Help!

We need sleep advice.

Matthew is on a good schedule during the day: eat, play, sleep. He repeats this every 3 hours without fail. Most of the time he wakes up on his own like clock work, but I try to rouse him if he hasn't woken up yet after about 3 hours and 15 minutes. He very rarely acts hungry before then. At night, he wakes up on his own every 3-4 hours. I feed him in a quiet, dimly lit room, I don't talk to him (much...) and I change his diaper before nursing and then swaddle him back up (oh and we have tried different swaddles too...in case he likes one over the other.) He has a noise maker and sleeps on an incline to help his belly. While I nurse, he falls asleep. As soon as he is done and I have to burp him, he wakes back up. And then he is up....for a long, long time. He isn't crying, isn't upset, doesn't seem to be in pain (if he is, we try Mylicon or acid reflux medicine) he just wants to be awake. How do I fix this?! I know he is only 3 weeks old and all that jazz, but it just seems like there has to be a better way.

So come on friends....I know there is somebody out there with some good advice. I know this because in the last year, like 10 of my friends have had babies that slept through the night at some crazy age. Like 1 day old or something. And please note that I am not asking him to sleep through the night, I know that is a pipe dream, but I would like him to go back to sleep within a reasonable time period so that we could all get a little sleep around here. Oh man, that would be so nice.

On a completely unrelated note....Poor Jonathan has a double ear infection :( This is not a good thing, but at least it can explain his CRAZY behavior the last few days. Last night for example, he threw all his toys out of the bathtub (with water in them), all his peas off his high chair tray, a spoon full of yogurt at me, cried when I wouldn't let him watch Barney and Chuggington at the exact same time, and then he cried at bedtime because I wouldn't let him sleep with Barney. Uh...we don't own a Barney stuffed animal, doll, book, anything....so I couldn't really help him there. Finally he fell asleep with the help of our good friend, Ammoxicilan, and has been asleep all night!

So that's been fun. I will say that I am pretty proud of myself for making it to Friday of my first week with the boys alone. Zack hasn't been home before 7:30 all week, so it's just me and my boys. And I did it. Oh and a HUGE thanks to all my friends who have brought us awesome home cooked meals the past two weeks!! They have been delicious and, very seriously, a life saver!! Thanks!!

Mom Confessions

(Edited to add: So my Mom read this and called me out, saying I had a chip on my shoulder. Let me clarify....I do not have a chip on my shoulder :) I just felt like confessing some things that I do that are either weird, probably not the best idea in the world, or just pure laziness. I am in no way "calling anybody out" specifically. If you do some of the things I don't, great! Good work taking the time to do it! I just don't....nothing wrong with either one of us :) Love you all!)

Last night was a rough one. While I was cursing the fact that Matthew had finally fallen asleep (after an hour of him staring at me around 3:00 am) and then promptly got the hiccups and woke up for another 30 minutes, I was thinking through this post. After reading blog after blog of what appear to be "perfect Moms" I decided to write a post dedicated to the rest of us, the non-perfect moms. At the end of the day, none of us are perfect. No mom has it all together (even though her blogs, Facebook posts and emails make it seem otherwise...) and the bottom line is that we love our babies and desire nothing more than their safety and happiness. How we achieve that....well that is where we are different. So here are my mom confessions for today.

1. I don't cloth diaper. There was a time when I thought I might, I even did a bunch of research on it. But at the end of the day, my little boys are just as happy in their Pampers and I am happy to not have to wash anything extra. I already do enough laundry.

2. Now that Jonathan is older, he doesn't eat all organic food. In fact, one of his favorites is chicken nuggets. Like, the frozen kind. And he dips them in ketchup (GASP!)

3. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Matthew will spit up on his swaddle blanket and if it doesn't seem to bother him, I leave him be. If the kid is sleepy and willing to go to sleep, I refuse to do anything to mess that up....and taking a baby out of a warm, cozy swaddle and changing his clothes/blanket would definietly mess that up.

4. With a newborn, there is a big difference between gas toots and blow out your diaper toots. If it sounds like gas, I leave it alone. Especially in the middle of the night. See #3 for the reason why. This would be something I recommend all new Mom's figure out pretty early.

5. Sometimes, I cringe a little when I hear one of the boys wake up. I love them dearly, but at 3:00 am, I don't really want to hang out. This probably makes me sound like a terrible person....just keeping it real.

