Night Terrors.

Imagine this: It's 12:34am and you've been asleep for a good hour and a half.  Suddenly the monitor next to your bed is screaming the toddler version of bloody murder.  The kind of scream where they are looking for you while something scary is happening and can't find you.  You run into your toddlers room, pick them up from their crib and they continue to scream. They have no idea it's you that has just picked them up, is softly talking to them and rocking them and trying to make it better.  They continue to scream and squirm and kick.  All with a look of sheer terror on their face.  They continue to call for you.  They are screaming "Mommy, Mommy".  You feel helpless.  Your sweet husband comes in trying to help.  Your toddler scrambles for your husband but continues to cry.  They are confused and disoriented like they are worlds away.  Finally they wake up and you take your child back.  They nuzzle into your neck and you rock them and just hold them, stroking their head and their back and they you lay them in their bed and they fall right back to sleep. Now, you try and go back to sleep which takes about an hour because of the amount of adrenaline that was running through you the last 15 minutes.  
Imagine that scenario around 3 times a week for the last month.  We've finally accepted it is the inevitable Night Terrors.  We've thought it for a while and now we are treating them as such. 

I've researched the hound out of night terrors and this is the basic information I've come up with.

Symptoms: (Teagan has had all of these symptoms)
*increased heart rate, increased breathing rate and sweating
*happens 90-120 minutes after the child falls asleep
*child is frightened but can't be awakened
*child is disoriented, confused and unresponsive
*child does not respond to comforting
*episodes last anywhere from 3-30 minutes

Treatment:
*do not try to wake the child (this isn't something we've done yet.  we get her out of the crib and at least hold and try to comfort her).
*make sure the child isn't hurting themselves (thankfully, Teagan doesn't thrash she just sits or stands up).
*wake the child 10-15 minutes before the expected episode or at least "disrupt" their sleep pattern.


We have started her 7:30 beditme back to ensure she is getting enough sleep (over-tiredness is a cause) and we disrupted her sleep pattern last night (we moved her in her crib so she was kind of awake but went right back to sleep) and she didn't have an episode.  I called her doc just in case and hopefully will have an answer or an opinion by this afternoon.  Hopefully we can continue this routine and the night terrors will go away.  Have you dealt with night terrors? If so, we worked for you?

Here are some websites I looked at:
http://night-terrors-children.com/
http://children.webmd.com/guide/night-terrors?page=2
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/night-terrors
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/sleep/a/night_terrors.htm







 

Did that really just come out of your mouth?

We have never spoken "baby talk" to Teagan. We have always spoken to Teagan as if she is an adult.  I think doing this has really paid off.  Within the last month or so Teagan has started on 3 word sentences.  Josh and I are constantly amazed at what comes out of her mouth! We are so proud of her and pray she continues to learn at the rate she does and continues to have the love of learning that she seems to have had the last 19 mths. 

Some of Teagan's common words and phrases: YUP (her all time favorite word), NO (her second all time favorite word), please, more please, eat eat, nanny (banana), milk, cheese, bread, water (wadda), bowl, cup, Amen, daddy's water, mommy's water, daddy "dink" milk, mommy "dink" milk, (seeing a trend here?), Daddy go work, Teegee (thanks to Matilda "Tilda" for that sweet nickname) go "skooo", nigh-nigh, baby, waddle-waddle (her penguin), book, Daddy do "knock-knock" (when Josh uses the hammer), Daddy go "beep-beep" (Daddy's going in his car) or Mommy go "beep-beep", Mamaw, Papaw, Buddy (I have an Uncle Buddy), Tilda (Her bff Matilda), Boz (her Aunt Kristina & Uncle Matthew's dog), Nick-Nick (gpa & gma's dog), Addie (Miles David's "dog/sister"), Miz (Miles), potty, bath, peace, ice-ice baby, elbow , knee, shoes, foot, eyes, noz (nose) and there are actually quite a few more that I probably should be better at keeping up with but my brain has run out of memory right now!

It's kind of bittersweet actually.  The idea that my sweet baby girl is no longer a baby.  She is talking and "reading" and becoming quite the independent toddler.  I was looking back at my Teagan in my belly maternity pictures and it brought tears to my eyes.  We have been so blessed with Teagan and now we are soon to be greeted with Baby Bear and we get to do it all over again. My cup is pouring over...

Ultrasound pictures...who is who?

Baby Bear:

Teagan:

Things I'm lovin' on this Thursday.

These shoes for Baby Bear...in hopes she/he he/she will be here by Halloween!

These for boy or girl Baby Bear! With skinny jeans, OMG!

Definitely these if Baby Bear is a boy!

And maybe these for Mommy...

And of course these lovelies:

 

What are you lovin' on this Thursday?



Doctor's appointment.

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, Baby Bear and I.  I came out with a huge smile.  It was quite the polar opposite of our last appointment.  The last appointment I left feeling defeated and like I had tried so to keep the weight down for nothing. The idea of a VBAC seemed like it was slipping away. Then, BAM, yesterday happened. I got to see one of my favorite docs.
The prognosis is great.  Dr. W and I discussed the VBAC option and basically we're playing it like a normal labor UNLESS we have the 36 week ultrasound and Baby Bear looks like he/she is going to be a whopper (basically around Teagan's size- 8lbs 10oz) and then we schedule the c-section.  Which, honestly, Josh and I are both okay with.  Like I've said before I would prefer to be able to deliver naturally but as long as the end result is a healthy baby and healthy mommy then it's okay either way.  So, we are back to an extremely optimistic outlook on this labor/delivery! Hooray!

Sleepy mornings.

Some mornings Teagan gets up before we do. Okay, most mornings Teagan gets up before we do.  Either Josh or I will roll out of bed, go get her and bring her to bed with us.  Sometimes she snuggles up and sometimes she just plays with "Baby" and "Waddle Waddle" while she waits for us to get up.  This morning she snuggled! She fell back asleep and curled up next to me in the crook of my arm and we both went back to sleep.  It is the best feeling in the world.  I can't wait to have one curled up on my arm and the other on my chest!  

Settling back in or teeth?

Teagan had quite an August.  Her world was basically thrown into a tailspin.  I was gone for four days and then we went to VT and she was thrown completely off schedule.  Her sleep and her naps mostly happened in the car and her world kind of got turned upside down.  She has spent the last half of August trying to get back on track.  This has been difficult for all of us.
Since we got back from VT Teagan has been crying out at night.  It usually only happens once and she can typically be comforted by Josh or I going in her room and laying our hands on her back or chest.  There was one night I was worried we had started the dreaded night terrors but thankfully that was just a one time occurrence.  I hope.
Then today a runny nose started. A clear runny nose and a little fussiness.  I looked in her mouth (after turning her upside down and tickling her) and think I saw a 2 year molar trying to make it´s way down.  I´m not sure if this has any correlation to the night time crying out or not. 
I hope it breaks through soon because the lack of sleep is getting to me and I feel so bad for her!