Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Skype and 5 Hours of Sleep

We finally got to Skype with Smug-Hub's mom last night! We have been trying to get her set up since Smug-Baby was born and she and the other brothers finally helped her get set up last night and we had our first video chat!

I was concerned that Smug-Baby wouldn't be interested and would just run off. I was even more concerned that she wouldn't be able to keep her little hands from banging the keys and disconnecting us.

As it was, she really got into the whole thing!! It was so cool - she played "scare Grandma with the dinosaur" and gave Grandma wooden cookies to eat. She talked a bit and waved good-bye when we were ending the call. We stayed on about 40 minutes and she was pretty good the whole time!

It is so important to me that we create as much of a relationship between Smug-Baby and her grandparents as possible! I never was close with my grandparents, until last year when my last remaining grandpa came to live here in town until his passing. I am so sorry that I wasn't able to be closer with any of them, to get to know them as people and not just someone who sent gifts on birthday's.

I want more for Smug-Baby and she sees my parents on an almost daily basis. She loves them, is comfortable with them, talks about them and misses them when we go more than a few days without seeing them. I love that she runs to to them, excited to see them and gives them hugs and kisses. She isn't upset when she stays with them while I go off to yoga or whatever.

I want the same for Smug-Hub's mom too! I want her and Smug-Baby to be close and yet the distance makes this really hard! If Smug-Baby only sees her other Grandma a few times a year, then she will never be excited to see her, run to her and so on. I really believe that using Skype once or twice a week will make a huge difference in their ability to stay connected! This way, when my Mother-In-Law is able to visit, Smug-Baby will already associate her as a familiar face and that "warm up" stage won't last as long. I feel like as Smug-Baby grows, learns and understands more, she will be able to create and foster a close relationship via these video chats.

I think one shorter week night call and one longer weekend call would be great and I hope we can keep it up. I hope that now that my Mother-In-Law knows how this all works and we have done it successfully once, we will be able to get into a routine and make sure we don't let the distance keep us all apart!

In other news...

I slept 5 whole, solid hours last night!! I didn't nurse all night!! I feel like I need about a hundred more nights of sleep, but I also feel like I can function today, so I call it a win!

Smug-Baby was a little hyper after the Skype call, but we got her all ready for bed, read some books (which she is getting more into, but still not loving yet) and went into the bedroom and laid down.

Here is the thing (and forgive me if this is TMI), last night marks the second night in a row that I have painted the Binky's with Gentian Violet. Gentian Violet is used to treat thrush and I wanted to try treating for thrush on the off chance that my pain with nursing isn't totally pregnancy related. The thing is, Gentian Violet is bright purple! Smug-Baby has decided that it is very yucky and she doesn't want to nurse. I have offered and still offer, but she keeps turning me down.

This means that she isn't interested in nursing to sleep and when she is hurt or asks for Binky's and I remind her that they are still purple (or show her) she chooses not to nurse. I really didn't mean to cut her off cold turkey, but since there really isn't any milk there anymore, it was just nursing for security and comfort and not for the milk.

The last two nights, Smug-Hub and I have laid with her and talked to her and each other until she falls asleep. The first night it took about 90 minutes and she kept trying to get up and wanted water and to jump on the bed and toss around. Last night, she moved around a bit getting comfortable, but settled down much faster and was asleep within about 40 minutes. She sucked her thumb and held onto my hand and I laid close beside her like I would if she was nursing.

Smug-Hub and I were having such a nice conversation (we rarely get to talk for longer than basic pleasantries and discussions on Smug-Baby) that we kept talking for a while and it was close to 10:30 when I finally shut up and fell asleep (it didn't help that I had to get up 3 times to pee)!

Smug-Baby slept until 3:30 and when she climbed into bed and asked for Binky's I said she could have them, but they were still purple and did she still want them. She said no and rolled over and snuggled into me. It took her a bit of time for her to settle and go back to sleep, but was much better than the hours and hours she was restless the night before. I didn't get back to sleep, but it was only an hour before I was getting up for work anyway, so I am really pleased!

I feel like naps are going better and I am going to give her the option of nursing or not again today. I feel like I want to make sure that not nursing is her choice (even if I am manipulating it a bit) so she doesn't feel like I took something away from her. I am also very clear that this is medicine to help with mommy's ow so she knows there is a reason for the purple paint.

I hope that soon she will be sleeping longer stretches and not waking up to nurse. Then, we can make the transition to having her sleep in her own room. I feel like once Little-Smug comes and needs to nurse in the night or have a diaper change, Smug-Baby needs to be in her own space so Little-Smug's needs will not wake her or disturb her. I hope to have all the transitioning complete before he arrives in a few short months.

Then it will be on to potty training...

2 comments:

  1. Even though we didn't see our grandparents often I still remember being excited to see them and ran to them for hugs. So just because she won't see her other grandparent that often I think she'll still love her & be excited.

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  2. The sleep thing...don't even get me started. Liv didn't sleep through the night til she was 18 months. I considered myself a zombie mom for that whole time. It's amazing what we can survive, huh? xo

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