11 weeks and "through the night" he sleeps!

One question that has been bothering me since Jackson has been about two weeks old is..."So, is he sleeping through the night yet?" I have often wondered...What does that mean? What is through the night, anyway? Whatever it means, NO he is not doing it! Haha. Well, I read last night that Pediatricians define "through the night" as not waking between the hours of 12 am and 5 am. Well, Jackson has done that a time or two, however not consistently. I think it's important for new moms not to get discouraged when their babies don't sleep through the night as soon as their friends' babies for several reasons. #1 - Every baby is different. #2 - Every mom has their own definition of "sleeping through the night". And as my good friend Jaime told me very early on, "All kids go to college sleeping through the night!"

When I was pregnant and due any day, I often thought...who cares if he sleeps or not, it's not like I've been sleeping well since I'm getting up for hourly trips to the potty. I remember thinking at least I would not be alone when I was up all night. Ha! Getting up to go to the bathroom is a little bit easier than getting up to tend to the needs of a newborn. For the first few weeks, at least. Around week 3, I decided...you know what? I can do this no sleeping thing. I can sleep during the day, and it's all good. I will survive! I sort of convinced myself that I could do it, and sure enough it got easier! I told myself that this stage was sooooo short and would be gone before I knew it, and if getting up to feed him meant one more time to hold his tiny little body and pray for him and love on him, I was up for the challenge. Not to mention Kyle is a wonderful beyond wonderful dad who often gets up to feed even when he has work the next day. I have by no means done this alone, and quite frankly I'm not sure how I could have done it without him. I can't even say "I" because it has totally been "we". I won't brag too much but WOW he is amazing. I know that Jackson will appreciate how involved his dad is.

Anyway, I'm losing my train of thought here. So...the whole not sleeping thing. After a while, not sleeping becomes less tiring than sleeping! Anytime someone else stayed up with him and I slept the whole night, I was exhausted the next day. I know the sleep was good for me, but it's just that my body had become used to little to no sleep.

I remember Jeff Gould telling Kyle not to fret...Tommy didn't sleep through the night til 6 weeks. At the time, I thought wow, if he doesn't sleep through the night (remember I still have no concept of what that means) til 6 WEEKS...that is forever and a year away! Well, the 6 week mark passed but we were good...still no sleeping through the night, though. Looking back, it's sad how quickly 6 weeks fly by! I'm so glad I decided early on to enjoy every crazy minute of it because it's gone before you know it!

Around week 8, Jackson dropped down to only about 1 feeding around 3 am, and this is where we have been since. To be honest, that has been a little harder than waking up every 2 or 3 hours. I guess it's all about what your body gets used to.

So...here we are, 11 WEEKS OLD. Last night, he slept from 11 pm to 7 am. Kyle woke up at 5:30 and said, "Did you get up with him last night?" I said "No, did you?" Then the panic began..."Is he breathing?" Haha. So Kyle went in to check on him because I was too scared. He was breathing and sleeping peacefully!

Now, this might not happen again tonight, but we're OK with that. Why? Because all 3 Silvios in this household got 8 hours of sleep last night, and we could run on that for weeks! Besides, there is always coffee and the realization that he will GO TO COLLEGE SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!

All of this really happens too quickly. I miss him being beside our bed in the bassinet, but I'm happy that he's sleeping well in his room. This little guy brightens up our day every single day, and we're enjoying playing with him and teaching him lots of cool stuff. Lately, he is cooing a lot and loves "talking" with us. He smiles and laughs a lot, and he is starting to do more with his hands. He will hold on to his toys, but he doesn't reach out for them just yet. He still suffers through "tummy time", but his head is getting less flat. His favorite book to listen to is Jonah and the Whale. In fact, it's the ONLY one he will listen to. I think he enjoys the sounds it makes. Yesterday, I read him Born to be a Tiger, a book my sister gave me when I found out he was a boy. Of course I got choked up. I can't wait for him to experience all the fun of LSU game day traditions! I can't believe we're less than a month away from football season!

Anyway, that's the update on us. Doing great and enjoying every day. Life is great!