Baby Massage

It's been awhile since I posted anything here, as you may have noticed.

Here is a photo of one of our baby massage sessions (thanks Lisa!). The 5 classes have finished now, and we all learned a lot about communicating with our babies through touch. I've also met a great group of wonderful and supportive women, and we will continue our Friday morning meetings.

Maya was only 4 weeks old when we first started the massage, so slept through the first couple of sessions, but the last few she really enjoyed. That's Maya down the bottom of the photo, looking sideways. The other babies are Frankie, Isabella, Felix and Alana. There is also a fake plastic baby that Lisa, the teacher, practises on - can you spot the odd one out?

Sleep...

Everything now revolves around sleep...Maya's sleep, my sleep, Noah's sleep. How much we're getting, how much we're not. Maya seems to be getting the most sleep of any of us. She is a good sleeper, day and night, which has been a blessing. My night sleep at the moment, however, consists of 2-3 hour stints, in between her feeds. There were a few nights where I got a 4-5 hour stretch at the start of the night, but I think she may be going through a growth spurt now and is tending towards 2-3 hourly feeds again. I only wish I could catch up on sleep during the day, but can't seem to nap in the daylight hours any longer (believe me, I try, but seem too 'wired'). Those of you who know me well know that I have never had ANY trouble sleeping - any time, or any place - but that has definitely changed.

One thing that is helping is the new king-size latex bed that Noah and I splurged on. It was delivered earlier this week, and boy, what a difference it makes to our comfort. We have been sleeping on hard futons and old mattresses for years, and since the baby was born we have been tiring of all rolling into the middle! Definitely a luxury, but seems worth the investment.

Despite my grumblings about sleep, waking up with Maya in the morning and seeing her smile at us makes up for everything. And it is true that parenting doesn't stop during the night, so I must accept that this is part of parenthood! Noah and I are definitely enjoying the benefits of the 3 of us co-sleeping together in our bed - and wouldn't change it for anything at the moment. No getting up in the middle of the cold winter's night, and being able to cuddle lots and simply roll over and go back to sleep after breastfeeding!

Happy sleeping
Erica