Well, his operation has changed everything! The worst thing I could have done was let him sleep when he wanted to during the day and then bring him in our room in his carrycot/bassinet at night. I have tried everything this week to get him back onto his nap schedule, but he's like a new baby. The good thing is he's so much more alert, he'll grab for things and he watches everything that goes on around him. I can even take him in the car for 20 or 30 minutes and he doesn't fall asleep. I did hope that because he doesn't sleep as much during the day, he would sleep more at night, but he doesn't. He wakes at least 3 times a night for 30-60 minutes each time to feed.I was literally crying on Saturday night while I fed him because I was so exhausted from two weeks of not sleeping more than 2-3 hours at a time. I went to bed at 9pm and then he woke at 10:30pm, 12:30am, 3:30am, 5:30am and fed for an hour each time! Then when he was done feeding at 6:30am I hoped he'd go back to sleep, but he didn't. Adam got up at 8am and let me go back to bed for an hour because I could hardly string a sentence together I was so tired, and Nicolas had a 20 minute cat nap. He only slept for about an hour at lunch time and then was awake until 8pm. All I did was feed him all day and then Adam gave him another feed at 10pm and he finally went through to 4am. I’d gone to bed at 9pm so I got 7 hours sleep and felt like a new woman today.
Today, he got up at 7:30am and has only slept for about 2 hours on and off, and then he went to bed at 8:30pm. Before his operation he would sleep for at least 4-5 hours between 7am and 7pm and would scream with tiredness if he went to bed after 7pm. I really hope he’ll sleep until 4am again tonight, but it really is so crazy for me going from a very sleepy baby to a very alert baby. Luckily he’s happy and hardly cries, so I love the ‘new Nicolas’ better than the old Nicolas – provided he doesn’t carry on waking every 2 hours at night!
Apart from the tiredness I had a good week last week. I made cakes for two new babies whose Mom’s are great. I love meeting all these new Mom’s and we all went out to dinner on Friday which was fun. They’ve all had demanding jobs and are either still working or else adjusting to being at home, so we had plenty to talk about, other than the babies. I love Nicolas, but I do like to talk about something other than his erratic sleep patterns! It did feel weird not having him with me as it was my first time leaving him since he was born.
I also made a good luck cake for two guy’s I used to work with (and Adam still works with), who were going to another company. It always amazes me how touched people are when I make them a cake, it makes it very rewarding. I’ve also done a bit of work in the garden and redone my tubs outside the front door, which were filled with dead daffodils. One of the new Mom’s from church brought me the most amazing fuchsia hanging basket to celebrate Nicolas’ successful operation, which was such a sweet gesture.
I’m taking part in a nationwide study of potential causes of birth defects and I had an hour long interview this week asking detailed questions about my pregnancy and the year before I got pregnant. I also have to take cheek swabs from me, Adam and Nicolas so they can look at potential genetic causes. I hope that by participating I can help identify causes of birth defects. I also feel that I need to get involved in fund raising for organizations that repair cleft lips and palates in 3rd world countries, because there are so many babies, just like Nicolas and worse, who will never get surgery. I’ll leave that for a few years, or at least until Nicolas is sleeping through the night!! The crazy thing about being a Mom is when Nicolas smiles at me it really doesn’t matter that it’s 3am and he’s been awake most of the night, it just melts my heart!!
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