36, A Number Not To Be Envied, Unless It Is Your Bra Size

For those of you wondering "wha-happen?"(to quote Eliza), well 36 happened. As has been reported, Eliza is a less than stellar sleeper who lives by the credo "sleep is for the weak" (this is apparently related to her other life philosophy that "food is for the weak"). Up until August Eliza had achieved a total of 36 nights of uninterrupted sleep. Now admittedly some of the sleepless nights in the first 18 months that she was home from the NICU were brought on by the need to sleep feed her or by her middle of the night vomit routine brought on be her reflux. But the past several months her inability to sleep has worsened and worsened and in the past month Eliza has been averaging about 6 to 8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period (naps included).

This is not good at all since Eliza should be getting about 12 hours a day sleep. As Eliza's sleep deteriorated so did her behavior and sensory issues (and so did my ability to post to the blog.) Eliza could not focus in any of her therapies and would go from 0 to 10 and then 10 to 0 in the blink of an eye. One would think that all of this awake time would have caused an eating binge, but alas, a veritable hunger strike set in. Eliza's volume intake seemed to mirror the sleep situation, with her daily volume of formula sinking to as low as 6 to 8 ounces. This is not good at all for a near 30 month old who eats no food (no, I do not consider consuming one demitasse sized spoon of pudding in a day to be "eating food").

So drastic times have called for drastic measures. After talking things over with Eliza's pediatrician and a few other wise souls, Eliza is starting a 3 week trial of a prescription medication to help her sleep. The first night there was no discernible difference and Eliza finally fell asleep after 11 pm,waking at 4:42 am. Night two was not so fun. Eliza was none too keen on the taste of the medication getting squirt into her mouth, even after it was diluted with water, and basically all hell broke loose. I even had to call in reinforcements (thank you Bonnie). I decided to give it one more try on night three and was rewarded with a peaceful sleeping baby for ten hours, which translated to a markedly happier and more engaged toddler the next day.

Eliza is now on her fourth night of the medication (I'm not counting the first two nights) and if all goes well we will have hit the magic number 40 for full nights of sleep for the wee one. Hopefully a few weeks of a sleep aid will get Eliza into some type of normal sleep pattern. Her formula intake has improved the past few days and she is back to taking 12 to 16 ounces of formula a day. Who knew a well rested toddler was a hungry toddler, although actually it would appear that by all accounts Eliza has no sense of hunger or doesn't recognize the sensation as hunger.

On a far happier note, I have discovered that Eliza loves a good carousel. Last summer she was a bit put off by the loud music but this time was so enthralled I had to pre-pay for a few rides since she didn't want to get off.

Feeding the goats and birds was fun, but not nearly as entertaining as the carousel!

The Latest Stats

Today we visited Dr. Flavio for Eliza's monthly RSV shots and weigh in. Once again she did not disappoint! Eliza is now officially almost 21 pounds. Technically she is 20 pounds 15 ounces (9.5kg). A nice gain of 13 ounces since our visit in January. She was not cooperative for her length measurement, but it appears she is now 30.5 inches, up about 2 inches from September of last year. For once in her life she is at some percentile other than the third. If her length is correct, she is in the 12th percentile for length. Her head circumfrance, for those of you looking for the full story, was 45 cm which puts her in the fifth percentile for HC. Alas, while the weight gain of 13 ounces is impressive, Eliza remains below the third percentile for her weight.

And the most important stat of all ... Eliza has now slept through the night 21 times since she was discharged from the NCCU! Whoohoo! And yes, I have kept count. It is so easy to keep track of something that happens so infrequently! :)

Three of the magic 21 nights have been in the past few weeks, since I started giving Eliza Omega 3-6-9 oil. We have to thank Hallie's mom Abby and her great research skills for finding out about this stuff for us! I've always been a skeptic of supplements but, given the state of affairs, I was game to try something so long as there was no real downside to it. Well since taking the Omega 3-6-9, Eliza has had fewer behavioral outbursts (which are often of mammoth proportions), she has been saying far more words than she had been for months, and has been sleeping better. Even though she has only slept through the night three times since starting with the Omega oil, getting her to bed has been less of a battle and she has actually been napping with some regularity. Some may say this is all coincidence, but I don't think so. Either way, I am very happy with her progress in her verbal skills, sleeping and behavior.

Sleepless in NYC

This photo could have easily been taken at 12 noon or 12 midnight, because someone has decided that sleep is only for the weak. For three days/nights running now Eliza has decided that there is no need to nap and that going to bed at midnight is a dandy idea. Personally being a night owl I can understand the attraction of staying up to watch Letterman, but if someone told me I could nap twice a day and not get busted for it, I would be under that duvet cover in a heart beat! And waking this kid up for her therapy at 9 a.m. has really been de-light-ful.

Eliza is clearly tired, she actually fell asleep standing up next to the sofa with her head on the cushion (this is normally a feat only achieved by intoxicated college students). As I type this she is in her crib chatting incessantly to herself and her stuffed frog.

She is oddly attracted to Froggie (as can be seen below)and we go no where without Froggie. Is she keeping herself awake in the hope that Froggie finally talks back to her and she doesn't want to miss that? Maybe she is waiting for him to turn into the proverbial Prince Charming (based on the thousands of kisses Froggie has gotten to date with no prince showing up, this is an unlikely occurrence). Who knows what she is thinking but one thing I do know is I'm tired just watching this whole thing!