Wish We'd Thought of it Sooner

As I mentioned last week we were/are having some sleep issues with Elliot.  Thursday night was bad, Friday night was worse, and Saturday night was hell.  No one (besides Andrew) was getting much sleep.  By Sunday we were zombies.  We realized that he was a little congested and I figured that was probably a big part of it.

I headed to Wal-Mart (with Andrew for some one on one time) and we picked up some of the nasal saline so we could try to suck out Elliot's nose.  We tried it out when we got home. To say he wasn't a fan of the process is an understatement. You would think I was trying to suck out his brain.  It seemed to work, though, and he was breathing better.  I was hopeful that we would get some sleep that night.

So Sunday night I put him down and said a silent prayer that he would sleep. I went to bed as soon as I finished pumping and had my fingers crossed that he would sleep more than an hour.  When he woke up after 3.5 hours I was actually happy. That was the longest stretch he'd slept in four nights. After that he had a 3 hour stretch and I was pleased.  Monday night I did the nose sucking again and again hoped for the best.  His first stretch that night was 4.5 hours and then another 3 hours.  I was ridiculously happy with that.

Well, yesterday J happened to be home with me since our water heater crapped out and he was busy trying to replace it.  He suggested that we try the swaddle for Elliot's nap (I had tried swaddling him with his arms in weeks ago and he went nuts so we have just been swaddling him with his arms out).  I was rocking Elliot and he was already sleepy, so I gave it a shot.  He submitted to being swaddled with his arms in and passed out for his nap.  Two hours later he was still sleeping and I had to leave for a dentist appt. I expected he would wake up soon after I left and just hoped that J would hear him since he was busy with the water heater.  An hour later I got home and was shocked that he was still sleeping.  We got a 3.5 hour nap out of him  :)

Yes, he's napping with his boppy pillow.

I was praying that it wasn't an anomaly. That we would be able to swaddle him at night and he would sleep.  After heating some water on the stove for Andrew and Elliot's baths (yeah, we're like freaking Little House on the Prairie over here with no hot water still) Elliot was getting really fussy. I've learned that he is ready for bed by 8:00. So I heated up a small bottle of pumped milk (trying to make sure he's filled up so he'll maybe sleep a little longer) and we headed upstairs.  He was screaming bloody murder because he was tired. I laid him on the swaddle, pinned his arms down and got him wrapped up. Amazingly he calmed down and I was able to get him to drink most of the bottle, but he kept dozing off every time I'd stop to burp him.  I had to unwrap him to change him because he leaked milk all over himself and was soaked, plus I needed to change his diaper. That woke him up a little and this time when I swaddled him back up he fought it a little.  I quickly sat down in the recliner and started nursing him, which calmed him down right away. After nursing for less than 10 mins he was out.  I transferred him to the bassinet and hoped for the best.

By the time I pumped and J and I watched a little tv and hung out Elliot had already been asleep almost two hours.  I went to bed at 10:00 and was thinking "Great, he'll probably be up in an hour.".  Imagine my shock (and joy) when we didn't hear a peep out of him until 3:49.  He had slept 7 hours and 19 minutes! And I got close to 6 hours straight of sleep.  That hasn't happened in over 7 weeks.

Needless to say I am kicking myself for us not doing the swaddle earlier.  Now I know that last night might not be the norm and maybe we just got lucky and tonight will suck.  I'm being optimistic, though, and thinking that maybe, just maybe this will be the new norm.

He's currently in his crib swaddled up and napping. And I'm getting some work done and actually feeling pretty good.  Hmm, maybe we CAN handle two kids after all...