The Six Week Growth Spurt

Just like clockwork, Sara has hit her six week growth spurt. Andy and I suspect that it may be the cause of all the terror this week, but things are starting to get a bit better. We did end up having to let Sara sleep in her swing all night after that horrible night we had. Andy and I just needed sleep and the little stinker sleeps so quietly in the swing. We went back to the bassinet the next night and she went down for a while in there. After her first night feeding, she was restless and noisy. Andy had to keep getting up to put a paci back in and hold her arms down - those things flail everywhere! I gave up after he went to work and put her down in the swing for the last few hours of the night.

Yesterday started the feeding frenzy for her six week growth spurt. She ate constantly all day and only took one nap in the middle of the day. By evening, I was feeding her about once every hour and a half. She actually completely drained me a few times and was not happy that mom did not have more milk immediately - what a little piggy :) This went on until about 9:30 when I put her down in her swing. I thought she'd be up again soon to eat and would put her down in the bassinet after that round, but apparently she had finally eaten herself senseless and she slept in that stinking swing for SIX hours! Andy fell asleep on the couch and I had gone to bed to rest before what I thought was another imminent feeding. You'd think that having her sleep for six hours straight would be such a fantastic thing, and it sort of is, but I spent most of the time waking up constantly to see if she was still asleep or if she was ready to eat yet. And, as all moms who have nursed can empathize with, after all that constant feeding during the day I was painfully full by the time she woke up.

The good news is that she did go down fairly well in her bassinet after that 3am feeding. She woke me a few times but went back to sleep before I had to get up. She stayed happy there until about 6:30 when she was ready to eat again, so I am at least happy for one good stretch in there.

I'm hoping that this growth spurt will be over soon and maybe that will help with the night trouble she's had this week. Only time will tell...

Sara is starting to smile more and more but they are still not what I would call frequent. She liked me repeating "Mama" and "Dada" over and over again in baby talk yesterday and gave me several good smiles for that which was so fun.

The other fun thing is that Sara has really started to figure out where the milk comes from. If I hold her in a cradle type hold now, she turns her head toward me with a big wide mouth (whether it's meal time or not!). The other day we were taking a nap and she was laying on her side facing me. I felt her start moving around a bit but didn't think anything of it since she is always a wiggle worm. After a short time she let out this frustrated scream. When I pulled back to look at her, I realized that I had a big wet spot on me where she had been trying to latch on through my clothes. I guess she woke up hungry and figured she'd just get to munching but didn't quite understand the clothes being in the way. It was pretty funny and she was happy again as soon as I gave her what she wanted :)

She's also figured out our routine of a diaper change before feedings and will stop crying when she realizes that she is about to eat. She's starting to be able to latch herself as well which is making things quite a bit easier for me! She certainly loves her milk and it's really fun to see how excited she gets when it's meal time. When Andy is done with his crazy work schedule, we'll start introducing bottles to her and see how that goes. That will be nice for me if I want to go somewhere for a short time and she'll have to start taking them when I go back to work.

Well, I hear the little munchkin filling her diaper for me again, so I'd better go for now. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!