Being Momma G: Day 42

Sean is 1 day shy of being 6 weeks old today, and we are hopeful that he's starting to learn (and retaining the knowledge) that night time is for sleeping, and day time is for a little bit of playing but mostly for sleeping as well.

After returning from my parents' house last night, Sean took a little while to settle down, but once he did, he stayed asleep until 2.30am. By that time, my boobs were both ready to explode with milk, so I was grateful Sean woke up and fed well. Sean went straight back to his bassinet after the feed and stayed asleep until 5am.

I was so groggy with sleep I thought he was just unsettled from the earlier feed, so I started rocking the bassinet instead of taking him out for a feed. Jonathan thought Sean might have wanted some Daddy cuddles, but alas, Sean was crying for food, not Daddy cuddles, so Sean and I laid down for a feed. Both of us fell asleep for a while, and I only woke up when I realised Sean was no longer suckling, for I had pulled myself away from him. I switched to the other side and Sean fed for a while before becoming fussy, and then fell sleep.

After Jonathan went to work, Sean and I slept a little more before he woke up to continue his feeding routine just after 8am. The little man surprised me by easing back into sleep after the feed and a little bit of play time. Either I was getting a lot better at spotting the tired signs and getting the settling routine down pat, or Sean was very agreeable today, because he went straight to sleep within 10 minutes of the first sign of tiredness being spotted, just under 90 minutes from the start of the feed.

When Sean woke just after 11am, I was all ready to feed him. During this feed, something really funny, kind of cute and a little bit gross happened. Sean was suckling contently, when he suddenly stopped, opened his eyes and looked at me. A second later, Sean let out the biggest and loudest noise from his bottom, and the crotch area of his nappy physically became bigger. Of course, I voiced my displeasure, and Sean looked at me slyly and smiled a cheeky grin as if to say "Are you impressed Mummy, because I am!", and continued suckling away. By the time we went to change his nappy post feed, it was totally, absolutely, completely full. Afterwards, we enjoyed a short play time, and again, I must have been on top of my game, because as soon as Sean started to show the tired signs, I wrapped him up and started the settling routine. Again, the little man fell asleep almost straight away.

The routine continued to the next feed, 3 hours later. Just before 2.30pm, we fed, and went to the mailbox to collect mail, and even stopped to have a quick chat with our neighbour Jeanette. Sean and I got a tiny bit of sun, which was nice. We had a little more play time, and a few seconds of tummy time, before Sean let me know he was ready to sleep again. And lo and behold, the little man fell asleep with minimal fuss.

A pattern was slowly but surely developing - Sean was waking every 3 hours or thereabouts, feeding for 20 or so minutes on each boob, getting his nappy changed, playing for a little bit, and then getting wrapped and patted and settled to sleep.

We are due to have dinner with my parents again tonight, this time out in a restaurant. It's now 4.50pm, and Sean has been down for nearly 90 minutes. He's due to wake up for another feed in about half an hour, so we should have time to have a good feed, before we head out. I wonder if Sean is going to continue his pattern of good behaviour and allow me and Jonathan to eat our meals without interruptions. In the meantime, I should go and have a shower.

Updated at 11.23pm

I woke Sean at 5.30pm for a feed. Sean was a little reluctant to wake, and was a bit tired to feed properly, so I had to keep waking him during the feed. In the end, I hoped he got enough to drink and got him ready to head out for dinner. Jonathan was meeting us at the restaurant, so we set off on our own and hoped the traffic wouldn't be too bad.

Friday afternoon traffic - need I say more. Sean cried the whole trip from Denistone to Chatswood, torturing me for 45 minutes. By the time I arrived at the restaurant, I didn't want Sean anywhere near me. I called Jonathan to find out exactly where he was, and as he was already at the restaurant, he came down to the car park and took Sean upstairs while I went to park the car.

Dinner was amazing. We were eating at a restaurant that we hadn't gone to for a while, and the food was quite good. Sean was awake for the majority of dinner, and only became really fussy towards the end when he was due a feed. We thanked my folks for the lovely meal and headed home to feed the milk monster.

Sean was a hungry little man, and after the feed, Jonathan tried to settle him. It took him a bit longer to settle Sean than it had taken me during the day, and I was afraid he'd missed the window of opportunity to settle Sean after the feed. After Jonathan thought Sean was asleep, the little man proved him wrong, so I took over and repeated what I'd been doing all day - within 5 minutes, Sean was in dream land.

Let's see if this pattern will continue tomorrow. We have a few things on the cards tomorrow - dentist appointment in the morning for me, and then grocery shopping. We can only hope that Sean won't be too much of a handful while we're out tomorrow.