6. I am one of the rare people in life who loves the hospital. I honestly love having babies because it means 4 days in the hospital (well that is just one of the reasons...) I mean, think about it. You have tons of people waiting on you hand and foot, all your meals delivered to your bed while you watch TV, your newborn can stay long enough to cuddle and bond but then you can let them go back to the nursery and everybody can sleep...who in their right mind wouldn't love it?? And yes, I know some people hate the hospital because they are bothered by the nurses. I can see this. But in my opinion, that is just a small price to pay.

7. Everybody knows I love my doctor, Dr. Storey. But I also really love our pediatrician, Dr. Torn. My friend and I like to joke that we should ask Dr. Torn to be our best friend and we could all hang out. I am pretty sure she would agree if we actually asked. She is seriously awesome and I look forward to my appointments with her. Gosh, that sounds so lame.

8. Jonathan has been watching a lot more TV lately. Sorry. I only have 2 hands and so much energy and to be honest, I feel like those are better served keeping babies fed, safe and entertained. Maybe I will do more art projects and craft activities later on, but for now, Chuggington and Barney (blah!) will have to suffice.

9. This is a big one and will probably garner the same response as my lack of cloth diapers....I don't like breastfeeding. I do it because it is good for my babies and WAY cheaper than formula, but I don't really like it. Sure I enjoy the quiet time with them and the idea that I am single handedly meeting their most basic need, but I don't like the fact that I am stuck in an awkward position (the doorbell always seems to ring when I start nursing) or that I have to cover up or go in the other room when visitors come by. There are a few other reasons, but I will spare you the details.

10. Finally, just because I don't write status updates or blog posts everyday about how much I love my children and my husband, doesn't mean I don't love them. Of course I know I am blessed, of course I love them with all of my heart, of course I would walk through fire for them. But sometimes, you just need to vent and complain and be honest. Being a parent is hard. Being a wife is hard. Being both with little to no sleep....that's really hard.

Holy Cow

I. Am. Tired.

Yes, I am aware that it doesn't last forever. I know that he will eventually sleep through the night. I already know it gets easier. But none of that helps me after getting 2 hours of disjointed sleep the last few nights. Matthew isn't too big on sleeping alone. He doesn't really see the need to sleep in his room when he could sleep with Mommy or Daddy or Honey, who are nice and warm and cozy. He also doesn't seem to have a digestive track that wants to keep food IN, but instead wants to share it with the entire world. So even if the poor kid does fall asleep on his own, there is about a 90% chance he will throw up and choke or get his jammies and swaddle all wet and gross. And at that point, there is not a chance in the world he will just ignore it and go back to sleep. So if anybody has any advice on how to get him to sleep (soundly) in his room, alone....please share. Unless it is "swaddle, noise maker, incline, The Happiest Baby on the Block, Babywise, co-sleep or car seat".....we have already tried (or are still trying) all of them. But thanks :)

And, sensing the fun that could be had at midnight, Jonathan has decided to join in. Last night he woke up 4 times before midnight. He has a bad cough, so we keep going in to check on him and make sure he hasn't choked or developed a fever. Each time he just stares at me, crying out "Mama sit down!" I think this might be his new way of getting Mommy time. So that's fun.

Other than that, things are going great! Matthew really is a sweet, happy baby. He has already put himself on a pretty good schedule: eat, play, sleep, repeat...every 3 hours. Of course there tends to be more sleeping than playing right now, but that will come later :) Jonathan seems to be pretty cool with having his little brother around. When he comes home from school, he walks in and quickly asks where the baby is. He hasn't quite mastered Matthew's name yet...it comes out a little like "Ma-Mu." It's actually pretty cute. My Mom left yesterday and after a few crying sessions and some insistence to Zack that I absolutely can NOT do this without her, I feel better and more confident. Today is our first day totally on our own....ask me again on Friday how confident I feel :)

The other good news is that I haven't fallen victim to the "baby blues" this time around (at least not yet!) I struggled with this with Jonathan and it kept me from enjoying those first few precious weeks with him. This time around I feel much better and have truly enjoyed my little guy. I think so much of this has to do with my delivery and recovery. Things have been so much better that it allows me the ability to relax and enjoy. Hopefully it continues. Every time I get overwhelmed, I pray for three things: peace, confidence and strength. As long as I have those, I know I am good to go!!

