Nursing question

Not sure how many people reading this will be able to help, but I hope someone will!

Now that Cal is sleeping for longer stretches at night (YAY), I am waking up before him in a great deal of pain with my boobs about to explode (sorry for anyone reading this that didn't want to know that). Last night, I woke up at 4:00 and he didn't get up until 5:30. I just laid in bed waiting for him to wake up.

I thought maybe I should just pump before I go to bed, or around 10:00, so that I am not going from 7 until 5... if I do that, will I just train my body to make more milk? Or does it not work like that? OR, should I get up and pump at 4, just to have some relief?

Can anyone offer advice? THANK YOU! :)

Sleep Update: February

Just to give an update on the sleeping situation around here...

I read an article in a magazine that said that if your baby is showing signs of crankiness around 5:30 or 6, you should aim for a bed time of 7-7:30. Well, Cal shows crankiness every night right around 5:30 or 6 and he acts tired, but he wasn't going down for the night until around 8 (he just wasn't ready to go down...or so I thought!). He was going down at 8 and sleeping until around 5, when I would feed him and then he would fall back asleep again until 7 ish.

After reading the article, I am now putting Cal to bed around 7:30 (sometimes a little earlier-- tonight he barely made it to 7! Last night he was still playing at 7:50). Last night he slept until 5:15. I fed him and then we both fell asleep in the chair. I woke up and tried to get up to carry him into the bedroom to sleep more, but he was wide awake then.

I would almost consider that sleeping through the night. He is going for much longer stretches, and I think he's learning to sleep longer-- yay! The article also said that a baby learns early on: the more sleep he gets, the more he needs, and the less sleep he gets, the less he will need....basically, the kid is going to learn to survive with whatever about of sleep to which they are accustomed. If they sleep more during the day, they will sleep more at night. Looks like we are going back to focus on some good day time naps!

Speaking of naps.... Cal was napping from around 9-11 and then again from 1-3. I have started taking him to the gym in the morning and it has totally thrown off his nap schedule. I need to get it figured out, I guess. I need to try to get to the gym around 8, so that I can have him back home by 9 to nap. It's just so hard to get moving that early when I've been up in the night! Once he is sleeping through the night (until 7!), I will get my butt in gear and get to the gym. There is no excuse then...!!!

Cal is sound asleep right now. Here's hoping we don't hear a peep from him until 7 am! (okay, that would be wayyyy too good to be true. Maybe he can hold off until 5???)

A few of my favorites

Cal is such a fun age and he is smiling all the time and cracking himself up constantly. I have been taking pictures all the time (many times with my iPhone!) just to try to capture everything he does. Time is flying and he is growing SO fast. Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken lately....

he just rolled over and saw me standing there and started cracking up... :)

Tummy time is soooo much fun now!

I LOVE my bath!!!!

Come here, Hank.... let me pet you....

yes, this outfit is a Nascar Racing suit.

Yes, it is white trash.

Yes, it is too adorable not to put on him!

Watching the Super Bowl, determined to get those socks off.

Drive back from SC, Cal discovered he could see Momma if he turned his head really far!

South Carolina

We went this past weekend to South Carolina to visit Eddie's grandparents, Lala and Pop, and his parents flew in from Texas too. We left Friday morning, as another mini storm came in. It was pouring down rain and 32 degrees. When we got to Burlington, the far left lane and the far right lane were both sheets of ice. We just cruised in the middle lane watching cars go flying by us.... and then we saw them wrecked on the side of the road a few miles ahead. Seriously, we saw that happen several times!

We got to Pendleton safely and had a nice weekend with Eddie's family. Cal was a trooper in the car both there and back. As hard as it is to believe, Cal did not cry one time the entire weekend. Not once. I was shocked (and thrilled!).

Here are some pictures of the growing little guy....

4 generations

Mr. Thunder Thighs

Who is this kissing me?

Beep Beep!

Just cruisin' in his Jeep (his feet don't reach the ground yet, but when they do, he will fly!)

Snow Day!

On Friday night, the snow started and we woke up Saturday morning to a snow covered everything! It was Cal's first real snow so of course I had to take some pics...

