think any new mother realizes how much sleep you DO NOT get when you bring a new baby home. I mean all of our lives we've been allowed to sleep (pretty much) when we want, for as long as we want. Well, not anymore! When we first brought Emma home, I had STRICT instructions "back to sleep." Now, I am not trying to make my own rules here, but who really sleeps on their back unless 1.you have a back issue, or, 2.you're pregnant! I had so many nights awake with Emma for hours trying to feed her then so carefully place her on her back so she would sleep. Not so much. We tried everything! we tried propping her on her side, which did work for a time, we tried the pacifier, which she still spits out with her tongue and then kind of looks at me like "yeah right." When we moved to our new house, we were still using her bassinet in our room at night, but slowly I was realizing that we have a BIG baby on our hands. (90th percentile) I was so tired, my eyes hurt, my back hurt, my butt hurt..? I think my body was failing me JUST A BIT. So I tried something, one day for a nap, I had the pack n' play in the living room while I was watching 'A Baby Story' on TLC. <3 I laid Emma on her belly in the pack n' play for a nap and she slept for 4 HOURS!!!!! Light bulbs were blinking on in my brain and angels were singing a little ;)
So, after much debate - (and a lot of nap trial runs) I put her to sleep on her belly one night, and we both slept for a 6 hour stretch for the very first time. Now I know there is a ton of controversy on this issue, I mean, I slept on my belly from day one when I was born - as did most people my age and before. I am still a belly sleeper to this day and why would I deprive my baby of a good night sleep! They are just going to change the rules in another 10 years, so I say - do what works for you and baby. YOU are the mom, I had to tell myself this many times during the first few weeks... who am I kidding, I still have to tell myself this! (And I need hubby to tell me the same) Now I know that belly sleeping is not for every baby, but Emma has great head control, she moves her head all around and holds it up just fine (has from day one) and, she sleeps right next to my bed so that I can be there at a moments notice. I think that God has a plan for everyone, and he will take care of the choices that my heart needs to make because i'll tell you what - being a mom is full of choices! You get to choose the way your baby is raised, isn't that great! I didn't see it that way in the beginning, but I am really starting to :)

So I just wanted to share today, this little lesson that I learned in mommy world!

Happy 3 Months my little Peanut!


Oh, and by the way - Emma has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks!! KNOCK ON WOOD ;)

<3 Taylor

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