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May 25, 2006
whew...
Watch out world, Mama's getting some sleep. As of last Friday night, Clara has been sleeping from about 7:30pm to 7:00am! You see, I've been pretty determined to make Clara take a bottle, at least well enough that I could leave the house for a date and not worry about her. Matt and I have yet to go on a real date since she was born, FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO. So... after having a little trouble with her bedtime feeding on Fri night, I made her a bottle and let her experiment with it. She probably spit it out at least 30 times, but in the end she drank a little more than an ounce of formula. The unexpected result was a full nights sleep for me. Woo hoo. ;) Since then she has taken from 3-6 oz. each night at bedtime and she sleeps beautifully each time.
The down side is that without really meaning to, I dropped two feedings in one night--the first one, that went badly, and the middle of the night feeding too. Needless to say, I was pretty sore in the morning and I have had to fight a much smaller milk supply ever since. A week ago I was really sold on nursing her until she was a year old. That's what I did with Jane and I loved it. However, Jane was a great sleeper and she loved nursing. Clara loves it as long as she's gulping it down. Now that my milk is dwindling, she's pretty cranky about not getting things her way. For the first time, I think I would actually be okay with switching her to formula if we could afford it.
The compromise is that I'm going to attempt to nurse her for as long as she will tolerate it at bedtime, and then I'll give her a bottle when she's had it. The rest of the day, I will nurse her. Hopefully, we can keep this up for awhile, maybe long enough to get her used to a sippy cup. Hopefully by then she won't need to nurse as much anyway. We'll see.
Oh, and by the way, Matt has a new job at Chattanooga Valley Middle School. It's official. As much as he hates to leave CCS, we just couldn't make it on a small christian school's salary anymore. They are very sad to lose him. Although Matt won't toot his own horn, I do have to say that I'm pretty proud of the teacher he has become. His students were literally in tears today as he said goodbye to many of them. He relates to them in a way that most teachers aren't able to do, I think because he's still a big kid cooped up in a teacher's body. You probably know what I'm talking about.
About the job: Matt will teach 8th grade Social Studies (Georgia History) and he also gets to have Josh Green co teach with him as his inclusion teacher for two periods a day. Josh is a really good friend of Matt's from Covenant.
On another note, next week Matt and I are going out on our first date in forever. Any suggestions about where to go? Mexican food is out, but other than that we're not picky.
| By Karen | 08:06 PM
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Comments
Ah, date night ... I'm jealous. We haven't had one of those in a long time either. How much do you want to drop on dinner? If money isn't a concern, then I highly recommend St. John's (go all the way, too ... appetizer, salad, main course, drinks and dessert ... it'll be the best meal you've had in forever). You could also go to The Meeting Place (owned by St. John's) for a more casual and slightly cheaper atmosphere. Terra Nostra (on Frazier) is also a fun and different place to go (it's a tapas & wine bar). As for new downtown restaurants, I also hear that The Blue Plate is great (Pam's been there twice). Out by the mall ... as far as chains go ... Carrabas (Italian) and Bonefish Grill (seafood) are pretty good. Unfortunately, I find myself at Big River Grill way too often (maybe because they have something for everyone).
Posted by: Scott at May 25, 2006 09:49 PM
we always enjoy tony's, the pasta place in the bluff view art district. rembrandts is right there to grab coffee afterwards to carry along on a walk around that area. i hope that you have a great time together.
Posted by: amber at May 26, 2006 09:24 AM
I'm so glad you are getting more sleep Karen! I hope that is still happening for you. I know many have mixed feelings about breastfeeding vs formula, and also mixed feelings about WIC. But if you are desperate to go to all formula and are willing, you can get free formula through WIC as along as you qualify financially. Look into it if you're interested. Give them a call and they can tell you more.
Posted by: michellew at June 3, 2006 03:41 PM