Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Strike Day 5

Hubby was at home again today, cos we need to go sign some documents for our new flat. The morning passed by as usual, with us spoon feeding Thane his milk and water. I have increased his meals to 3 times a day now, adding cereal for breakfast because in the past he used to latch in the morning.


When Terelle went off to school, we took Thane along with us to the document signing session. I still didnt want to leave him alone. In the car, i had almost succeeded in getting him near the breast when my fone rang. (It was my dad, he has an uncanny knack of calling me at the most inopportune time. Sigh...)

Thane got startled and started to cry and pull away. At the height of his hysterics, hubby suggested we turn back and leave him at home. I refused and tried my best to comfort him, all the while trying not to burst into tears again.


He finally slept on my shoulder. Thank God we didnt turn back! During lunch, i spoonfed him some milk again. He took it with minimal fuss. I put him in the sling and carried him around for the rest of the day. My shoulders ached from his weight but i was determined for him to spend as much time close to me as possible.


Thane had his porridge outside and was an angel throughout the signing and the meeting with the lawyer. He slept on my shoulder during the meeting and didnt wake until 3 hours later, by then we had already reached home.


I was worried that he was getting dehydrated as he seemed lethargic to me. Hubby cheerfully remarked that previously i worried when he didnt sleep, now that he was napping for a longer stretch why was i worrying again?


Fed him another bowl of milk when he awoke and gave him a new sippy cup to try. We had just bought that cup in the afternoon as i wanted to try everything in a bid for him to drink more milk.


I was dreading bedtime again but surprisingly, i neednt have worried. After turning on the cd, i sang "There is none like You" just once to him and he fell fast asleep on my shoulder with nary a fuss. I was elated. My spirits lifted and i felt so much more hopeful that i have felt in days. I think God is trying to tell me that we can get through this.


Hubby just came in and commented that it is funny how God works. We have been trying to get Thane to sleep on his own and complaining so much about how he wakes up countless times throughout the night. Whenever he cried and needed to nurse in the middle of the night, Hubby used to carry him to me and sleep at the foot of the bed while i nursed him. As soon as he fell asleep again, i would kick hubby awake and he would gingerly carry him back to his cot, hardly daring to breathe in case he woke up again. Before hubby left on his biz trip, we were actually saying that as soon as he came back, we were going to let him go cold turkey and cry himself to sleep.


We have realised that we should be careful about what we wish for, it really might just come true but not in the way that we expect. Yes he has gone cold turkey, but he has done it on his own terms. We didnt have any choice in the matter. And perhaps it is a good time that he is finally teaching himself to sleep on his own and not use me as a pacifier.


I am going to sleep now. As i am writing this, Thane is still fast asleep and i am convinced that he will sleep through the night agian.


We shall see. I live to fight another day tomorrow. I am encouraged and i have faith that i can get through this.

So help me God.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hang in there gal! We went through a similar plight when our baby was 3 mth old. Refused to drink milk until her weight started dropping and she started to get real fretful too. But now she's back to her usual bubbly self and is slowing putting on more than the weight she's lost. All we did was to persevere persevere persevere! Very much like what you guys are doing now by trying all means and modes of feeding at all times of the day and night. In the end she just decided to end the strike (much to our relief!)! Just remember(something that my friend a mother of 4(!) kept drumming into my head whenever I called her in desperation) "A baby will never starve itself." So it seems baby Thane may be ending his strike soon! Good luck! Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Got my eyes teary when I read your blog. Hope Thane has ended his strike. Take care and be strong cos the Lord is on your side. Shalom

 

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