All bundled and up and ready to face the cold!

Hank was loving the snow!

Burrrrrrrr!!!!!! It was only 20 degrees outside!

The family!

After being outside for a while, Cal went inside to take a nap (in a closet! It was warm and dark and cozy...he loved it!), while Momma went sledding with a bunch of neighborhood kids. :)

On Sunday, it was a BEAUTIFUL day, with bright blue skies and the sun shining bright. We went back over to my parents house and this time Cal got to spend more time outside with us...

My favorite shot from the weekend :)

Shopping Sites/Websites

I have been buying some fun baby gifts for friends and have found these fun sites. I wanted to share with y'all in case you have someone that you want to buy a gift for...

http://www.diapers.com

(under clothing and shoes, go to personalized gifts)

http://www.personalizationmall.com

(they have great gifts and run great specials all the time)

http://www.prettybabygifts.com

(pretty cool-- you can pick at the top "it's a boy", "it's a girl", "I'm on a budget".....)

http://www.landsend.com/pp/WheelsLaceBabyBlanket~44973_-1.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::BLU&CM_MERCH=IDX_00005__0000000284&origin=index

(this was one of my favorite baby gifts from Land's End. The blanket is so light weight and cozy)

please feel free to add to the list! I love resources like this... and I am always looking for new gift ideas!

xo

The Littlest Cowboy

It's 8:35 am....

...and I have already completed a workout DVD, put away laundry, taken Hank on a jog around the block, taken out the trash and recycling, started another load of wash, read the newspaper, played with Cal and set up 2 J. Hilburn appointments.

IT'S AMAZING THE ENERGY YOU HAVE WHEN YOUR KID SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! Yup, that's right! Cal Baby went down at 10 (too late for my liking, but we did have date night, so it all got thrown off...), and we didn't hear a thing from him until 6:30 this morning! I woke up about to explode (heehee) so I went in to make sure he was still alive around 5:50, and sure enough, he was just snoring away!

I got up with him this morning-- usually Eddie takes him down and they have some male bonding time over the Today show so momma can sleep a little more. But this morning, I was full of energy (I am getting tired now!), so I brought him downstairs and we had a great time playing and now he is napping!

Hope today is as good as yesterday! :)

A GOOD day!

Today has been a really GOOD day in the Williamson house.

Two nights ago (Tuesday night), Cal woke up at 2:30 and I went in there to try to get him back to sleep and he was NOT having it. I tried relentlessly for 2 hours (I am soooo stubborn!), and then finally fed him. We were up for a total of 3 hours.

I was needing my sleep last night!

Cal ate at 9:00 and fell sound asleep while eating. I tried to wake him several times because you are supposed to put babies down awake so they will learn to go to sleep on their own (so I have heard...). Well, I couldn't wake him up, so I just put him in the crib sound asleep. At 12:15, he screamed, so I went in there, ready for a battle like the night before. I put the paci in and he was out again! He didn't say boo until 5:00. We are making progress! I fed him at 5 and he slept until about 7:30. I fed him again and he crashed until 9:30!

We played this morning after he got moving at 9:30 and then I had to run some errands so we loaded up the car. He sort of fell asleep in the car, but when I was carrying him in to the house in the rain, he woke up mad. We played when we got home and then I noticed some serious yawning. I knew he was well over due for a nap, so I decided that we were going to nap in the nursery (as opposed to the swing). It's a dreary rainy day, so it's perfect napping weather! I put him down and I watched him play on the video monitor and then he started crying. I gave him 10 minutes, went back in and flipped him to his tummy and put the paci in again. I walked out and within 3 minutes, he was sound asleep! He has been in his crib asleep for just over an hour now. YEEEEE HAW! I am hoping this will start to set the standard for sleeping in the house. He is going to outgrow that swing and I don't want to have a battle to get him to re-learn to nap in his crib!

Eddie and I are having dinner tonight at the Country Club with a bunch of other couples so it will be nice to have a night out. I feel like they are VERY few and far between, so this is a real treat! My Aunt will be keeping Cal for us. We are lucky to have family near by!

Just wanted to post an update!

xo