Arms up
I have never seen a newborn who sleeps this way before. It is so funny. Somebody told me that when a baby sleeps with their arms up/out like this it means they are content and secure. That seems to be the case with Baby E.
We're hitting a bit of colicky spell in the evenings now, but other than that baby E seems to be happy and we're on our way to getting established with feeding and sleeping routines. Starting breastfeeding is always really difficult for me, but it seems to be getting a bit better already after a week. I'm still really tired, but DH is letting me rest a lot and that's helpful. Today I let him take a long nap because he's exhausted too.
We're using a monitor that goes under the crib mattress and senses movement, so it would go off if she were to stop breathing or when we take her out of the crib and forget to turn it off. That has been wonderful for my peace of mind and allows me to sleep through all the little noises and her irregular-sounding infant breathing.
A and M are still enjoying Baby E. I'm impressed that they seem to have picked up fairly quickly on what a newborn is like and don't seem to be disappointed that she doesn't do much besides eat, sleep, fill her diapers and look around.
Speaking of diapers, I'd forgotten that something so tiny is capable of dirtying 6 diapers and 2 changing table covers in a 10-minute time period.
The girls are doing well, although both are showing some signs of stress and fatigue.
A's classic anxiety outlet is showing up again--she suddenly gets very stressed about toilet training at bedtime and spends a lot of time in the bathroom because she's afraid she's going to have an accident. We've never made a big deal of accidents, but she lies in bed and thinks about needing to use the potty until she drives herself nuts and wears herself out going in there every 10 minutes. She ends up crying and crying, and sooooo tired she's falling asleep on the toilet. It's so hard to figure out how to help her relax about it. She's been nighttime trained for many months, but whenever she gets stressed it becomes an issue and she begs to go back to pullups.
M is also working on nighttime training. This week she figured out how to put on her own diaper (not pullup--regular diaper) by opening the diaper, sitting down on it and pulling the tabs up at the sides. We decided if she is old enough to put on her own diaper she's probably old enough not to need one, LOL. DH is waking her up to use the toilet just before we go to bed, and that seems to be working well.
A likes the baby ok, but M is absolutely in love. She was very upset today when DH took the girls shopping and they had to leave the baby at home. She hovers over the baby constantly and wants to hold or touch her all the time. When she gets upset about something she runs to the baby for a hug.
A has been going out of her way to be helpful with picking things up, bringing me a glass of water, etc. She is so sweet. Today at quiet time I heard her go in and tell the sleeping baby, "It's quiet time now, so I have to go in my room. Don't worry, Mommy and Daddy will take care of you."
I'm reading to the girls a lot while feeding the baby, and that's worked out well. Today during one feeding session they sat through the entire first chapter of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle even though there were only a couple of line drawings in the book. They seemed to enjoy it, so we'll read some more of it tomorrow. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and her cures for everything from "Won't-Pick-Up-Itis" to "Never-Want-to-Go-to-Bedders" are great fun. I loved Mrs. P-W as a child and it's fun introducing her to my kids.
DH started reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm with them yesterday, too, so we'll enjoy finishing that. He made the observation that Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is very much like Anne of Green Gables. I had to go check, and Wiggins wrote about Rebecca in 1903, so we're guessing L.M. Montgomery may have been inspired by Wiggins when she wrote Anne of Green Gables in 1906. The stories really do have a lot of similarities. I'd be interested in anyone's thoughts on this if you've read both books--what do you think?
We're hitting a bit of colicky spell in the evenings now, but other than that baby E seems to be happy and we're on our way to getting established with feeding and sleeping routines. Starting breastfeeding is always really difficult for me, but it seems to be getting a bit better already after a week. I'm still really tired, but DH is letting me rest a lot and that's helpful. Today I let him take a long nap because he's exhausted too.
We're using a monitor that goes under the crib mattress and senses movement, so it would go off if she were to stop breathing or when we take her out of the crib and forget to turn it off. That has been wonderful for my peace of mind and allows me to sleep through all the little noises and her irregular-sounding infant breathing.
A and M are still enjoying Baby E. I'm impressed that they seem to have picked up fairly quickly on what a newborn is like and don't seem to be disappointed that she doesn't do much besides eat, sleep, fill her diapers and look around.
Speaking of diapers, I'd forgotten that something so tiny is capable of dirtying 6 diapers and 2 changing table covers in a 10-minute time period.
The girls are doing well, although both are showing some signs of stress and fatigue.
A's classic anxiety outlet is showing up again--she suddenly gets very stressed about toilet training at bedtime and spends a lot of time in the bathroom because she's afraid she's going to have an accident. We've never made a big deal of accidents, but she lies in bed and thinks about needing to use the potty until she drives herself nuts and wears herself out going in there every 10 minutes. She ends up crying and crying, and sooooo tired she's falling asleep on the toilet. It's so hard to figure out how to help her relax about it. She's been nighttime trained for many months, but whenever she gets stressed it becomes an issue and she begs to go back to pullups.
M is also working on nighttime training. This week she figured out how to put on her own diaper (not pullup--regular diaper) by opening the diaper, sitting down on it and pulling the tabs up at the sides. We decided if she is old enough to put on her own diaper she's probably old enough not to need one, LOL. DH is waking her up to use the toilet just before we go to bed, and that seems to be working well.
