Sleep Training Night 1

Our Daenerys is sixteen months old! Life turns very busy with a little one. Our new adventure is sleep training because she still gets up an average of three times per night. I bought a book by the Sleep Lady called Good Night, Sleep Tight and it sounds more gentle than a straight cry it out method. I still feel uneasy about letting her cry at all over sleep though, so it'll be tough. We had been doing story time in the living room and then letting her play with one of our phones until she would fall asleep. Then we'd carefully move her into the nursery and into the crib. All of this was the opposite of what the Sleep Lady recommends. We had tried to move our stories into the nursery once before, but she was fussy. We're trying it again. This was our schedule today:
7:15-Wake up. Get dressed, play
9:00-Breakfast, more playing
11:00-Nurse, settle in for a nap.
11:30-1:45-Nap
1:45-2:30-Late lunch, nurse
2:30-5:30-Playing, cuddling
5:30-6:00-Dinner (picky night, didn't eat much)
6:00-6:20-Prep for bath
6:20-7:00-Bath time and dry off, pajamas
7:00-7:25-Story, nurse, sleep (She took her pacifier out mid-story to nurse then fell asleep eating. The Sleep Lady says to put her into the crib drowsy but awake, so tonight we didn't quite get there. Tomorrow our bedtime routine might need to start a little earlier.We tried to introduce her soft lamb as a lovey, but she wasn't having it.)

The main point of the blog for a while will be to document how this sleep training goes.

It's Been a While

Well, I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd last blogged. The end of the school year took up a lot of energy! We've been on summer break for a couple of weeks now and I can write updates again. I'll start with today and work backwards. Today I realized I need to get back into therapy for my anxiety. Nathan has had diarrhea since Sunday night/Monday morning, and I've been bleaching and Lysoling the house like crazy. I've also had a lot of anxiety over it and trying not to catch it, and feeling guilty because of not wanting to be near him, and second guessing how I'll handle being a mom when Daenerys gets sick. My theory is that at least then I'll be back on my full dose of medication so I'll be better at it. I don't know. Then I get upset because my mind doesn't work like it's supposed to and that pisses me off. I'll be 32 weeks tomorrow and I'm also starting to freak out about going into labor/giving birth. I know the doula will help with that part though.

I'm excited about finally getting the paper work in to our doula. I would've done it sooner but at my 20 week appointment with the midwives, they discovered I had partial placenta previa. If it didn't move on it's own, that would've meant having a C-Section. Thankfully at my ultrasound a week ago, they saw that it has moved, so we can go ahead with the plan for a natural birth. I'm ready to get our paper work in so I can discuss my thoughts/fears on birth with her.

What else...I failed the one hour glucose test and threw up the stuff during the three hour test. I refused to try it again, so now they have me testing 4x a day with a glucometer. This has also been stressing me out. I miss just being able to eat instead of analyzing everything. I've lost a couple pounds as a result of being overly careful. I have a hard time getting it to stay in the normal range. It's usually a little low, which I find interesting. It spikes a little if I eat pasta or cereal, but otherwise it stays low. I was told that after a spike the body produces more insulin to compensate, so the goal is to avoid spikes and dips. Not so easily done without stress as it turns out.

We've had a lot of storms lately, which have been interfering with my sleep. I've also been sleeping on the couch since Nathan's been sick, which starts off comfortable but results in having to change sleeping positions a few times during the night. I had to do that anyhow in the bed though. Sleeping well is a challenge anyhow right now. I know that just goes with the territory of the third trimester though.

I love it when she has the hiccups, and when her movements are so big that I can see them through my shirt. The school that I work at gave us an awesome baby shower on the last day of school, and my family is giving us one not this weekend but the next. I need to get the thank you cards written up for the one from school before the family one.

I think those are all of the updates.

Pulling an Al Bundy

The baby gets pretty active in the afternoon/early evening, and I like to try to put my hand where she is so I can see if it can be felt from the outside yet. I usually end up looking like Al Bundy with a hand down the waistband of my pants when this happens. I don't think it'll be long before Nathan will be able to feel her. Sometimes when she flips I can feel her from the outside, but I can't catch it in time to tell him, or it happens when he isn't home.

Knowing and Moods

On Saturday, March 1st shortly after I was complaining about having to wait to know the sex of our baby, the elective ultrasound place called us to say they'd had a cancellation. We were able to get in around 12:45 and we found out we're having a girl! I love being able to use the right pronouns now, and I'm excited about being able to start knitting girly things.

Something I'm not excited about is reducing my anxiety medication. I know it's the safest route for her, but it is so hard. I'm down to 10mg instead of the 20, so it's not even like I'm completely off yet, and I feel different already. I have repeating thoughts, not bad ones, but I just get kind of stuck on something. I also feel kind of lonely and sad when I'm alone, and I didn't before. Nothing else has changed except my medication dose. Nathan has the same hours, we have the same routines, I still talk to my friends and go knit. But when I'm at home by myself like today (I had some stomach issues last night so stayed home today) I feel out of sorts. I'm on the medication for anxiety, not depression, but it still affects my mood I think. I guess it's just something to get used to, feeling different, and dealing with it. When I knit my mind really does slow down, and I've started using lavender oil to calm down when I feel anxious. I'm pretty sure I can find ways to cope, but I'm going to stay on the 10mg for another couple weeks before alternating 10mgs and biting those in half every other day for a while. I don't regret starting this medication because I have had such an easier time of things being on it, but I'm nervous about going back to how thing were before.

Waiting

It seems like a lot of pregnancy is waiting. I'm still waiting to feel definite movement, still waiting to know if it's a boy or a girl, waiting to sign up for birth classes, etc. I'm also waiting for Spring Break to get here because I need a break from work. It's been super stressful the past few days, and I'm starting to feel a little over it. I know I'll feel better and more focused after that week off, which is good because there's still a lot to do before school ends in May. That's about it. My appetite has been good. I really like The Laughing Cow Swiss cheese triangles on bread, Sweet Tarts jelly beans, La Croix peach/pear water, and I'm looking forward to the new Ben & Jerry's core ice cream. My belly is getting bigger and itches some so I try to remember to put cocoa butter on it before bed. Next weekend there's a big thrift sale, and a friend of mine is working it so she's on the lookout for a white crib. We have to start cleaning up the room we're going to use as the nursery. We're going to put down some laminate flooring in there at some point before he or she gets here, touch up some paint, paint the trim white, and move the adult furniture out and baby stuff in. There's a lot to be done!

The Bug

Pregnancy was going along really well until I caught some damned stomach bug. It started Saturday night when I got sick a few times. I had some Zofran though so I took one of those and the throwing up stopped. Sunday I didn't eat or drink much, had bathroom issues, but no puking. Monday I went to work and was just tired. Yesterday I went to work and felt like crap around mid-day so I got permission to leave early. When I got home I headed to bed with a Gatorade and a book and fell asleep pretty soon. I slept for about two hours, called my mom and then called a friend, and went back to sleep around 6:00. When I woke up again around 8:30 I felt off and knew I was going to be sick again, and sure enough I threw up. Luckily it's only been that once but I'm again afraid to eat much. I've had some more Gatorade this morning and a Jell-O cup. Not the best diet for the baby. I have a Dr. appointment at 9:30, and I'm hoping if they can't cure it at least I can cover up the symptoms until it goes completely away. I hate missing work and more so I hate feeling out of sorts.

A pretty sound

I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat yesterday at my appointment with the midwife! I'm 12 weeks today, and go back in 4 weeks. She said we'll get to hear the heartbeat at each visit from here on out.