Six Months of Autumn

Autumn is six months old today and I’m a bit sentimental over it. Autumn is a gift from God, our third miracle baby, and a constant reminder that God answers prayer. Even her birth went just as we hoped—she arrived quickly and easily at home.

Our first week together was easy too. My mom was visiting and Adam had time off work, so Autumn basically moved from one set of arms to another. She barely made a sound. But then my mom had to leave and Adam had to go back to work. Autumn came to life the way newborns tend to do and before long my adrenaline was gone. Life fell into an exhausting new pattern—nights up with Autumn, days up with Sky and Micah. I put my head down and pushed forward through each week. I’ll be sleeping more soon, I told myself.

But after Autumn passed the three month mark, I realized that hey! This baby is not sleeping much! By the time Sky and Micah were each four months, they were both waking up just a few times a night. Autumn was nowhere near that point. So I pulled out my favorite baby sleep book, The No-Cry Sleep Solution, and re-read it. Author Elizabeth Pantley suggests creating a sleep log to track your baby’s night waking, so I dug out an old spiral notebook and put it under a night-light in the kitchen. I faithfully made notes every night and worked on a more intentional sleep plan, which involved more consistent nap/bedtimes and not nursing or rocking Autumn completely to sleep.

A few weeks went by. At four months, Autumn’s sleep hadn’t improved. One morning I looked back over my sleepy scribbles and decided to throw the notebook in a closet. There’s a time to take notes and make plans. But there’s also a time to turn your clock around and avoid adding up the sleep you’ve lost (advice I came across in Spirit-Led Parenting, another wonderful book for the newborn days).

I decided instead to put verses about comfort, endurance, and patience under the night light. Some nights I’d look at them and pray. Other nights I’d send whiny texts to my mom at 3am instead (Mom! Autumn WILL NOT sleep! What do I dooooooo?!?!?!). One way or another, we made it through each night together.

Then out of nowhere about two weeks ago, Autumn started sleeping, some nights waking up only once! The other day I was rummaging around for some paper in the closet and found the notebook I kept two months ago. “Oh I am definitely saving this for your baby book,” I told her. She looked up and gave me an innocent smile.

Author Rachel Jankovic points out that often when our kids outgrow a challenging behavior, we barely notice. We’ve already moved on to the next difficult thing. I know I’ve been guilty of this. So today I’ve decided to stop and acknowledge that sleep is wonderful and I am thankful I’ve been getting more of it lately.

Of course, Autumn is more than worth every sleepless night. It’s a blessing to be her mama all the time, even when I’m tired. Happy half-birthday Autumn Faith! You are so very loved.

“The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.” – Psalm 126:3