The girls slept okay last night. To give some perspective, the night before, they had slept from 8-430 (with a "dream feeding" at 11 before we went to bed). Last night, they finally went to sleep around 11:30 and both woke up, with a vengeance, around 2. Both of them screamed when they woke up and realized they were still in their braces. I held Sophia while David changed Annabel and both of them calmed down with their bottle. Getting them back to sleep was much more challenging than usual--we normally just swaddle them up and put them in their beds. Now we can only swaddle the top of their body, and instead of tucking them into their blanket at the bottom, we are using the blanket to support their legs so that they aren't suspended in air by the brace. I have never been more thankful for our co-sleepers as I was last night. Annabel was on my side, and she definitely had the hardest time adjusting. She was really upset going back to sleep, so I was able to lay in bed and lean over and rub her head and stroke her face which soothed her. Then, as she periodically woke up throughout the night, I was able to replace her paci and calm her down again. At about 4:30, she woke up screaming again and I wasn't able to soothe her just by replacing her pacifier and rubbing her, so I pulled her into bed with us, and she slept very soundly on me until about 6, when Sophia also woke up for a feeding. Sophia did much, much better, and aside from waking up around 2 very upset, she slept pretty much the rest of the night and was much more sleepy today than normal. I think she may be going through a growth spurt, but she is being such a champ considering she is in her brace all the time.
Annabel is gradually adjusting today. We couldn't get the doctor to tell us how many hours a day they wanted her on her brace--only "naps and nighttime." They are 10 weeks old, only 5 weeks adjusted, so they still sleep A LOT. So, I tried to get him to tell me a number of hours a day to shoot for in the brace, and he wouldn't. So we decided that, since they feed every 3 hours during the day, we would take it off and leave it off every other feeding.
One thing I was most concerned about was still being able to hold and cuddle the girls. They can still sleep on our chests and just wrap their legs around our waists and we can hold them sitting up, too. Needless to say, with the exception of a few short naps here and there, they have been held and cuddled all day. Sophia is currently cuddled up sleeping on my chest, and Annabel is playing games with her dad. There is laundry to be folded, but right now, I don't really care.
I know my post last night was a real downer, and it was all still very raw for me. I know it will just keep getting better, and I know that they will adjust soon. I also know in my heart that this is the right thing to do for them, as hard as it may be.
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| I always count on David to keep me in good spirits, and even in these crappy circumstances, he comes through. Kung Fu Sophie! |
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