Success!!!! Edmund slept a 6 hour stretch last night. Steven and I have been told not to get our hopes up, but anything is better than the previous two nights of getting up every hour and a half. Since he was born, Edmund has been a terrific sleeper--he simply prefers to sleep the day away much to his parents' dismay. Gradually though he has increased his awake time during the day and is playing more and more. He is becoming quite the fun little boy.
Edmund's normal night pattern is to wake up every three hours on the dot to eat. Just when we think we may get 3 1/2 to 4 hours of sleep he begins stirring. Somehow his grandmother got him to go 4 hour stretches when she was visiting from Virginia, but until last night Steven and I had no such luck.
Two nights ago, however was about the worst night sleepwise Steven and I have gotten since Edmund's first week home. As an aside, I must mention that Steven is a saint and does most, if not all the night feedings. I have never been able to nap during the day, try as I might, and truly need my nighttime sleep. Due to some serious setbacks with nursing, we as a family decided that I gradually begin to wean Edmund. Although doing so was a great disappointment for me, it is no longer essential for me to wake with him. Also there is the fact that I have never actually seen Steven sleep, so clearly he does not need sleep, though he begs to disagree. (The onesie Edmund is wearing in the above picture best sums up how we feel about Steven. In case you can't see, it reads "My DaaDa is Number 1").
Steven and I have named the aforementioned sleepless night "The Case of the Mysterious Night Owl." Edmund had decided to stay awake past his regular 8 pm bedtime and I was exhausted. It should have occurred to me that skipping the bedtime routine of a story, lullaby, and prayers was setting us up for failure. At 10 pm I put a drowsy Edmund in his crib facing his mobile as I always do. I then proceeded to bed and promptly fell asleep. At 11 pm Edmund began stirring. Steven went to give him his pacifier (which we have deemed for sleep use only). He then came back to bed.
Edmund soon began stirring again. At this point I was wide awake and went to take care of Edmund so Steven could attempt to sleep. I turned on the hall light so I could see what I was doing. When I went to Edmund's crib I noticed that he had turned his body a full 180 degrees and now had his body facing the back of the crib. When I got back in bed I asked Steven why he had turned Edmund to such a strange position. Steven said he figured I had put him down that way. He said that when he went to give Edmund his pacifier earlier he couldn't find his mouth since it was not where he expected it to be. I informed Steven that given my right hand dominance, putting him down in such a position would be a near impossible feat for me. We had a good chuckle and went to sleep. As the night progressed Edmund assumed the strange position two more times. To this day we have yet to solve "The Case of the Mysterious Night Owl."
Currently Edmund is asleep after quite a long awake period. Please keep your fingers crossed that tonight will be just as good, if not better than last night. And now I will leave you all to hopefully get my six hours sleep!
