Off to Dream Land...

I have always been one of those people who looked at other parents and said, "When I have kids I'm not gonna do that."  I will never again say that.  I HAVE done that...I have done all the things that I said I wouldn't do when I became a parent.  I think that it is easy for people who have never had children to judge or decide to do things differently.  Until you have the experience of bringing life into this world, you have NO idea what you will or will not do.  I always said that I wouldn't hold my baby all day long, yet I find that my arms ache when Evan is not in them.  I always said that my baby would NEVER sleep in my bed because it would interfere with the intimacy of my marriage, yet I wake up in the middle of the night just waiting for Evan to cry so I can run to him and bring him back to bed with me.  He has had a rough time sleeping, pretty much since he was born, and we have had to make some adjustments to our thoughts and feelings of how we had wanted his sleep habits to work.  From 0-3 months old, Evan had an infant startle reflex that would cause him to wake himself up if his arms were loose.  He would only sleep in his bed if he were swaddled and napped in my arms during the day.  When he grew too big for the sleep-sac with the swaddle wrap, we referred to our midwives who make GIANT swaddle blankets...They saved our sanity.  When he outgrew those, or it was too hot to swaddle, I would bring him to bed with me and we would fall asleep together.  Then I would wake up and put him in his own bed for the night.  My body ached from sleeping so stiffly while he was in our bed.  Thankfully, that didn't last very long.  Recently, Evan has begun sleeping by himself, in his own bed, WITHOUT being swaddled.  He is of course still rocked/held until he falls asleep, but he stays asleep in bed ALL night long! Yay!  I am so excited because now he can wear all of his cute sleepers and sleep-sacks.  He has a TON and now we can actually use them. :)  Here are a few pictures of our little guy in his sleepwear and on his way to dreamland...

Mommy wanted to snuggle in her bed!

Sleeping soundly...

Getting ready for bed...but I'm WIDE awake!

Look at me sleeping so peacefully in my cute sleep gown!
(I think I'm going to be a side sleeper when I get older.)