Crazy Night-time Issues!

My poor boobies! This week has really been ridiculously inconsistent regarding night feedings and pumping sessions.

Ariella had her 5 vaccinations at her 4 month check-up on Saturday morning. Since then, it's been very crazy at night. Normally, I feed her around 9-10pm (after a nap starting around 7:30-8:30pm). And, then she wakes up to eat around 1:30am, 3:30am, and 5:30am. And, then she eats between 7:30-8am before I go to work.

Well, both Saturday and Sunday nights she slept through the night! I'm talking 9-10pm to 5:30am! This was great for me for sleep. Early Sunday morning I didn't pump over-night (since I was sleeping!), but early Monday morning overnight I wound up pumping twice because of feeling uncomfortable. I got 10 oz, though! And, my milk pumping Monday continued to be freakishly high for me. I got 25.75oz total! The most I had ever gotten before in one day was 20.75oz.

But, then Monday night came...

It was HORRIBLE! She kept waking up in her bassinet every 45-60 minutes. I tried to sooth her in her crib most of the times, but I wound up feeding her overnight 3 times! And, then in the morning, she ate at 5:30am, 7am, AND 8am! Crazy stuff.

I was practically crying before work when Abuela (Spanish for Grandmother) arrived to take care of Ariella during the day. She felt sorry for me and offered to stay the night to take care of Ariella so that I could get some sleep. Maybe not so well-thought-out, but I happily accepted. It actually turned out pretty well for me. I went to sleep around 10pm (although Tyree wanted to watch tv, so that kept me up longer than it would have taken me to fall asleep even though I wasn't watching the show). Ariella was crying/fussing quite a bit (that also kept me up). Abuela was tending to her, so it wasn't a cry-it-out situation, but she was still loud and not asleep.

This was the first time Ariella slept somewhere other than in our room at night, so I'm sure it was a big change for her. We had the baby monitor on, with one receiver in our room and one for his mom in the guest room. Plus, there were fireworks going off for a while, too. Around 11pm, I asked Tyree how long we were going to let it go on before rescuing his mom. In my head I was thinking midnight. But, things either got quiet before that or I fell asleep, or who knows.

Around 2am, Ariella woke up crying. Tyree ran upstairs to help with the diaper change, and his mom warmed a bottle of my breast milk (I told her she could give 1 5oz bottle, but if Ariella needed to eat more, that I would need to nurse her.) So, she ate around 2am. I stayed in bed! It was such a strange concept for me, since I've done all the night-time feedings/soothings up until last night.

Tyree's mom said that she went back to sleep in her crib (don't know the details of that) and woke up around 5:30am. At that time, she got Ariella and brought her into the guest bedroom with her. She slept there until around 6:30am, when I came and got her to nurse.

I pumped a bit over 5oz from one side around 6am, and just 1.5oz from the other side (could have gotten way more, but I wanted to leave some for Ariella since I knew I would be feeding her soon). But, I had leaked like crazy over night! Leaked through the breast pad, bra, and shirt. So, that wasn't super fun. I fed Ariella at 6am and then at 7:45am before leaving for work.

Tyree's mom said that she thinks Ariella is still too little to sleep through the night and to sleep by herself in the crib! I think that's hilarious! But, it makes me feel good, like she approves of how we've been dealing with nights. It's been a crazy ride.

I'm worried about messing up my supply. My pumping numbers the day after the horrible sleep night were low. And, then I allowed an extra bottle the very next night after not having pumped well that day! Today's numbers are better. I'm not sure if I'll "make up" for the extra 5oz, but it should be close. I have plenty of milk, since I pump in the early morning on the weekends and usually don't use it. Plus, I pumped the crazy 25+ oz day on Monday. But, I don't want to tank my supply. I always like to pump as much as she drinks from bottles that same day.

It will be interesting to see what happens with her sleep tonight!