The birth of Scotlynn Michelle

In all fairness, Scottis birth story started way before we were even pregnant with her. So let me back track.

After I had Will, I was traumatized. His birth was emotionally scarring for me and I'll never be able to fully explain why. To be honest, there was a moment during Wills birth that I thought I was going to die. And after a couple months of processing those feelings, I started having some "episodes." I don't even know what I would call them. But my whole body would start shaking, tears would fill my eyes, and I had to choke back the lump in my throat whenever I thought about that day. I finally had to tell anyone that would ask about his birth, that I simply couldn't talk about it.
So the thought of getting pregnant again really rattled me. It brought back all those anxious feelings I had been working so hard to dispel. After what seemed like dozens of pep talks from Chris, I finally felt somewhat ready to start trying for another baby.

When we found out we were expecting, I immediately started researching VBAC's (vaginal birth after cesarean). I knew I wanted a completely different experience this time around. And I DEFINITELY knew I didn't want another c-section. I know that some women love their c-sections, but I just knew that for me, it was tied to a lot of feelings that I didn't want to experience again.

At my second doctors appointment, we found out that I had a blood disorder that rears up during pregnancy. Which also meant that I wouldn't be able to receive an epidural during my delivery (some of you may remember that the same thing happened during Will's birth). I was kinda crushed again. I am just NOT a naturalist. I love the idea of drugs masking the pain of childbirth.
So I basically had two options. A) If I wanted a VBAC, it was going to have to be un-medicated, or B) a repeat c-section under general anesthesia.
After a lot of thought, I started gearing my wussy-self up for an unmedicated birth. I read ALL the books (I'm not kidding... I have like 8 birthing books still under my bed), I researched all the methods, and talked to all the people I knew who had gone naturally. The idea of it all scared the living daylights right outta me.. but I knew I didn't want to be to put to sleep during my babies birth, so I chugged on.

Chris and I took a 5 week hypnobirthing course (bless his heart. like seriously. 5 weeks?!), and that is where I finally started to feel okay about the whole ordeal. I felt like I could do it! Like it would be hard, but manageable. I was even, dare I say, kinda excited about it! But in the back of my mind, I still longed for the idea of an epidural.

Without going into all the medical lingo and to make a long story short (or just a really long blog post a smidge shorter) there was a TINY chance that I might be able to receive an epidural. My mom and I would say, "If all the stars miraculously line up..." And thats just the truth of it. About 5 different things had to come together in some crazy way, in order for it to happen. So I just shoved that idea to the back of my mind and tried to forget it.

Fast forward to 2 days before my scheduled induction. I had been taking steroids to try and possibly boost my platelet level (the determining factor for the epidural) for about a week. I went in to my hematologist to get my blood drawn to see what my platelet count was at. I had high hopes, thinking that the steroids would work and I could have the option of an epidural. When the nurse came out with my results, I instantly knew they weren't what I was hoping for. "Your numbers are still dropping. The steroids aren't working for you..." GAH. My levels were at 77,000 and going down pretty quickly. So I cried my fair share of tears and tried to move past it.

On the way home that day, I got probably the strongest spiritual prompting I've ever had in my life. "I am mindful of you." Those words didn't leave my brain for the next two days.

October 21st. Induction day. We got a phone call at 7:00 a.m. and headed in. I was a ball of nerves. But so excited at the same time! How was I going to survive a natural, pitocin induced, birth?! I just tried not to think about it.

Around 9:30 they drew my blood just to see what my platelets were at. By 10:30, they had started the pitocin. We still hadn't heard back on the blood results. Around 11:00, my nurse walked in and casually said, "Your platelets are at 92,000." WHAT. Whaaaattt??!?!??! My platelets had only ever dropped since the day I got pregnant, and now, within 2 days, my platelets had RISEN 15,000 points? It was a literal miracle and I have absolutely no doubt that Heavenly Father was, and always is, mindful of me. He knew I needed that peace, and He gave it to me. (And just to add to the craziness, not even 12 hours after that, they drew my blood again and my platelets were at 61,000. 30,000 points lower.. I still get chills thinking about it.)

