The first night we had Henry home, to be honest, we were completely ill-prepared. Although the middle of December, we hadn't turned on the heat. So that first night at home, I had Henry super bundled. He wore a fleece sleep sack, long-sleeve onesie, hat, socks and mittens. See below.
That night, Henry woke up about every two hours and every time he needed a full change of clothes. The sleepsack and onesie were soiled every time. Where were the helpful Piedmont nurses? What did I do wrong? Really, a wardrobe change every couple of hours? I mean I had heard that new moms do a lot of laundry but this just seemed ridiculous. To my credit, I did not babysit very often growing up. It is a huge joke in my family that I put a diaper on backwards on either Elizabeth or Thomas (niece & nephew). Well my brother didn't quite think it was funny, when he was blamed for the backward diaper and its associated mess. So apparently, I should have received some diapering 101 in the hospital, as well as mom 101.
Thankfully, two days later my mom so sweetly called in Laura Hunter, co-author of "Moms on Call". I was in some serious need of mommy lessons. From Laura, I learned many things. Most I am still trying to master, namely their swaddling technique. Using their wonderfully large swaddling blanket, I attempt to create her super snug "burrito-ing" technique. Sometimes I am successful, other times...not so much.
Swaddling pre-Laura Lessons
Swaddling ala Moms on Call
Henry de-burrito-ing
I guess the most important thing is that Henry is sleeping but I feel like I should be better at this form of baby origami. I feel like architecture school prepared me for sleepless nights and that swaddling cannot be that different that creating a tensile structure...Well, its completely different but I feel like I should be able to swaddle (burrito) well. Kyle and I have taken to calling it "burrito-ing". I am sure we are not the first to do this but we think its cute and like to ask Henry "what kind of burrito are you today?". Since he cannot respond, we come up with different responses. From classic fillings of steak and chicken, to breakfast burritos to tofu. I am sure we will start getting more creative.
When wiggle worm wants to get out of the swaddle, he is pretty determined. I will say, it does seem to be working regardless of my technique. Our longest stretch so far is six hours of sleep. Now if that was only every night.
LPS
