Feelin' Good!!

I am happy to say that I am "feelin good!"

Colton and I haven't had much routine or structure in our lives and that is something that I have really wanted to change, just had no idea where to start. After Tayler's arrival, her schedule was backward in that she was up a lot at night just wanting to sit up and look around. They say babies are nocturnal because when they are in the womb, the mom is finally at rest at night, which is their time to move around. So, I had to train Tayler to get her out of this. I gave her a bath at night and then dimmed all the lights so she would start to realize the dark means sleep. She caught on quickly but this still wasn't a solid routine. I have recently added more structure to our evenings...

6:00-6:30pm - eat dinner
8:00pm - go on a walk with the kids
8:30-9:30 - I shower, then bathe Colton and then bathe Tayler.

After Tayler's bath, I dim the lights and she is usually ready for her last feeding. At this feeding, I have began giving Tayler a bottle of expressed breast milk. (I have chosen the bottle for night time feeding because she seems to eat more, which I can actually monitor, and if she tries to doze off I can wake her much easily with a bottle in her mouth.)

Well, several GREAT things have come from our new evening routine..

- I have already started losing weight from walking
- Colton goes to bed without a fight

and most importantly.........

- Tayler sleeps longer!!

I have noticed that giving her a bottle of breastmilk makes her sleep longer than putting her on the breast. I am soooo excited to say that she went 5 hours between feedings, 4 1/2 of which she slept, between the bottle feeding and the next last night! It was sooo wonderful! I have not felt this refreshed since before she was born!! Usually I am groggy and have no energy but I feel GREAT this morning!

I am hoping to add more structure to our entire day but I gotta start somewhere!

Just wanted to share my excitement!!