Soooo... the option of an epidural was back on the table after 9 months of thinking I couldn't have one. The word "relief" can't even begin to describe how I felt in that moment. I told my nurse I wanted to kiss her... Haha bad timing with the whole LGBT legalization right?
I still wanted to try (with an emphasis on TRY) the whole natural thing though. At that point, I pretty much knew I didn't want to feel her coming out, but I wanted to labor for a while without the medicine.

Around 11:30, things started getting intense. Funny enough, I spent quite a bit of time at first, on the toilet. I remember my hypno instructor saying that it was one of the most comfortable places, but I never thought I would labor there! Because.. how flattering is it to sit on the toilet, right? Let me tell ya, all things "flattering" were gone-zo pretty fast. So I just sat there.. and sat there. For some weird reason, I wanted to be alone while I was in there. So every time a contraction would start, I would yell out to Chris, and he would come in and put counter pressure on my knees. And then I would make him leave so I could talk myself through everything that was happening. I remember during one contraction, Chris came in and started asking me a question. I yelled at him to, "stop talking to me!!" Haha poor guy. Other than that instance, I think I was a pretty nice laboring woman, right babe? ;)

(one of my favorite pics that our nurse snapped)

Once I made it out of the bathroom, I labored on a chair for the next 4 hours. It was the only spot that felt comfortable. I tried the birthing ball for one contraction and about died. So that went out the window really fast. Chris would put counter pressure on my knees and my mom would press down on my shoulders. It was insane how much relief those two things combined provided.
Originally, I thought I would try all these different positions that we had learned during our classes. And I REALLY wanted to use the tub. But honestly, pretty much everything we learned disappeared as soon as I was in intense labor. I couldn't even think of those things. I was in another world during those contractions. But I felt like I was on top of it. I wasn't drowning in the pain, and mentally, I was okay. Not great, but okay. I think if I would've had a little longer in between contractions, I could've managed a little better. I was only getting 50-60 seconds breaks in between each contraction. So it hardly felt like enough time to regain strength for another.

I couldn't believe how within seconds I could go from such an intense pain, to feeling 100% normal (hence the 2 photos above ^^). In between contractions, my mom, chris, the nurse, and I would talk and laugh like nothing abnormal was even happening! And then all the sudden, it would hit, and we would all hunker down together to get through it. It was beautiful in its own way. I'm so grateful my mom was there, nothing can soothe you like you like your momma. And Chris was my absolute rock. I was so proud of him.
My nurse kept saying, "You are doing awesome!" And at one point, it annoyed me a little and I said, "Am I really? Or do you just say that to everyone?" Haha.

I was groaning pretty loud through each contraction. But I didn't even care. It was the only way I could keep myself from holding my breath. During a couple contractions, I remember pulling the classic line, "I CANT DO THIS ANYMORE!!!!" And then the contraction would end.. and I would think, "Ahh what the heck. I can do another." I will say though- if I wasn't prepared for a contraction, it was 10 times worse. I got caught standing up a couple times during a contraction, and it literally made my knees buckle with the pain. Those were the worst ones.

Around 4:15, they did a dilation check and I was at a 7. Which surprisingly, the number neither discouraged nor encouraged me. It was just a number. But at that point, my nurse told me, "You can go from a 7 to a 10 within a matter of minutes. And at that point, it'll be too late for an epidural. So I just want to make sure you know that.." It COMPLETELY threw me out of my mental state. I didn't want to miss my chance at an epidural. I really didn't want to feel that "ring of fire." So I got scared. Scared that I was going to miss my window! So within like 10 minutes, I told her to call the anesthesiologist. I felt pretty good about making it to a 7, and I was wanting some relief.

Holding still while he was administering the epidural was undoubtedly the hardest part of my entire labor. Just thinking about it is causing my uterus to hurt! I squeezed Chris' hand so hard that I remember thinking I was probably hurting him.. But not even one minute later, I was feeling the effects of the drugs. It worked SO FAST and it was such an amazing feeling. In that moment, I realized why I never wanted to go without an epidural. Because they are a birthing woman's best friend I tell ya! If an epidural was a man, he'd be married to the hottest woman on earth, making more money than Bill Nye. (I just realized that I meant Bill Gates, but I'm leaving it because who doesn't like being reminded of Bill Nye?) Things were smooth sailing from there.

