Intentions

Well, since my midwife, Carol, gave me the go-ahead to head back to the gym and do some light running-walking, I've been meaning to go. In fact, I've been excited! Trouble is, I've now learned that with a six-week old Baby Maxity, I have to expect the unexpected - and that includes a sudden change of plans or rather, a more "fluid" schedule - one with no times.

While last night was pretty good and I managed to get a four hour block of sleep, the two nights prior were...well, hellish! Baby Max seemed to go totally nocturnal on us. It was like he was a vampire. Seriously. He would be fine until about midnight and then...

It went something like this:

Midnight - cry, cry, cry and only stop until he's picked up and cuddled.

1 a.m. - diaper change and the cry for more milk. At this point Baby Max is so ravenous that he's drinking not only breast milk, but also air - which feeds a nasty cycle of gas.

2 a.m. - falls asleep for a moment and awakens, screaming. We conclude that he's wet and needs more milk. NOW. Or he's gassy and needs help to rid himself of the excess air polluting his digestive system.

3 a.m. - more rocking, bouncing, shushing. Right now, Baby Max is WIDE awake, like I mean "big eye" wide awake. We try to swaddle and shush, but he's a wiggly little thing and cries when we put him down on his back.

4 a.m. - another diaper change and more milk. Still, relatively little or no shut eye - for all of us.

5 a.m. - the party is dying down and Baby Max is starting to calm down and cry less. He lets me swaddle him and falls asleep on my breast. I gingerly take him - almost like I'm carrying a ticking time bomb - and gently place him down beside me. While I'm doing this I'm praying to all the Gods to help him stay asleep.

5:05 a.m. - after staring at a snoring Baby Max, I'm reassured that's he's FINALLY asleep.

5:07 a.m. - now for some ZZZs of our own.

On these two days, I had made plans to go to the gym while he slept during the day, but that was impossible, since I was in bed too. I'm told that this episode was typical of a "growth spurt" and that at this stage, I should expect them every two to three weeks.

Okay, there is some regularity to that! Perhaps I can "plan" around these?