Miss Hannah Kate came into this world expecting to be held . . . ALL THE TIME! And in protest, she really didn't sleep at all the first four weeks of her life unless she was being held . . . yes, even at night time! So I spent my nights on the couch just holding her so she would sleep and not scream. We tried everything . . . the cradle, the crib, the swing, the bouncy seat. I even rolled up hand towels and placed them under one end of the mattress in the cradle to see if she would sleep better with her head elevated a bit. That didn't work either. So by the end of four weeks, I was so exhausted. I was lucky to get three hours of sleep a night, which isn't enough when you have a Mason or any 2-year-old for that matter that you are chasing all day long. She finally started sleeping in her crib for maybe an hour at a time in between feedings towards the end of the fourth week. It wasn't much, but at least I wasn't on the couch.
And then Mimi sent Hannah Kate some swaddling blankets. We had tried everything and were willing to try anything! They arrived when she was about 5 1/2 weeks old. I wrapped her up in one of the blankets the first night they came. I nursed her and put her down around 9:30 that night. I, too, went to bed. I woke up and looked at the clock, when what to my eyes did appear but 2:00am! A quick calculation in my foggy brain yielded 4 1/2 hours since I'd put her down, and I hadn't heard a peep . . . so I jumped up and ran to her room to see if she was still breathing. Of course she was! She woke up about 30 minutes later. The next night I did the same thing, and she slept SIX whole hours before waking up to eat. That means Mommy slept SIX whole hours, too! It's now two weeks later, and, with the exception of two nights (one of which was last night!), she is sleeping 5-6 hours at a time now. Hallelujah!
Hannah Kate has a pink swaddling blanket, and she also has a green one with chocolate polka dots and bright green circles on it. When I wrapped her up in the green one for the first time, she looked to me like a cucumber . . . or maybe even a zucchini!