I was thinking I would dilate to a 10 super quickly, but lo and behold, the epidural totally stalled my labor. So I was as limp as a dead fish for a solid 3 1/2 hours before she checked me again and I was fully dilated. But those 3 1/2 hours were heavenly. Family came and visited, and everyone got some dinner. Including me! Don't tell my nurse... I'm calling BS on the whole "no eating" thing, cause it felt right to me!

It just so happens that my induction was scheduled for the same day as my little brother Devins 21st birthday! I found out that night that he had been fasting for me all day, even though it was his birthday! (His golden birthday at that!) It makes me tear up every time I think of it. How sweet is he?  

These 2 were in on the delivery and I'm so glad they were able to experience it with us!

At 8:30, my nurse told me it was time to start "practice pushing" with just she and Chris. So we got all geared up, and I got about half way through my first push when she said, "Stop!! Don't cough, don't sneeze, and don't push. Im calling the doctor." Apparently she was comin' and she was comin' in hot!

15 minutes later my doctor arrived and the fun began! It's such a raw, surreal moment when you realize that everything you've been waiting for for 9 months is just minutes away. Oh, what I wouldn't give to go back and relive those moments. I pushed a whopping 5 times, and she was out!! I was in such disbelief when he held her up. I couldn't believe she was finally here. And I couldn't believe that baby fit inside of me! And that she came out of me! He set her on my belly because her cord was too short to put her up on my chest. I was so scared to touch her. I just kept my hands up in the air next to her (refer to photos), because I was afraid I wasn't supposed to touch her or something. We let her cord pulse until it was finished, Chris cut it, and they handed her up to me. To feel the weight of her little body on my chest was indescribable. It was something I longed for with Will and never got; so it was an incredible moment of healing from the past and welcoming the future. 

I did it. I got my healthy, beautiful baby girl and I got the birth I had always dreamed of. I love my Christopher Dan more than words can say and experiencing everything together was such an emotional, spiritual rush. I'm so happy I have him for eternity and that he is the father to our beautiful children. 

Scotlynn Michelle Jepsen

8:30 p.m. 

7 pounds 11 oz

20 inches

Scotti was named after Chris' older sister Holly Michelle. She had cerebral palsy and passed away when Chris was only 13. Although I never met her, I feel like a huge reason why Chris is the way he is, is because of her sweet influence in his life. I'm grateful to her for that and can't wait for the day that he gets to introduce me to her. Until then, I hope our little Scotti possesses some of the same attributes that Holly did, and that she fills our home with a similar love.

She has surely become the very air to our lungs.
We love her so.

Baby girl.

So I lied a little in my last post when I said life had been, "relatively the same around here." Well, I guess it kinda has been..  except for that now I'm growing baby numero DOSE in ma belly!!!

Chris was ready before I was to try again for another baby. Which if any of you know the story with baby numero uno- you would understand the insanity in that statement. Haha. I felt pretty ready, but mostly just scared because, hi- I've had a newborn at this point and don't take it lightly anymore.

This time around, we had to try for a little while. Which I'm actually grateful for. In the moment it was frustrating seeing that little "Not Pregnant" sign every month, but I feel like now I can have a little bit more empathy for those who have to wait longer to get pregnant. [Sidenote: I am in no way comparing myself to the women who have infertility struggles, I have definitely never had to bear that pain.] 

I was definitely still shocked when I found out though!! I don't think that will ever change. Will and I ran to the store to (of course) buy a couple more tests and we also snagged a t-shirt for Will that said, "The World Revolved Around Me" and at the bottom, I wrote in, "At least until November..."

I took a couple more tests, and sure enough, they were all positive! So I put Will in his shirt, and waited anxiously for Chris to get home. When he finally got home, I waited for a good 20 minutes to see if he would notice Wills shirt. I was dying inside, but of course he didn't pick up on it at all. So I told him to read it! He did, and STILL didn't get it- just thought I had once again bought more clothes for Will. Haha. So I made him read it again, and that time it rang a bell! It was a sweet moment for sure. It felt good to know that he was actually ready this time around, and so excited!

