January 24, 2012

Last night was rough. I thought Olivia was going to nurse all night long. No matter how long I nursed, she always seemed to want to return to the breast and definitely did not want to be put down. I was at my wit's end. Finally, out of fear that her crying was more disruptive to the neighbors from upstairs, I took her downstairs. I thought, at least down here she won't keep as many people awake and I can eat and watch television. As soon as I laid her down in 'the nest' she was silent and went right to sleep. A miracle. If only she had been able to tell me that she didn't want to sleep upstairs, perhaps it would have saved her lungs a workout.

She slept soundly once we were downstairs - in fact she missed a feeding. But since she'd eaten so much prior to falling asleep, I wasn't worried. I let her sleep. I was still very tired this morning, and clearly Olivia was too, because she has slept most of the day. After one of our morning feedings she decided she did not want t be in the nest; that she would rather sleep with me on my pillow & the couch. Sometimes she likes to be very close to my mouth and scoots herself up closer & closer. Perhaps my breath is soporific? Whatever fairy godmother was listening to my pleas for sleep sure took me seriously. Olivia slept on the couch, holding her 'lovie'. She slept on my chest half the day. She slept on Morgan. She slept and slept. I began to be worried, but she has eaten plenty and had enough diapers, etc. She started to wake up around 5pm and I thought we were 'in for it' this evening. However, it was only a minimal fussing. Now she's sleeping and smiling on my pillow (again). I think we will end up staying downstairs again tonight. I'm not 'fixing something that isn't broken!'

Today, since we were on a sort of 'reversed' schedule and I didn't want to wake her, Olivia doesn't have much to share. While she was sleeping I: finished a load of laundry, took Christmas ornaments off the tree, tidied and made a pot of chili. Later in the afternoon Morgan came over and brought Paula (Sophie's teammate - a 13+ year old Alaskan Husky), who is here at least as long as she needs to recuperate from a recent illness...if not longer. Morgan & I brought half the pot of chili to our friend Veronica, who is recuperating from a surgery, but Olivia stayed in the car.

A fun thing that happened today was that Olivia & I got to be a part of the house blessing at my parents', via Skype. We got to join in the singing and introduce Olivia to Matushka Suzanne and Father Vladimir. Olivia was blessed through the internet. It was wonderful to get to be a part of the tradition, even though we are far away. I feel very blessed that we have so many ways to stay connected to our loved ones.