foquis / foqueada / foca

is she really asleep?!

After half an hour or so (sometimes up to 2 hours!) of patting I see Mahlia finally nod off to sleep… then I put her into her bassinet and PING her eyes are wide open!!! So, out of the bassinet and back to patting/ feeding / nappy cycle !!! An alternative to this situation is when he eyes don’t PING open as soon as I put her down but she seems sound asleep and so I then dive into bed and just as I’m drifting off… wah…… wah…… WAH!!! Peel myself out of the sheets and back up for the patting/ feeding/ nappy scenarios. It’s not so much the re-waking that’s the hardest, but going to bed myself thinking ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… and almost drifting off only to have to try wake myself up to get out and attend Mahli. So I have devised a system so as to void the disappointment of thinking I’m right to go to sleep only to need to get up again.:

Feeding Mahli and she falls asleep:

The kissing test: kiss her on the forehead or cheek and see if she wakes. If she doesn’t wake up then she’s probably really asleep.
The moooving test: move a little bit to see if she wakes. If she doesn’t stand up and see if she wakes up. If she doesn’t then she’s probably really asleep.
The walking test: start walking towards the bedroom and id she doesn’t wake up then she’s probably really asleep.
The Beto test: whilst walking from the feeding chair to the bedroom we must bypass the back of the couch where Beto is usually stationed who on queue will stretch out his paw and “pat” Mahli. If she doesn’t wake up, she’s probably asleep and attempts should be made to approach the bassinet.
The “is she really asleep” test: put her into the bassinet, wrap her up in her waffle blanket, tuck her in, apply extra blanket on top if temperature requires. She will either wake up, or not wake up. If she does not wake up, then she’s probably asleep. If she does wake up, tart from the top and feed her if I have milk left, if not, do the patting thing for at least an hour and if patting is going nowhere then after half an hour to an hour there’ll be a bit of milk left to try feeding again!

If she is in the bassinet, and does not wake up

To avoid disappointment of thinking it’s all good to get to bed only to have to manage to get up again, I have devised the following:

The sleeeeping test (ie is she really sleep): Find something to do for 20mins as if she hasn’t woken up by then, then she is probably actually asleep. Some useful activities I have devised and recommend include:

The Washing up test (if you finish washing up and she’s still sleep then it’s probably
Safe to go to bed)

If you have no washing up cos you’ve been super organised and energetic during the day (as if) or you have a super helpful husband who’s still energetic after work (a.i.) or you can’t face the washing up then a few alternatives are as follows:

The watching the mint on telly for 20mins test

The put a load of washing ready for tomorrow in the washing machine test.
The fold up the laundry test
The pack away the millions of toys etc that you’ve tried desperately to entertain your baby with during the day test
The pack the baby bag ready for the next

day cos you’re going out test

Eat the block of chocolate test
Etc etc. you get the picture!

If she’s still asleep then you can almost safely say, that she is fast asleep, or, “foca” / “foquis”, for the time being, anyway !!!

And, then you get a few hours sleep until the next shift.