One step forward...

Last night, for the first night in many, many months, Ess slept through the night!! I was taking the night off in the guest room while D was on Ess duty, so I was guaranteed a good night's sleep no matter what. I woke at 4 -- after 5.5 consecutive hours of sleep!! -- and pumped, then went back to sleep until 7:30, when D came down and woke me. It was glorious.

I had high hopes for another great night tonight, although this time I planned to be sleeping in my own bed to enjoy it.

And then Ess started throwing up around 5 pm tonight. This was our first real vomiting experience. Or, more accurately, our first four vomiting experiences. D took the brunt of it -- today's lesson: turn the baby away from you when she starts puking -- but none of it was any fun. It was heartbreaking to watch her face crumple as she tried to figure out what was going on and why her tummy felt so bad.

She hasn't thrown up since about six, which is great. But rather than continuing our sleep training -- she woke last night at 11:30 or so and cried for 10 minutes, then went back to sleep -- I will be going to her whenever she wakes in order to make sure she stays hydrated. It took a bit of coaxing to get her to nurse before bed tonight, so I know she's still feeling a bit crummy, despite big grins as soon as she stopped vomiting.

I don't think one night of good sleep is quite enough to cure D and me of these stupid lingering colds -- can I tell you how tired I am of the congestion and the cough?? -- but I am just glad I am able to get up and nurse Ess tonight. Maybe she'll end up in bed with us, or maybe she'll stay in the crib... either way, I really hope she's feeling better tomorrow. (And that, knock wood, neither of us gets whatever she has.)