Unfortunately, this pregnancy has been a lot tougher than my first. The nausea started in full swing at 5 weeks, and I literally could not go a day without taking a nap. With Will, the sickness ended around 11-12 weeks, and now I'm 16 weeks and still feeling grossy-jossie. Hopefully the end is near! I will say though- although I feel bad for all the mornings that I've had to lay on the couch for 3 hours, Will has become surprisingly independent because of it, and I'm happy about that. One morning he came over to me with a peeled banana in hand, just munching away... Uhh WHAT?! I still don't know how he managed to get in the pantry, pull the bananas down, and freakin PEEL one?! I mean.. he's 1 and 1/2!!

At 14 weeks, after a solid 3 weeks of using my best persuasion skills, I finally convinced Chris (my accountant husband who never wants to spend money on anything unnecessary (love you babe!) ) to let me go to fetal photos to find out the gender of the baby. I clearly have nooooooo patience. I was slightly hoping for a little boy, and Chris was SUPER DUPER hoping for a little girl. So when the doc from Lithuania (haha have any of you ever been to him at the SouthTown mall?) told us he was 300% sure that it was a girl, it was super surreal! I will admit- it scares me a little. Girls are so foreign to me and it kinda feels like having my first baby all over again! Obviously Chris is over the moon excited, but he's nervous about what it will do to our bank account ;)

For sure the saddest news thus far was when I realized our insurance had changed and I wouldn't be able to see my OBGYN (that I'm totally in love with) anymore. I cried. He's one of my favorite people ever, and he's got small hands.. so... yeah, it was sad.  I found a new doc (Dr. Froerer at IMC) and so far, he seems pretty wonderful! So I guess that eases the pain ;)
After my first initial blood draw, they are realizing that I may not have had the HELPP syndrome when I delivered Will, which was what we originally thought had happened. They are thinking I have an auto-immune blood disorder called ITP. It's not the end of the world, but it means there is a good chance that I will have to deliver all of my babies via C-section, which crushed me a little bit (more about that later.. like, in another post- later)

If you're still reading, then you deserve an ice cream cone (or a Subway sandwich if you're talking to my pregnancy cravings).. Sorry this is getting so long! We just feel so blessed to be able to grow our little family of 3 into 4! I will say it a million times, pregnancy is the most amazing thing I have ever had the privilege of doing. Although its a little more daunting the second time around, I also know how rewarding and beautiful motherhood is.  I can't wait to kiss her tiny cheeks and see Chris with a little girl.

Please bless I don't gain 40 pounds again.. Okay, bye!

14 weeks , when I started to pop out a little. Definitely a lot sooner this time around! Please excuse the ultra crappy quality of these photos, someone in our household shattered my iPhone camera on my phone and this is the result... 

A happy list

Life has been relatively the same around here. And maybe thats why I don't write. How do I get all of you excited to read about our latest trip to the zoo, or Will's continual need to make me call poison control? Call it writers block.
It's pouring rain outside and I guess that just made me feel the need to snuggle up on the couch and dust off the old blog. Mostly today has been a crap loaded day.. Nothing even big, just like a million little annoyances all in ONE DAY. You know those days. When every glass of DP spills on your carpet just because you looked at it wrong?
A couple weeks ago, a cute blogger that I follow created "A Happy List" and while I was reading it, it totally made me happy! Thanks, Katie :) So I'm going to write one of my own in hopes of turning this day around, and also in hopes of inspiring you to create one as well. It's always important to remember the good things in our life, amiright? Here goes.


Things that make me terribly happy:

-The moment Chris walks in the door after work
-Sunrises. Although I ADORE sleeping in, when I'm actually up at the crack of dawn, it is the ultimate rejuvenation
-A clean house
-Hearing Will babble in the morning before I come get him out of bed. Except guess what? He just learned how to OPEN doors.. So he actually comes to get me out of bed now
-Fresh flowers
-Pregnant people, pregnancy, birth stories, etc. Oh, you guys already knew that? Sorry;)
-Two things here: Weddings, and missionary welcome homes. (Like, the airport part of the welcome home, not the sacrament meeting) If I could attend one of either of these a week, I'd be the darn near happiest girl ever. And guess who gets home in 34 days? My little brother!!!!!!!!!!! I love that kid and can't wait to just squeeze the daylights outta him!
-Watching my baby sleep (me and every mom in the world)
-Hand written letters
-Getting hugged from behind when you aren't expecting it (even if it's just a tiny 1 year old hugging the bottom of my legs)
-Shopping sans children
-The bathtub


And just to throw out a teeny tiny bit of pessimism...

