Sleep

Sleep is something I have a whole new appreciation of.  The definition of a "good night of sleep" has taken on a whole new meaning for me. The one question everyone who knows that I have a new baby asks me is "How is she sleeping?" or "Are you getting much sleep?" or my favorite "Is she sleeping through the night yet?" I would like to respond by simply laughing in their face, but that would be rude, so I don't. The answer is she usually sleeps about three hours at a time in between feedings and I consider that good (for now).

Sometimes, I will get lucky like last night and actually get about four hours of rest before she needs to eat again (which I hope will start happening more frequently) or sometimes, it's only an hour and a half in between. It's hard to imagine a time when I will actually sleep for five, six, seven, or even, God-forbid, EIGHT hours at a time. I'm not sure I would know what to do with myself. 

All this lack of sleep is well worth it though because Olivia won't be this small forever and our middle-of-the-night feedings, despite how exhausted I feel, are special because it's a quiet, peaceful bonding time for us. I love the look on her face in that moment when she goes from crying to realizing that she's about to get some delicious milk! Her eyes get really wide and her lips curl into a little smile and she makes a noise almost like laughing and then, it's quiet except for the sound of her gulping and her eyelids get heavy and close and I feel like sleeping isn't that important after all.

Here are some pictures of our little cutie from yesterday: