Remember That Room?

So, remember how much work we put into the nursery? The painting, the new floors, the new fan, the crown molding, all the sewing my mom did? It turned out pretty cute, right? So, why aren’t we really using the room now? Because Oliver has been sleeping in our room in his pack and play since we came home from the hospital. Having him in our room makes the middle of the night feedings so much easier and I like that he’s right next to me so that I can check on him whenever I feel like it (which is a lot). We use the nursery to change his diapers and clothes and I will feed him in there from time to time but for most of the day and the entire night the room goes unused... until last night. 

I have been using the room regularly just twice a day. He sleeps in there after his 4 am feeding so that Brian’s alarm doesn’t wake him up at 6 (of course, sometimes he’s up before or with the alarm anyway) but mostly I’ve been using the nursery for Oliver’s last feeding before going to bed at night. I take him into the nursery, turn off all of the lights except the low light of the lamp on the dresser, swaddle him, feed him and then rock him to sleep to the soothing sounds of the Oliver’s Sleepytime Playlist that I put on my iPod. After this twenty to sixty minute process I then make the trek to our room as quietly as possible and put him down in the pack and play hoping against hope that all of the movement and the light of the living room and the noise of the rest of the house doesn’t wake him up. Then about an hour later, if he’s still asleep, Brian, Coltrane and I tiptoe into the room (truth be told, Coltrane sucks at tiptoeing) and try to slip into bed without waking Oliver. Last night it struck me that this whole process was a little silly when I could just place him in his crib after I rocked him to sleep (yes, it took until last night to figure this out... I haven’t slept more than three hours in a row in four weeks, remember?). So, that’s what we did. I rocked him to sleep and put him in his crib and then went out to the living room, baby monitor in hand to see how this new experiment would work... Fifteen minutes later, Oliver was crying. Experiment failed, right? Nope. Brian went in, rocked him for another ten minutes and then put him back into his crib. From then on, silence. (And, yes, I did have to sneak in there a few times to check on him... silence scares me).

Brian and I watched a little TV and then made our way to bed without fear of waking Oliver up. Coltrane bound onto the bed and I didn’t have to yell at him to keep it down. I opened and shut the squeaky bathroom door numerous times without holding my breath to see if Oliver would sleep through it. It was great. And the best thing about it was that Oliver slept for three and a half hours straight. For the past few weeks he’s been waking up every two and a half hours on the dot to eat so that extra hour was nice. He seemed to sleep really well in his own room... much better than I slept. I kept waking up to obsess over the monitor but I know I will get used to it in time. I did learn that a little fussing is no reason to swoop him up into my arms and feed him. With him in our room, I respond to the first or second sound he makes. Last night, he would start to fuss a little every once in awhile but then go back to sleep. Lesson learned.

Of course, after that first stretch of sleep I did move him back into his pack and play for the time between feedings since it is much simpler on me to just roll over and feed him but I think we will start slowly moving into his own room full time. Hopefully I’ll get used to sleeping without him right next to me.