A likes the baby ok, but M is absolutely in love. She was very upset today when DH took the girls shopping and they had to leave the baby at home. She hovers over the baby constantly and wants to hold or touch her all the time. When she gets upset about something she runs to the baby for a hug.
A has been going out of her way to be helpful with picking things up, bringing me a glass of water, etc. She is so sweet. Today at quiet time I heard her go in and tell the sleeping baby, "It's quiet time now, so I have to go in my room. Don't worry, Mommy and Daddy will take care of you."
I'm reading to the girls a lot while feeding the baby, and that's worked out well. Today during one feeding session they sat through the entire first chapter of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle even though there were only a couple of line drawings in the book. They seemed to enjoy it, so we'll read some more of it tomorrow. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and her cures for everything from "Won't-Pick-Up-Itis" to "Never-Want-to-Go-to-Bedders" are great fun. I loved Mrs. P-W as a child and it's fun introducing her to my kids.
DH started reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm with them yesterday, too, so we'll enjoy finishing that. He made the observation that Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is very much like Anne of Green Gables. I had to go check, and Wiggins wrote about Rebecca in 1903, so we're guessing L.M. Montgomery may have been inspired by Wiggins when she wrote Anne of Green Gables in 1906. The stories really do have a lot of similarities. I'd be interested in anyone's thoughts on this if you've read both books--what do you think?
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 12:29 AM[Permanent link]
11 Comments:
so sweet! :)
I actually have never read that book.
Our older one slept arms up. Our younger one RUNS arms up LOL. I understand the potty training vs. new baby thing. I tried really hard to avoid it, but the older one wanted to do that in conjunction with moving--counter to all good advice. But getting through the night took another year.
I am glad that all is well in the Purple home. You have your hands full and you still blog. How I admire you!
awww...my youngest one sleeps like this too. she is beautiful!
Muffin Man slept like that.
Funny you should mention the similarities between Rebecca and Anne. Once upon a time, long long ago, I contemplated writing a dissertation on landscapes of childhood in Maine and the Maritimes: Wiggins, Montgomery, and Elizabeth Bishop.
Good thing I never got around to graduate school, I guess...
She is absolutely beautiful! She looks so peaceful sleeping.
Very cute - both mine slept this way. I never knew it meant anything :)
Anne of Green Gables and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm do have some similarities, but I thought Rebecca was somewhat dreary and less entertaining. Marilla is a much more likeable character than Rebecca's stern aunt, and IMO Anne is much more likeable and charismatic than Rebecca.
I just finished reading AOGG to my girls and all of us enjoyed it. I don't have any desire to read ROSF to them, although it may be better than I remember (I haven't read it since I was around 11 or 12).
That picture is absolutely precious. :)
Your reference to potty training and accidents brought to memory experiences with my second child. She walked early, talked early, was sweet, cooperative and potty trained like a dream. But even after mastering the entire routine, she would have aggravating, random, accidents. Even as she got older, she frequently wet at night and slept right through it. She wore a diaper at night and plastic cover under the sheet when she graduated to a regular bed.
To get her out of diapers, not to mention mounds of extra laundry, I tried everything from rewards, scolding, no water before bed, waking her to go and even bought an expensive alarm that I never actually used. As long as I was vigilant, it helped, but it was exhausting and I couldn’t sustain it.
I can’t remember how old she was, maybe four when she developed a bladder infection and was referred to a urologist. After a round of antibiotics, he did a dye test with a catheter and took x-rays. (She survived the test with flying colors and no distress. I’m the one who turned to jello.) It was found she has no valve between her bladder and one of her kidneys. Without it, dye went all the way up and into this kidney. The doctor explained that when urine backed up like this, it would irritate the kidney and cause a sudden need to urinate.
Boy, did I feel bad for ever scolding her, minimal as it was.
The doctor said she would probably improve with age. I can’t remember what it was, but for awhile we had something from the doctor for this. Perhaps a test for, or front line treatment for, any sign of infection. Whatever it was, I think we may have used it once, max.
Now she is a young married woman who recently completed her B.A. with honors and scholarships. Yet even as an adult, though very rare, if she gets overloaded and emotionally exhausted, she may have a night accident. She queried me about this before she married and when I told her about the missing valve, she was surprised. She didn’t remember anything about it except being teased at school when some girls discovered she still wore a diaper at night. The guy married her anyway : )
Though I was not a bed wetter, some of my siblings and my mom’s side of the family were rife with bed wetting and other kidney issues.
All this may be irrelevant to your little one. However, though my daughter took most of this in stride, the anxiety I see in statements like, “she's afraid she's going to have an accident” resonate. My daughter literally had moments of no control from out of the blue. This could make anyone a little jumpy. Unfortunately, as demonstrated even in her adult life, stress aggravates the problem.
I sympathize with you and your daughter and the mysteriousness of it all.
Hi, Anonymous . . . thanks for sharing that. It is an interesting thought since kidney problems definitely run in my family.
BTW, next time you stop by I'd love it if you'd sign your post with some sort of a username (it doesn't have to be your real name) and use it consistently on my blog so I can recogize you. :)
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