Things that pull my chain:

-Taco Times drive thru. Why does it always take 40 minutes?!?!
-Pessimistic people. Haha go figure, right? But seriously, I cannot. I just cannot.

To give love.

It turns out that it's only November, and I already have my New Years resolution. Just one. It's usually the same thing eeeevery year. Lose 5 pounds. Since that clearly never happens, I'm moving on to bigger and better things.

We can just call it "Holiday Goal(s)" instead.....?

It's something that has been weighing on my mind pretty heavily the past week.

Let me just ask you this. Do you have certain things that just- make your heart kinda hurt? I always try to describe these things to Chris but never know how to fully make him understand. Just those things. That when you think about, cause your heart to get a little bit achey. Sometimes in a sad way. And sometimes in a, "this is sooo tender that it's making my heart ache," kind of way. Are you catching my drift here?

I get these moments every once in a while. And last week, I had one of these moments that has just.. stayed with me.

To give love. 

Such a simple statement, with such a wide span of different ideas, opinions, and thoughts on the matter.

I won't get into the details, but I had a friend, whom beyond her own knowledge was (in my opinion) needing, but not mindfully seeking out, love from others. She needed it. She needed someone to acknowledge her, love her, and reassure that she was valued and important.

I'm sure she will never know, but I walked away from our conversation with this deep ache in my heart thinking, "How many people out there are needing this reassurance? Needing someone to put an arm around them and tell them how wonderful they are?" A question that I will never know the answer to. But I am sure the answer is more than I could imagine.

My darling visiting teacher (whom also happens to be one of my dearest friends) came over to my house a couple months ago for a visit. Little to her knowledge, at the time, I was seriously needing a friend. Just someone to listen. And she was there. It was truly a tender mercy. And it has been on repeat in my mind ever since. "I need to make sure I am that person for others.."

Too often I am looking for the people with large problems. Who are very obviously needing help. But here's the thing; I will never be able to see all the problems that surround others, although they are most certainly there. And honestly, I don't NEED to see the problems.

I desperately want to be a person who loves other people whole-heartedly. Who makes them realize that they are, indeed, important and significant.

My goal this year is to give love generously. 

Maybe that will make my heart a little less achey, yeah?

I made it

My baby is one. And I finally feel like I am starting to get the hang of this motherhood thing. Yes, a whole entire year later. The best description I can give of how it felt, was like running a relay race. Like I was running and running, getting so tired, almost ready to hand off the baton, and never being able to reach the person in front of me. Does that even make sense? I could always see the end of the rainbow, where my baby would be easy, happy, and healthy, but I was never able to catch it.

Looking back, I can see that nearly the entire first year of his life, I was just doing my very best to keep my head above water. And hold onto my sanity. I didn't have energy for much else.

Until recently.

I am finally in a place where I feel so excited to wake up every day and see what milestone he is going to conquer next. Instead of dreading his constant crying, administering his next breathing treatment, waiting for him to get sick again, etc.. Our days are (dare I say) fun, and we are totally best friends. He makes me laugh harder than anyone else and I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm the weirdest lady around ;)

Maybe newborns aren't, "my thing" as much as I thought they were.. Because although this whole 1 year old stage is straight chaos and I can never keep up with his path of destruction, I absolutely LOVE it. He's growing and learning and it is SO FUN to watch. Which is something I don't think I understood until I became a mother. I used to be so confused as to why people thought it was sooooo oober amazing that their baby had learned to roll over.. Pretty sure a dead animal can roll over.. So what's the big whoop about that? But all these little milestones are what you live for as a mama.

Speaking of- Will offically started walking TONIGHT!! He hasn't even been anywhere near walking until wam bam, I had the genius idea to pull out a bowl of ice cream! And you can bet  money that he was practically running by the end of the night just to get a bite.

Changing directions..

I asked my mom a couple months ago, "Do you think I'm still fun?" To which she replied, "You're probably not as fun as you used to be. But- you've got a new life.." In no way did she mean it in a negative way. But it really shook me. I feel like in the midst of becoming a mom, I was losing my identity. Where had that fun, careless girl gone? Am I a boring mom now?
After stewing over it for far too long, I came to this conclusion:

I am a new version of me. I've grown in countless ways. Some of which I'm extremely proud of. Some of which I am scared to let myself see (namely myself, in mom jeans). I am learning how to grow into my new self; my wife and mother self. I'm finding old pieces of me and putting them back together, just in a slightly different order. It will probably take some time, and that's okay.

