Hello, sleep. I missed you!

I truly hope I don't jinx this by writing it, but here we go: Caroline Quinn just slept through the night for the third night in a row! Slept through the night as in, not a single peep out of her from around 8:30pm (when she usually dozes off in the swing before daddy puts her in the crib) until 6:00am (when the stampede of dogs to the breakfast bowls always wakes her up). I am so, so, so proud of her and so, so, so enjoying this return of a good night's sleep! I hope she keeps it up and makes a habit of sleeping all night. That would be AMAZING!!!

In other news, I finally went to the optometrist yesterday regarding my eye issues. My eyes have been unbearably dry ever since having Caroline (and toward the end of my pregnancy). On Monday, I wore my contacts to work and failed to bring my glasses for backup. By the end of the day, my coworkers were asking me if everything was okay because I had tears streaming down my face and my eyes were so red and irritated they looked infected. Tuesday morning, I woke up and could not even open my right eye because it was so painful and irritated. So, I finally broke down and made an appointment for later that morning.

I thought maybe I had scratched my eyeball or had some sort of infection. Nope, he says that he believes nursing is causing the issue. He says it's uncommon, but it does happen to some women. All the moisture that would usually go to my eyes has been going toward my milk supply, and wearing contact lenses steals any of the moisture that manages to reach my eyes. Soooo, that sucks. I suspected nursing was the cause due to the timing and some online research. At least I don't have an infection that would spread to Caroline!

With all that said, "Milk Machine" (my nickname) will probably retire soon; it's not like I even produce much anymore, whomp whomp (I'm lucky if I can pump 4oz total during a day of work these days... that's not even enough to fill one of Caroline's four 6oz daycare bottles). I gave it my all and stuck with it through the struggles! I might keep the morning/bedtime feedings for a bit longer to make the retirement more gradual, but this useless work pumping is going away. The husband will be pleased to have two less obnoxious things to wash every night (he spends about half an hour each night washing all of her bottles and my pumpers), and pumping at work is no fun anyway. 

I was bummed at first about this "retirement," but after more thought and supportive words from my mom and fellow food lover, I think it's for the best. My mom told me, "You need to be healthy and happy so you can keep her healthy and happy!" and that's so true. At least Miss Caroline got the "good stuff" during her fragile newborn stage when she truly needed it. She's now a big, tall, strong lady, who is going to try rice cereal this weekend! Even if I'm giving her the "fake stuff," I'll always be her Milk Machine :) Josh is convinced her first words will be "milk machine" - I think he's nuts!

Coffeeholic Caroline wanted to end this post with some adorableness!