Sleep Update

After 2+ months of Abby waking up at nights, she now seems to be back on track and has slept through all but one of the last ten nights. Hurray! I was afraid to blog about it for fear it wouldn't last, but all seems to be well again at the Marks' residence...at least as far as night sleeping goes - we are still battling going down for naps. But one battle at a time.

So what brought about the sudden change? I'm not really sure. A few days after she began sleeping better, I did notice she'd cut her eighth tooth. So was she teething for over two months? Possibly, but many times I didn't think so since Oral Gel didn't help and she didn't show signs of teething. Was it an ear infection? Her doctor said no. Was it her eczema on her ankles? I diligently applied her medication as often as I could, but it's just as bad now and she's sleeping okay. Was it the sleeping method I used with her? Maybe, but ironically the night I was about to change to an entirely new method, she slept the whole night through! Was it her allergies? A possibility, but her allergy tests for common childhood allergies all came back negative (although I know she is allergic to some foods because of the instant rash she gets when she consumes them regardless of what the test results were!). Was she feeding off of my stress from my summer class that ended the day she began sleeping through the night again? Maybe, or maybe it was just a coincidence. Was it the fact that fishing has slowed way down and the weather's been bad so her Daddy has been home more? Again, it's possible. Was it all the developmental stages she's been going through (especially crawling) that threw her body all out of sync? Maybe. I don't think I will never know the answer - such are the challenges of parenting, as I am learning. But I couldn't be more thankful that we have put that stage behind us. It is amazing how much better one feels with a good night's sleep!

I want to thank all of you that gave encouragement, advice, kind thoughts and prayers. Even if I didn't respond directly to you, know that your words were a blessing to me!