On Monday Night

On Monday night an incredible thing happened.

On Monday night, Ryan put Gretchen to bed.

This might seem like a not-so-miraculous feat, however, every single night since her birth I have nursed her to sleep. Until Monday night.

On Monday night I nursed her, then handed her to daddio and said, "your turn". Upstairs he went, a few whimpers were had, she tossed & turned and eventually, they both fell asleep together.

During this event, I sat downstairs in the living room, reading (ironically enough) Elizabeth Pantley's The No Cry Sleep-Solution. I listened through the baby monitor while he held her to his chest and helped her to fall asleep. Without me.

All this time I was absolutely certain that she needed me -- needed to be nursed to sleep -- that I wasn't even willing to give anything else a chance. All I knew was that if I were to try and rock her to sleep, or snuggle her on my chest, she absolutely wouldn't have it. If mama is there, she wants milk and nothing else will do. I finally had to give in -- to let it go and say, 'alright, if I'm out of the equation, she'll have to make a compromise', and compromise she did.

On Monday night, Gretchen slept from about 9pm til 1am without waking at all.

And it was blissful.

...

PS. Gretchen was less than a day old in that photo. Oh goodness, my little baby Fawn.