Matthew David Ley!

I know I am a little late posting this, but even so, I wanted to make sure it was documented :) So here you go, the story of Matthew's arrival!

It all started on Wednesday morning when I went to see Dr. Storey. She took me off the medication and bedrest and told me to take it easy for the next week. She used the word "tentatively" when we scheduled my visit for the next week. I was actually pretty mad that there hadn't been much progress and that we had to schedule another visit at all! I left the doctor and went to run my first errand in over 6 1/2 weeks....the grocery store! I spent over an hour walking around HEB buying things I had been thinking about while stuck at home. You know, important things, like my favorite ice cream, yogurt, Sprite and cereal....crazy things. I wasn't in the store 20 minutes when I started noticing contractions that were stronger than the normal ones. Since I was on my feet for the first time in weeks, I ignored them and blamed it on being out and about. The rest of the day was spent in much the same way.....more contractions, but I blew them off. I was NOT going to miss my day of freedom. I even got my eyebrows done!

I wasn't able to fall asleep that night because I was pretty uncomfortable, so I moved to the couch to read and watch TV. As soon as Zack saw our bedroom door open around 11:30, he nearly jumped out of his chair and asked "Is it baby time!?" Yep, this man knows the drill. I told him I thought it was okay and that he should head to bed. So off he went and I laid around timing contractions for the next few hours. At this point, they were every 6 minutes and getting more painful, but I continued to ignore them for a few reasons. #1, I didn't want to have to call the Ley's and wake up the whole family to come over and watch Jonathan in case it was a false alarm. #2, Zack had not even gone to bed yet and I knew that would mean over 24 hours of no sleep for him. and #3, I was seriously determined to have Dr. Storey perform my delivery and I knew she wasn't on call until the next day. So I waited. I even posted on Babycenter.com that I thought I could be in labor, but wasn't positive. The consensus among my "friends" was to wait it out a few more hours and then call. Those girls are smart :)

By the next morning, I pretty much knew what the deal was, so I took Jonathan to school (and gave him a super big hug!), took a really good shower, called the nurse and ate some breakfast. By 10:30, there was no denying that my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and VERY painful. I knew we needed to go in. After waiting for way too long to hear back from the nurse, we made the executive decision to head to the hospital and I am so glad we did.

We got there around noon and by the time I was checked, I was 6 cm. The next hour was a blur. She told me to call our families because we would be having the baby within the hour. Turns out waiting that long to go in to the hospital when you are having a repeat c-section is a no-no. My doctor, who I love even more now, rushed up to the hospital on her day off (and in her work out gear :)) and was there to do the delivery. Unfortunately, my parents didn't make it in time from Austin but Zack's Mom was able to get there! I was so surprised how fast everything happened. I thought I would have some time to get settled, get used to the idea of having a baby that day, calmly pray over the situation with Zack...nope. It was fast and furious from the minute we walked in. This picture is of us waiting to go back for the c-section. Don't let the smile fool you...those contractions HURT.

They wheeled me back and got me ready for surgery while Zack waited outside. After the emergency trauma from Jonathan's birth and c-section, I didn't know what to expect, but I was so pleasantly surprised. I was totally coherent while we got ready, was able to talk with my doctor, we made jokes etc...Zack finally joined us and after about 5 minutes, Matthew David joined our family. The first words out of Dr. Storey's mouth were "Man! He is a chunky baby!" He weighed 8.2 pounds, almost a full pound more than Jonathan. I would say that is pretty good for being born nearly 3 weeks early! Immediately after birth, his blood sugar levels were a little low, so instead of letting me nurse him first (we would have had to wait since I was in recovery,) he had to take a bottle....a little "snack" we joked :) That did the trick and his levels evened out pretty quick. I laugh that he must truly be our son since the very first thing he wanted to do was eat! :)

Recovery has been good. Easier than with Jonathan, but still painful. Matthew is doing great nursing, pooping and peeing (you know, the most important 3 things you have to watch for with a newborn!) and Jonathan seems to be pretty cool with things so far. Thank you so much to those of you who came by the hospital just to say hi or have come by the house since then to meet little Matthew :) It has been a crazy few days, but we wouldn't trade them for the world!