I'm really just grateful that life is finally normalling out.

A couple days ago, I sat down on the kitchen floor and Will came and laid on my knee. We sat, ate our string cheese together, and had a good heart-to-heart for a solid 15 minutes. (When does a baby ever give you their complete attention for 15 minutes!?) I talked to him and he looked at me like he knew exactly what I was saying. And he would reply just like we were two ladies on a lunch date chatting about the weather. He looked at me like I was the most important person in the world. I've realized that moments like that are what make motherhood so sacred and special. 

                                                                                                                                                                                         

The night before Will turned one, I laid in my bed and quietly cried myself to sleep. Like any normal, sentimental mother would do on the eve of their babies birthday, right? Except I was mostly crying because guess what? We made it. One whole year. We made it through the clouds just in time to see the sun. I finally caught the rainbow. My babe is healthy and happy. In that moment, I knew Heavenly Father was with me, telling me that he was proud of me for hangin' in there. 

It was the biggest wave of peace I had felt in a long, long time. 

I should probably give a very big thank you to everyone who helped me feel normal during this past year and made me realize that being a parent is hard on everyone in different ways. Namely my adorable parents. They would drop anything in a heart beat to help me. I kid you not- I called and sobbed to my mom countless times over this past year and she always had a way to make me feel better. My dads wisest piece of advice was, "I actually don't think I have advice for you, Laur.. That kid is just something else." Haha ;)

And for everyone who adores our sweet Will. One of the most stressful things for me was thinking that no one would love him because he was so obnoxious. Because seriously- he was kinda obnoxious. But in some odd way, Chris and I both felt that people loved him even more because of it. Not because he was obnoxious, but because of his dominant quirky little personality.  He has gotten so much positive attention from family, friends and neighbors and I honestly know that it helped me love him through the hard times when I wanted to abandon him in his crib for a couple hours. 

I realize this post makes me sound like I just made it through a year of intense chemotherapy of something. When really, all I did was have a baby.. But that sweet boy just so happened to through me for the biggest loop of my life. But I made it guys, I MADE IT. 

And holy crap I have the cutest baby alive. 

Team {{ BabyWise }}

Let's talk about sleeping babies. And what an absolute joy it is to have both the words, sleep and baby, in the same sentence.

 I've been going back and forth about writing this. Mainly because the last thing I want to do is discredit or make another fellow mom feel bad. These are completely my own thoughts and I definitely don't have any expert background in the area. Just what has worked for me.

That being said, I have had multiple new mommas and friends ask me about the method we used for Will's sleep training. And while I don't usually consider myself profound enough to be giving out advice on the norm, I do feel like I can shed a little light to all of you sleep-deprived women out there.

Let me introduce you to my postpartum goddess:

We used BabyWise. And absolutely loved it. But there are several other sleep training books out there that accomplish the same goal. 

I am a firm (like rock-solid type firm) believer in sleep training your baby. The book goes into more detail about it, but the overall objective is not to be a Hitler mom who makes her baby cry it out so that she can get a couple extra hours of sleep each night.. It is to teach your baby a trait that is absolutely pertinent in his/her life; how to sleep. There are many people out there who believe that their baby will give them cues as to when they need to eat, sleep, etc.. And while I do believe that is true to some degree.... I mostly disagree. To me, it's almost like saying, "My toddler will teach himself how to read. I just need to be patient and wait for his cues when he is ready."

A baby needs to be taught. Not for his mom. Not for his dad. Not because you absolutely cannot drag yourself out of bed one more time in the middle of the night. But because it isn't fair to not teach them how to properly get the rest that they desperately need. 

Many people hear the words, "sleep training," and instantly think of torture. I think it's because so many people relate it to letting a baby, "cry it out." But in a lot of cases, if you stick to your sleep training regimen strictly, that step can be skipped entirely. Will never had to go through that step until well after he was sleeping through the night. And I'll talk about that a little later.

