Winter Solstice

Before Dominic was born, I thought I should pack in as much real estate work as I could, figuring that once he was born I would be "just sitting around the house" and able to do all sorts of things. HAHAHAHA.

On December 7, my friend who is writing the blog that inspired me to write this one did an explanation of her day and how hard it is to get stuff done with the new baby. She started out saying "Let's say I sleep 10 hours a day." And then went about telling how the remaining 14 hours were spent.. 7 hours of feeding, 4 hours of diapering and educating baby, which leaves 3 hours for eating and hygiene. 0 hours for anything else.

When I read that, I could relate pretty well, but I couldn't believe she worked in 10 HOURS of sleep! I was sleeping only about 4 hours and still not accomplishing much. My big achievement was completing the entire humungous stack of Dominic's and my laundry that piles up due to being spitup on. My mom kept telling me to "sleep when he sleeps", but I couldn't resist the temptation to stay awake to wrap a Christmas present, change the cat box, or actually brush my teeth.

On the night between December 20 and December 21 - the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice - Eddie and I decided to try letting Dominic sleep in his own room in his big crib. He had been sleeping longer in his bassinette (and growing longer in his bassinette), and Eddie had read in the "What to Expect" book that babies can benefit from being in their own room so the parents don't turn a small stir into a full-blown wakeup. So we decided to give it a try.

And on the VERY FIRST NIGHT...

Dominic slept 12 hours !!!

Of course, I didn't sleep a single minute that night.   Here's a picture of what I did...

I stared at the monitor for 12 hours non-stop.  I kept nudging Eddie and asking him if it looked like Dominic was breathing.  He would mumble that he was sure everything was fine and I should go to sleep.  Every now and then Dominic would stir and I would be both relieved and concerned he might wake up.  He didn't.

Here is how the cupcake looked in the morning after 12 hours of sleep.  Sooo happy!  (There will be no pictures of Mama from that morning.  Can you say "crow's feet"?)