DoulaClara
12-05-2007, 07:15 AM
:smile As in, what the heck position do you spiral your spine in during the night? We like co-sleeping, and Gianna will only cosleep currently (previously, she spent about 75% of the night in the cosleeper, but our trip to NY and back while teething screwed that all up) which is grand... if only I could actually sleep. For a few nights this week, I was thinking DH was going to have to duct tape me into the sitting position. Here's how it currently looks:
- Bath and massage. New diaper, onesie, and sleep sack (or pajamas). Nurse on one side. She passes out cold. I set her next to me, and she springs back into action. Nurse on the other side. She's out again. Set her down.
- She writhes like a fish, flipping herself all over with her eyes closed. I lay down next to her on my left side, and she jams herself face-first into me. I pick her up, lay her on sort of a semi-perpendicular next to me, put my left arm under the pillow, and try to sleep. I also bend my legs up like a sitting position to sort of help prop her in place.
- For the next many hours, she wiggles and flops, using her head to gain momentum, so that she can jam herself really tightly next to me, and usually nearly shears off a nipple in the process- ouch. Snapping my bra shut is useless- she shrieks like a banshee if she finds (with her scratchy, thrashing hands) that it's covered. To save my own sanity, I use my hand as a block. She also arches her back until she smushes her head against the pillow I thought I cleverly kept out of her reach above my head. I re-position, re-position, re-position. During this time, she's also popping on and off her latch, nursing like she's starving, and then abruptly stopping.
Here's an important point- I'm a pretty small cup size. I have to lean on my left (and squish my arm) to nurse her. We balance like this until she's finished, and I relax. Um, oops, she's decided she wants more after all. Repeat, repeat, repeat. By the time DH's alarm goes off at 5:45, my rear is numb, my arm is numb and my back hurts like crazy. My neck kills, and I need an Advil just to be able to stumble into the shower.
So, thank the Lord for naps, both AM and PM (and sometimes PM II) Our bed is a queen, and there is no chance of a larger one now. Any good ideas for ways I can sleep in such a way that I don't form a hump in my back by age 30?
- Bath and massage. New diaper, onesie, and sleep sack (or pajamas). Nurse on one side. She passes out cold. I set her next to me, and she springs back into action. Nurse on the other side. She's out again. Set her down.
- She writhes like a fish, flipping herself all over with her eyes closed. I lay down next to her on my left side, and she jams herself face-first into me. I pick her up, lay her on sort of a semi-perpendicular next to me, put my left arm under the pillow, and try to sleep. I also bend my legs up like a sitting position to sort of help prop her in place.
- For the next many hours, she wiggles and flops, using her head to gain momentum, so that she can jam herself really tightly next to me, and usually nearly shears off a nipple in the process- ouch. Snapping my bra shut is useless- she shrieks like a banshee if she finds (with her scratchy, thrashing hands) that it's covered. To save my own sanity, I use my hand as a block. She also arches her back until she smushes her head against the pillow I thought I cleverly kept out of her reach above my head. I re-position, re-position, re-position. During this time, she's also popping on and off her latch, nursing like she's starving, and then abruptly stopping.
Here's an important point- I'm a pretty small cup size. I have to lean on my left (and squish my arm) to nurse her. We balance like this until she's finished, and I relax. Um, oops, she's decided she wants more after all. Repeat, repeat, repeat. By the time DH's alarm goes off at 5:45, my rear is numb, my arm is numb and my back hurts like crazy. My neck kills, and I need an Advil just to be able to stumble into the shower.
So, thank the Lord for naps, both AM and PM (and sometimes PM II) Our bed is a queen, and there is no chance of a larger one now. Any good ideas for ways I can sleep in such a way that I don't form a hump in my back by age 30?