the sleuth fairy

Of course, after I wrote last night's post about how awesome it's been that Luciya has slept TWELVE HOURS STRAIGHT for five out of the last 6 nights, she decided to mix things up a little last night and give us a one-hour mumble-moan-whimper-yelp-scream -arama starting at about 3:45 am.

This was the pattern about 2 weeks ago, when Luciya started waking with piercing, unsettling cries at about that time AND before and after, so much so that we were near desperation when we asked her pediatrician what could possibly be the matter. Her answer? "I don't know."

C'mon, give me anything. A maybe, a could be, a teeny tiny chance that there is this one perchance possibility that she is ________________. But no. So we went to another pediatrician. And we liked her so well that we decided that day to have Luciya's records switched to her office (which, incidentally, happens to be the very same office I went to as a wee youngster!).

The new doc said that Luciya's cries could be a form of early separation anxiety and she had developed this yelp because she realized it would get us in the room. This made sense since only the day before Luciya had started crying when I left her with her Tutu! I'm not quite ready for this separation anxiety thing, especially since it's not supposed to start for another couple months. But we took that into account.

Another thing Dr. Angie suggested is that Luciya might be teething. I KNEW IT!!!! Thank you, thank you, I feel the same way. Well, I have felt the same way every time she fussed in the middle of the night since she was 3 months old. Oh, she must be teething. Yep, definitely teething. But now, for reals, we think she is. Just starting to. Just feeling it. No way she's not teething.

Another thing that Dr. Angie mentioned that really hit home with me was the difference between "behavioral" and "nutritional" breastfeeding in the middle of the night. I realized that my 5 minutes with Luciya probably weren't giving her a whole lot of nutritional value, just a bit of comfort.

So, we stopped going into her room when she bawled. Man, it's been hard. All my brain can say after 2 nights of hour-and-a-half-long screamfests is "bwauuuuuallllpphhhhhhhhhaaaarrrrrkkkkooghhhhhllllllllllluuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhggggggggg." Torture.

But then, on Friday night, October 26, she did it. She slept. For THIRTEEN HOURS STRAIGHT. I didn't; at 5 am I was peering over the crib rail to make sure she was alive (she was), but damn it felt good. She did it throughout the weekend, too, even though she and I were in a strange place (Portland, visiting her Aunty T and Uncle Colby and future husband Jenner). Okay, Saturday night was a little rough because she got her legs stuck between the unfamiliar bars of Jenner's crib, but other than that she has been a champ.

Until last night. But it was Halloween, right? Spooky vibes in the air and whatnot. Maybe all those bucky jack-o-lanterns made her gums jealous so they decided to push a little harder. But she's gonna sleep again tonight and then every night until she's eighteen. Awesome!