Now, I know I haven't posted Emmeline's "birth story" yet. Plan on it for this weekend. My bff Courtney kept notes throughout my labor that I will need to refer to in order to really do the story justice. But I feel like I need to start blogging other things or I will forget them. First... swaddling!
Before I got pregnant, I heard Courtney always talk about "Moms-on-Call". I was hoping these were moms you actually call to come raise your baby for you, but turns out it was a video. She first watched this after having her son Berkley and not being able to sleep or function. The "moms" are two nurses who each have several children and decided to share what they know about babies, toddlers and schedules with other moms. They are geniuses I tell ya.
Courtney so kindly gifted us with the "online seminar". We watched the section on "The first two weeks" before Emmeline got here and will watch the rest soon. We figured we just needed to get through the first weeks. They talked about feeding, soothing, and sleeping. Their big push is the swaddle. Now, I know a lot of people think they know how to swaddle, but these moms have a special swaddling method. People have told me that their baby doesn't like being swaddled, but this simply isn't true. Now, Emmeline doesn't seem to "like it" at first, but if I ever do the swaddle just right she will drift off to sleep. She really likes her hands, as most babies do and a few mornings I have found her with one arm out, but it still was not enough to wake her up. She has slept through the night for the past 3 nights, with me being the one to wake her up to eat every 3 hours or so.
I wake her up, feed her, burp her, change her and then she often will cry a bit when she initially feels the blanket being wrapped around her. I am not great at the method yet, but hoping the more I do it the better it will be. Once last night I actually watched her go from cry to asleep by the end of the swaddle session! Some times its not as easy and she'll fuss after wrapping up and putting her in her moses basket, but I'll just rock her for a minute and keep holding her arms down and she's fine. Although, I hope I can eventually just wrap her and put her in bed and she be fine.
But yes, her dad and I are very happy that she has been such a great sleep this first week. I know it may get harder and I know newborns are generally pretty sleepy creatures, but I am just thankful to not be totally exhausted!
www.momsoncall.com
And the Swaddle Designs blanket we use.... http://www.swaddledesigns.com
(it is a really good size!) I also have a lightweight one because she gets quite hot.
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