I would highly suggest to buy the book if you want to sleep train your baby. It has so much valuable information and it isn't a long read. But I will quickly go over the basis of the E.A.S.Y program that they use. I started with Will when he was about 4 weeks old, but knowing what I now know, I will probably start all of my future babies when they are 2 weeks. BUT!! Even if your baby is 4, 5, or 6 months old- it isn't too late to start. That's the beauty of the program :)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

The EASY Routine

Complete the falling steps in order

E: Eat. Feed your baby. Try your very hardest not to let baby fall asleep while eating. Which is sooooo hard when they are little bitty. I remember every feeding I would take Wills socks off and tickle his feet to keep him awake. And sometimes I would even hold a wet towel on his cheek to keep him alert. There were so many times, when I was so dreadfully tired that I just wanted to let him snuggle in and fall asleep right there, milk drunken and happy. But there is importance in sticking to the regimen.  

A: Activity. I remember reading this and thinking, "What in the world am I going to do with a 4 week old for an activity? Blocks?" The main idea here is to KEEP THEM AWAKE after their feeding is over. Whatever you have to do. Sometimes you'll only be able to hold them off for 15 minutes (and that's okay) and other times it will be an hour. Just keep those eyeballs open. 

S: Sleep. This is where things get a little more complicated. They have several rules here and while I believe they are probably in your best interest, some of them are hard to keep. After they have eaten and played (if you can even call it that), it's nap time. They ask you not to use any "sleep aids," as they are just future bad habits that you are going to have to break. Like sleeping in a swing, rocking your baby to sleep, a white noise machine, etc. The focus here is to let your baby teach himself how to fall asleep without the assistance of mom or props. So that when they wake up in the middle of the night or the middle of a nap, they don't need you to come put them back to sleep. In my opinion, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to teach your baby throughout the whole process. 

Never lay your baby down asleep. They need to be awake or on the verge of falling asleep. This teaches them how to put themselves to sleep. I'm guessing that this is where most people run into trouble. And have to let their babies cry it out. If you start when they are young enough (2-6 weeks) then the chances are that they wont get into a habit of you putting them to sleep and will never have to go through the crying. But if they do.. that's okay too!! (No really, I promise, it is)
{{ Will slept in a swing for the first 3 months of his life.. woops. But I found it acceptable because of his acid reflux. Just mold the plan to fit your lifestyle. }}

Y: You time. The best part of it all. Do something for yourself while your babe is snoozin' away! I won't lie, the first couple months, my time was usually spent sleeping. And I highly suggest it! I was able to rejuvenate and gear myself up for two a.m. feedings. And even now, 10 months later, this is still my most sacred time of day! I don't know when I would ever get my laundry done without nap time.. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

And voila- there you have it! Easy enough, right? But actually.. it's not that easy. There were so many times that I wanted to give up and forget the regimen. But I am so incredibly happy that I stuck it out. We've had our up's and down's with his sleeping, but for the most part, I can't complain at all. Will started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks. When we he about 4 months old, he started waking in the middle of the night for his binky. After two weeks of having to run across the house multiple times a night just to put his binky in, I got a little frustrated. We decided to let him cry it out. The first night he cried for an hour and a half. And it was pure torture for all of us. But the next night he literally cried for less than 5 minutes and then he never cried again. 

We've actually had to instill the cry it out method multiple times, for multiple reasons, which is completely normal. When we stopped swaddling. And after he has gotten better from being sick. (Darn those colds! They totally throw off babies sleeping patterns.)

Let me just quickly touch on the "cry it out" subject. Nothing is harder than listening to your baby scream and scream and screeeeaaaaamm. But do I believe it's going to cause negative psychological effects later on down the road? Absolutely not. I don't want to delve too deep into this because I know there are so many different opinions out there. The only thing that made this possible for me was knowing that I was doing it for him. I was doing it to make his life better. The actual crying part is not fun for him nor you. But you are saving your baby from months and months and maybe even years of unpleasant sleep habits. Those 3 nights of crying won't seem like a thing compared to the alternate option. And I'll leave it at that. 

All in all, I DO believe that every baby has the ability to be a, "good sleeper". Most babies don't come into this world as good sleepers. One of the most frustrating comments I hear is, "You're so lucky to have such a good sleeper." It is not luck, my friends. It was hard work! Every baby can accomplish this trait, it just takes a little discipline on the parents part (and by parents, I mean moms ;) )

Good, good luck!!!