Friday, January 05, 2007

Chills, Hot Flashes, and The Boy

Sometimes it's nice to take some time for yourself.

After several days of almost constant chills, I've now been having hot flashes at night and during the day. Yesterday I soaked through my blouse at work, even with my desk fan on. It's crazy. Besides headaches (which might be due to my eyes), I feel okay, just tired all the time. So I'm taking the afternoon off to sleep. Later today, I have an eye doctor appointment to figure out why my eye muscles are so fatigued. Seriously. I've been getting cramps in the muscles that I use to move my eyes from side to side. I'm sure I just need a new prescription.

Ben woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn't get back to sleep. It was unpleasant. He had a rough evening... screamed through dinner and then passed out when we held him afterwards. When he woke up during the night, I tried to just pat him back to sleep, but that didn't help. I gave him a bottle, which he ate, but he couldn't get to sleep. Finally, I just put him back in his crib, kissed him, told him I loved him, but that Mamma was TIRED. He screamed for about four minutes and then fell back asleep.

It's tough. I'm not a huge Ferber method lady, though that's how both Chester and I were raised. It just doesn't feel right yet for Ben. He's such a little guy, and both Chester and I really enjoy holding him and cuddling with him in the evenings. We've tried Ferber a couple of times, but Ben ends up having panic attacks whenever we go near his crib.

He did only cry for four minutes last night (early this morning) before giving up. That might bode well for future success. I think the new house will also ease the transition. He'll be upstairs and we'll be downstairs. Just because of geography, I won't be stumbling over to his cribside every time he cries during the night.