The night before last, Jessica was really unsettled, waking up every hour to hour and a half crying. I picked her up and rocked her to calm her down, then sang to her to get her to go back to sleep and it helped each time, but both her and mine sleep turned out very broken… As it was Tuesday, I’d packed our bags for Jessica’s swimming lesson the night before and fretted a bit about what food to bring and how to organise things. I’d decided to feed her as soon as she woke up at 6am, so that her next meal then could be at 9am, which I hoped would be in good time for us to get ready for the lesson start at 9.30.
But – completely out of character but as the obvious result of her lack of sleep – Jessica decided to have a lie-in! After her last awakening at 4.30am she carried on sleeping through to 6.30, then 7, then 7.30… She hadn’t been hot during the night but I’d still been hesitant about whether she’d be okay to go swimming. I didn’t want her to miss out, though, as she’d enjoyed it so much last time, so I’d decided to carry on as if we were going – I could always decide not to catch that bus to Redhill at the last minute. When she finally woke up at 7.50am I fed her straight away, then changed her nappy and clothes and off we went. In a way, that worked out better than I’d planned it, as Jessica was nicely rested and comfortably full for her lesson.
She really enjoyed herself again, splashing away in the pool and looking excitedly at the other babies. The half-hour took a lot out of her, though. She didn’t complain much, but when we had our shower and then changed her eyes were getting heavier and heavier. I fed her before we left the sports centre and halfway through her fruit purée dessert she nodded off in-between a couple of mouthfuls…
On Monday (10th September) Jessica started to cry only a few spoonfuls into her first solid meal for the day and then didn’t want any more. After a little while I gave up and warmed her some formula instead. It was the same situation at lunch-time. I felt disheartened: was the ‘honeymoon’ over now and she’d start being fussy about food and not like anything instead of everything? Ian suggested that if she’d had a cold at the weekend perhaps she had a sore throat, which could be why eating solids wasn’t her idea of fun at the mo. I didn’t think she was having any more trouble from her teeth at the time, but thought that could also have been a possibility. On the Tuesday (11th September) Jessica happily ate all the purée as per her usual self and I was reassured. But today she didn’t want her second breakfast or lunch again. I don’t push for very long and I always give her formula instead. She’s been coughing a bit today, though, so she’s probably still got part of a cold lingering. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone swimming after all…
Gabriella