Back to work

Man, that dreaded day has finally come.  I have to go back to work on Wednesday, January 26th.  I know that I have to go back to work and I am a little excited to have some adult interaction, but at the same time I don't won't to miss a step in Blake's life.  I know that she is going to be great at daycare and we are so excited and love where she is going, but it is going to be so hard dropping her off that first day and leaving her.  I honestly have not been away from her for more than 2 hours and that is rare when I leave her.  You do what you have to do to provide the best life for your baby and I want to be able to provide for her and get her everything that she needs (and maybe wants!).  I know that it will make me even more thankful and excited to see her when I get home.  I think that daycare will be good for her.  She will be able to interact with other kids, learn that she will be okay without mommy.

We started, about 2 weeks ago, introducing formula to Blake.  I wanted to continue breastfeeding and then pumping and storing, but it did not work out that I was able to pump (I didn't get enough for one feeding pumping!).  I felt more comfortable giving her formula and knowing that she would not run out while I was not with her and I wanted her to be comfortable with formula before she went, because I would be thinking about that all day and her not eating.  It took us a little while to get use to the formula.  I started off by doing half and half (formula and breastmilk) and that really worked.  I also go some Breastflow bottles that resemble breastfeeding and she responded great to those bottles.  Because, the Avent ones, she kept spitting the formula out.  Now, after a good 2 weeks she will drink a whole bottle with just formula out of any bottle.  I am really sad that the breastfeeding is almost over, but I know that I gave her a great start (10 weeks).  I am still breastfeeding her after 5 pm until morning until she starts sleeping through the entire night.

Blake is sleeping from about 9:30ish to about 3:30 or 4:00 AM and then she will eat and go back to sleep until somewhere around 7ish.  Which is really great!  She is in her crib in her room and has been there since she was 5 weeks.  She is a good night time sleeper, not so much a napper.  She actually will cat nap all day, but nothing ever longer than 30 minutes...it allows me to get nothing done!  But, that is fine by me, I enjoy holding and kissing on her all day long!  This sleep pattern at night is going really well and will help getting back to work.  Blake loves her bedtime routine.  If she misses the bath or something is thrown off, she is not a happy camper.  We start off with a bath about 8ish, then we read a book and eat, and then we rock her until she is sleeping.  The other night, we had friends over and we were just going to skip the bath and put her down, but she was not having that!  She was fussy until we put her in the bath and did the routine and then she passed out!  She is like her mommy and loves having a schedule.

Please pray for me and Blake on Wednesday!!!