Mummy's Moment

The first month consisted of breastfeeding, breastfeeding and more breastfeeding. Sleep was scarce and we argued like you have never seen in your life. But we were happy in between all that. In the first month you can never spoil your baby, so cuddle them as if you life depended on it and just enjoy having a baby. Forget about the outside world if they want to see your bundle of joy, let them come visit and get them to bring the food and drink! I was never more happy than when my mother in law came round to cook, she made the most delicious pie, got the baby to sleep then left us to eat, it really was a lovely moment :)

The second month, by this time we were doing quite well, Ellyna would take 3 hours naps and sleep around 4-5 hours at night. We kept her in the bed next to us and boy was she a noisy sleeper! Still we shared lots of cuddles and even the bed when we were really tired. We had the first jab which was horrid she cried for 5 hours straight after, major shock to the system! But she survived. We had a little bit of colic and infacol was our saviour, as well as gripe water. They really did help when she had tummy ache. Don't be afraid to try them, you know your baby and you know when they are in pain, trust your instincts not what a midwife or health visitor says after a 5 minute visit!

By the third month we were doing well, we had a routine, Ellyna was sleeping well and for two nights she had been in her own room. Then along came the dreaded 3 month growth spurt!!! I will never forget the week from hell for as long as I live. No body warned us about this so it came totally out of the blue. Yet once we spoke to people they all said oh yeah we had that!!!!! Well why does no body talk about it.

Ellyna began to sleep longer for the first few days, she would have a big feed then sleep for hours. I was so happy to be getting jobs done around the house at last. Then one night we carried out our routine as we always did, bath, big feed, bed. But no, not this night she would night lie down, if we left her she would scream blue murder if she wasn't sat up, she would scream and scream. This went on until 5 am when she finally fell asleep after 8 long hours. Suddenly you couldn't pat her back to burp her, and she stopped sleeping for longer than 40 minutes at a time. This went on for a week, we didn't sleep for what seemed like an eternity and by the end of it, all the good habits we had started had gone. So the sleepless nights continued, until we realised she was playing us, she new at a whimper we would come running, as we had done for the past week and a half. So one night I did what I had said I would never do, I let her cry, and boy did she cry, for a whole hour, then suddenly silence and she fell asleep till the morning. Wow that was one of the best four hours sleep I've ever had! Since that night I haven't left her to cry again, but now at 6 months she sleeps in her own cot and for a good 12 hours! Which for me is all down to routine and making sure she is content.