Mother of the Year

I told this story to a few people at work and it quickly spread throughout the nursery that I should receive the "mother of the year award." (Thank you Vicki and Shankar for telling everyone the story and making me feel HORRIBLE about it every chance you got!)

So, Clay has not been sleeping well the past couple of weeks and I couldn't really figure out why. (I once mentioned that I would not complain about him not sleeping and I'm not - I just wanted to find out what the problem was and fix it because he has been a good sleeper for the most part.) He was waking up every 30 minutes whining and rolling over and putting his knees under his belly. The nurse in me kept thinking he had a belly ache - but every single night for 2 weeks? What is the likelihood of that happening?

Casey and I have always turned the heat down to 60ish at night because we like it cold and then pile the covers on. We have done that since we have been together and even since we have had Clay. Clay sleeps with us in the bed and he even sleeps in a sleeper suit with feet and all. So, I thought he was staying plenty warm. WRONG. A couple of nights ago I told Casey we were going to sleep with the heat on what we have it on during the day just to see if it made a difference - guess what? It did. He slept great! And he has slept great ever since we turned the heat on at night.

Mother of the year. I was letting my child freeze. People at work told me that when he was laying on his belly pulling his knees up underneath him it was a survival instinct to keep his core warm. Mother. of. the. year.

A major part of my job is to keep babies that I admit warm. Or else they could die. Seriously. Keeping a baby warm is the first line of defense for a preemie. People at work were calling me asking me what to do if their baby they admitted got cold? Or what it meant if their baby was laying on their belly with their knees drawn up? Ha. Ha. Funny thing is I didn't even know they were trying to make me feel bad - the nurse in me was answering them with serious, research-based answers to their questions. (Why would I ever think they would make me feel TERRIBLE about letting my child freeze?? I already feel terrible!) Granted, Clay is not a preemie, but he still needs to stay warm. He was probably burning all of his calories trying to stay warm. That's probably why he has not been gaining weight at a rapid pace anymore. It's probably why he can sleep for two hours at a time during the day while up next to me - he's warm. So warm.

Trial and error. Huge error on my part this time. A thousand pounds of guilt have been sitting on my shoulders about this! He is now sleeping warm and sound!

On a side note - Casey got Clay a helmet and took him for a ride in our Burley trailer behind the bike. Clay was excited about his helmet! He didn't wear the helmet while he was in the trailer, he went one step further in the safety department - he strapped Clay in his car seat and strapped the car seat in the trailer and took off! He seemed to like it! Casey is so excited - he will be getting exercise and spending time with Clay at the same time!