Olivia {4 Months Old}

Oh, Livvie Lou.

We love you.

And sometimes, I just have to say that over and over.

Because this girl has been the worst.sleeper.ever this month.

Seriously, awful.

So, so awful.

And of course it all started about a week before I went back to work.

Livvie has never been a good sleeper - not more than 2-4 hours at night, and she has always been a cat-napper (about 45 min or so).

The cat naps have stayed the same, but the sleeping at night turned into the cat-nap length.

Up every 45 min or so.

I am beyond tired.

It all started right at the 3 month mark. I thought it was 4 month sleep regression, not 3??

I even took her to the doctor about two weeks into it, pleading with the pediatrician to help me somehow.

I mean, can we drug her or something.

I kid...

But, I really thought she might have some sort of acid reflux because she had started waking up with a cough every morning that lasted an hour or two. I read that coughing was one of the main symptoms of acid reflux.

But, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Then, last week, my sister mentioned to me that my niece Kate had similar sleep patterns and that it was called the 45 minute intruder.

After some googling, I realized that this is 100% what is going on with Livvie.

A baby's sleep cycle is 45-50 minutes, and it's not uncommon for them to wake as they transition to the next one.

Except baby girl cannot self-soothe for the life of her and goes absolutely balistic.

I read that if you go in around the time that they usually wake and heavily lay your hands on them, they often will transition to the next cycle without waking because of feeling your presence.

I've started doing that with her naps and her first cycle at night right when we put her down, and it's definitely helped.

I don't always get there in time because sometimes she stirs earlier than expected, but more times than not, she has stayed asleep.

She has started doing some 3-4 hour chunks at night the past few days (nothing more), but I will take that over every 45 minutes.

I didn't opt for the cry it out because she just isn't ready.

And I'm so tired that I just don't think I can do the Ferber method.

Hopefully she starts to outgrow some of this, and we can start sleep training in the next month or two if she still isn't sleeping more than a few hours at a time.

We've tried to start a bedtime routine to try and improve nighttime sleeping.

It's seemed to help.

We do a bath around 6:30 and then I usually nurse her around 6:45.

She usually falls asleep while nursing or if she doesn't, I sing to her for a little bit until she starts to drift off.

She's starting to get more into a routine in terms of napping, which is nice.

She usually takes 3 naps/day (one around 8:30, then noon, and again about 3).

It all depends on how long she naps and if the 45 minute intruder wins out or not.

Probably not the 'oh, my baby is the sweetest' way to start off a monthly post, but no sleep can pretty much sum up this past month.

Onto some positives.

Livvie is still the most smiley baby, and people are always commenting on all the smiles she so freely gives out.

Nobody believes me that she can be fussy and an absolute terror at night because she really does put on quite a show when we are out and about.

She wants to be a part of all the action and loves looking around at what's going on (which is probably why she sleeps so awful - she probably overstimulates herself).

Some of her favorite activities are her floor mat and we recently started putting her in the exersaucer.

All she wants to do is stand when you try and hold her in your lap. And often times when she is on her back, she is doing crunches in an attempt to sit up.

As soon as you put her on her stomach, she immediately rolls onto her back.

At 3.5 months, she rolled from back to stomach for the first time. She has done it about 5-10 times since that over the past two weeks, but not as frequently as the stomach to back roll.

Livvie has become quite fond of her big brother, and she often gives him some of her biggest smiles and the most laughs.

Brings me so much joy to see them starting to interact.

He has also become very into her, in a very positive way, and the hitting has dwindled quite a bit.

She has also discovered her voice and loves hearing herself talk.

Cracks herself up.

And the noises she makes sound like animal sounds - she's got a good growl going and a pterodactyl screech.

I think she is going to be our vocal one.

The car continues to make her scream, but we put a rolled towel underneath to make it less angled, and that has seemed to help - not all the time, but it's better.

Today we had her 4-month check up, so here are her stats at 4 months:

Weight: 13 lb 3 oz (this is what Jack weighed at 2 months!) -30th %

Height: 24.5 in - 50th%

Head: 15.8 in - 30th%

Clothing Size: 3 month; 6 month for sleepers

Diaper Size: 2

Firsts: Rolling from back to stomach

I will try one day to blog more than just these updates, but right now...this is all I've got in me...