Sleep Training a 6 month old

Well ladies, I must admit - I expected to post a couple of these before I went to bed last night. I was sure I would need the extra motivation - but I must say, my little sleep trainer fooled us all! I read the book, I called my bro for tips because he has done this before, talked to friends, family, etc. We all expected one very long night. The minimum was 2 hours of screaming before she finally gave up. So, at 9:45, i brought her in her room. We put on a fresh diaper, a onsie and a sleep sack. We read a book and said our prayers. Then, I laid her down and said, "Goodnight Cadence. I love you" and went on my way. I stood at the door for a couple of minutes before I heard the screams from the other side. 5 minute wait begins. at 10:07, i checked on her. Laying in the middle of her crib, screaming away. I did exactly what they tell you to do. Showed neither anger nor concern. Simply made eye contact, and said, with as straight of a face a brokenhearted mommy could have, "Cadence, go to sleep" and walked right back out. Then begins the 20 min wait. It's truly amazing how long 20 mins can be. This is were the doubts start to sit in. Can she do this? Is she ok up there? Is she hurt? Will she sleep without her paci? Bad mom tessa you are a bad mom for letting her scream this way!!!! At exactly minute 20, I started my journey upstairs...when over the baby monitor i hear.....nothing. No whimpers, no moans...silence. At this point, even dh is wondering if she is just choking or something....Mind you, there is nothing in the crib but a baby and a sheet on the mattress. The bumper is weeved in and out of the posts so there is just no way she could have pulled it onto her face...but choking on spit, throw up, anything that could have entered her mouth in the past 20 mins. Here comes a mommy and daddy delima. The book CLEARLY states, that at the end of a 20 min period, if the crying has stoped, not to go in there. Shes falling asleep on her own. It's what you want - if you interupt this process now, there could be more crying. But its only been 25 mins....not even close to the 2 hrs we expect....so i give in. I'll b the worlds worst mom if I don't check on her and soemthing IS wrong. As I walk into the room, I see cc is def not where I left her. She had pushed herself, still on her back, all the way against the crib. Her head was against the only exposed post on that end of her crib...and then the FTM worries kick in - did she hit her soft spot? Is she going to be ok? We had just suffered thru 25 mins of pure agony - I don't want to wake her and make it all have happened for nothing. I slide her down into the middle of the crib, and she barely even reacted. When dh and I went to bed, we opened her bedroom door and ours. Monitors on, and waited to see if she would cry for us in the middle of the night because no ones there to rock her, because she has no paci, because her brain is going to swell out of her skull because she rammed her head against the posts!!! I did check on her at 4 am, and she was still right where I left her and totally asleep. Then, at 8 am, we woke up, totally refreshed and wondering...why didnt she cry? did we really in fact hurt her tiny little head? As soon as I mumbled - "Go check the baby, she hasnt woke yet" - cc make a bit of a cry over the monitor. Our precious angel had offically put herself to sleep, and stayed asleep for 9 and a half hours. She woke up full of smiles to see us and is sooo happy right now.

Day 7 of infant flu 5/6/09

Today, CC had her 4 month check up. Glad we scheduled it for today, so that she can get checked out for this flu. She didnt have a temp when we went so thats good. 12lb 13.65oz and 23.5 in long. Dr says even though shes sick, she can get her shots. So we did that. 5 shots in all because the usual combo shot, they were out of. So she had to get each vaccine seperately. that was just great. She didnt cry as much after these, so thats good. She slept most of the day, and when she wasnt sleeping, she wasnt happy. She ate dinner and went to bed early tonight...lets hope tomorrow is better.

Day 6 of infant flu 5/5/09

Well, her fever doesnt happen at night...seems strange to me. I know because I got up every 3 hrs last night and checked. At least I will get a full nights sleep tonight. Maybe Although she is fussy, that's ok. We will do what we need to do in order for her to feel better.

Day 5 of infant flu 5/4/09

A few days ago I asked if the seemingly betterness of cc was her actually getting better - or the calm before the storm...and now i know...it was the calm.

Today cc started her fever. This am i took her temp, 97.9 . Thought we were going to get lucky. Fed her breakfast, played, but the fussiness presisted. So, i thought, ok fine, i'll do the temp again. Sure enough, 99.6 . I braced myself for the worst. Found the tylenol bottle immediately - and then thought....how much?! The bottle only lists for 24lbs or up - and cc hasnt taken tylenol since 2m - so obviously her little body could handle a bit more - so the dr i call. Nurse says .08 for 12ish lbs. asked a few more obviously first time mom questions before getting off the phone. Then i remembered a question i forgot to ask. o well right?

So, off and on all day, back and forth - 99.6 highest so far - 98.0 being the lowest during the tylenol dose. We are continuing that...praying the storm will pass soon.

Day 4 of infant flu 5/3/09

Today was interesting. At first I thought all was totally wonderful...then out of no where the fussing was NONSTOP for almost 2 hrs until she finally knocked out. Her temp was low, 96.1 and no one tells u what to do with a low temp. So i called the 24 hr nurse advice line - 30 mins later no one had answered, and i had worked myself up so much - i called the on call dr. She was very nice, tho obviously just waking up - said to keep her bundled with the hat on her head, and just take her temp again in the am. Hopefully tomorrow will b a better day...right?

Day 3 of infant flu 5/2/09

Well, believe it or not - today was better...the morning was full of snot and yucky - but then, the evening - nothing...no snot, no boogers...no cough. pretty interesting. Still sleeping with the cold humidifier, upright in her swing. She even talked to us today. That hasnt happened much lately. She just doesnt feel good enough to entertain us with those coo's and tiny chuckles. But she did...then off to dreamland she went after watching tv. Pictures will follow. It was adorably halarious as she just laid there on the bed, staring at the HGTV's rate my space...she may be a designer one day. Who knows.

So my question is...is she better? or is this the calm before the storm? stay tuned...

Day 2 of infant flu 5/1/09

Called pedi as soon as I woke up. No appointments - of course. I am a first time mom, who just so happens to also have extreme anxiety and worry issues - and yet- u want to tell me that u wont see my daughter?! her first flu...her first runny nose...her first cough - and u wont see her? even to tell me that things will be ok?!

Nurse says humidifier, saline drops in the nose, suction out the snot - but no more than 4x a day. Tylenol or Motrin if theres a fever...thats it? No miracle drug to make this better? No, she'll be fine. No, I'll take it all away in five minutes and make this better?

Then of course, the question..."do you breastfeed?" each time i hear this, its like someone stabs my heart....did i try? OF COURSE...did i want to more than anything else? DUH could i? no...y? sure, it was probably partially me. I could have, should have done more research. Taken a class...something. I should have been more prepared. I should have known better - i should have done it. I should b nurturing my daughters tiny little body with the stuff God intended for her...but the answer is no. ok? everyone out there, the freaking answer is NO! No, i am a failure at what I should have been able to do by my God given right - NO - i cant give my child the antibodies that she needs to NOT get sick...no no no no no....

She did ok. She ate every meal. Not as much as usual, but who can blame her? Def a little more fussy, def not as easily pleased - but all in all, she's still smiling, still playing with her toys, still trying to become hannibal and eat those fingers...still my little girl right?