A Day to Remember

Well, Sunday was a big day for us. It was Fathers' Day, of course. Paul and I had already celebrated earlier in the week since we knew that we'd have a house full of people on the actual day. I painted a coffee mug that said 'I love Dad,' and I put Maura's footprint on the opposite side. It turned out really cute, and I hope that Maura and I can keep this as a tradition every fathers' day. I also got Paul a picture frame keychain and filled it with pictures of Maura. Oh, and we got a grill for our new deck. So, Paul really raked in the loot!!

It was also Maura's Baptism. The ceremony was wonderful and very meaningful to me. It all happened so quickly that Maura only wore one blanket (mine). She did great. I thought for sure that she'd cry during the immersion, but she didn't. The party also went well. It was fun to have everyone here.

Sunday was also an angel day for me. My first baby was due a year earlier. I have mixed feeling about it all. Of course, I'm sad about it all, but I never would have Maura if the first baby lived. So, I'm grateful, too. It's weird, isn't it? I couldn't imagine my life any other way. I will always remember my angels, they will always be in my heart, and I will always be sad that they are not in my arms. But it has somehow become just another part of me. It's not horrible anymore, just there, like a scar. I will never forget the loss or the pain, but it doesn't hurt as much anymore.

Sunday was also a year to the day that Maura was conceived (sorry if TMI!).

It was nice, although a bit overwhelming to celebrate so many events on that day.
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Maura is no longer sleeping through the night. At all. She is now getting up twice every night. She's teething in a big way. So we give her Tylenol when she seems to be hurting. But she wakes up hungry twice a night. Last evening, we tried a couple of spoonfuls of cereal before bedtime, but no luck.

Oh, and last night she woke up another time, too. Well, she didn't really wake up. She fussed. I gave her her binky, and she went back to sleep.

Should I be getting up to give her the binky? Or should I let her try to soothe herself back to sleep? Is this a temporary thing because she's teething??

I've started back to reading my sleep books. I think that we'll try putting her to sleep much earlier tonight.

Oh, we are changing her formula. The Simlilac is making her too gassy. She was fine on it until recently. She has no trouble passing the gas, and doesn't seem to be in pain, but man can she clear a room!! So we are going to try Enfamil for a while.

I'm now giving her 3-4 bottles a day. I nurse 1-2 times a day and whenever she wakes at night. I guess that I'm weaning her very slowly. I'm really sort of hesitant to wean her completely until she's sleeping through the night. It really is so convenient to be able to breastfeed at night. She never really wakes up that way. She's hungry, I feed her, she falls asleep. I think that if she had to wait for me to make a bottle, or at least warm it up, she'd fully wake up. I don't know how easily she'd fall back asleep then. And I'm not sure that I want to find out!!

It's been so hard to find a pattern for her lately. With so many people staying here--grandparents especially, it's been hard to maintain any sort of schedule. And we are traveling over the fourth of July, so that will challenge a schedule, too. I keep hoping that things will calm down, but the haven't. It's causing a lot of stress on all of us as of late, but I think that Maura and I are suffering the most. At least Paul gets to sleep at night.

fortunately, she's a laid-back baby who rolls with the punches. I don't know how I'd manage a high-maintenance baby right now!