Changing patterns

Just when it seems like Molly's settled in to a pattern, it all changes. I guess that's just the way babies are, right?
The latest change is she's eating in little 10-minute bursts. This is a baby who, just a few days ago, had a marathon feeding where she stayed latched on for an hour at one stretch. She's always been a slow eater and it was pretty common for her to eat for a half hour or 40 minutes at a time.
Needless to say, this change to short feedings had me a little worried. I was afraid she was unhappy because I ate spicy rice noodles for lunch Sunday, and she wasn't eating enough because I had contaminated the milk supply. Sleep deprivation has a way of making little worries into big irrational fears. As I read the baby books about how much a newborn should eat, I suddenly worried that she sleeps for too long at a stretch, especially if she's not eating much in between. We had one night where we all went to sleep at 11:30 and woke up around 7:30 the next morning, with just one little waking in the middle of the night for a short snack. It felt like heaven at the time, but now I worried that she wasn't eating enough and I shouldn't let her sleep for 4 hours at a time.
Meanwhile, when she's awake during the day she's staying awake longer, looking around and wanting to be held. I got into a cycle where I was worried when she stayed asleep too long and then worried and exhausted when she was awake too long (our book on baby sleep says babies this age shouldn't stay awake for more than an hour or two at a stretch, or they get overtired and resist sleeping).
I finally started keeping notes again on when she eats, when she sleeps, and the number of dirty diapers, just to make sure she wasn't in danger. And of course once I looked at it all written out for 24 hours, I realized what my instincts were telling me all along was true -- she's fine. This new schedule is rough on us, but Molly's getting plenty to eat and plenty of sleep.

On a lighter note, we went out to dinner with the baby again tonight. Wendy's is the new taste of freedom!
Jim has been cooking delicious meals and keeping up with the laundry and the rabbits. I don't know what I would do if he had to go back to work right away.
We signed up for an infant massage class today, and I'm looking forward to meeting other new moms. I'm also looking forward to Molly's 3-week birthday Sunday because that's when I'm cleared to pick up heavy objects again, including Molly in her car seat. That'll be a little bit of freedom, too. Yay!

P.S. Thanks for all the nursing mom stories. I love reading the comments. It makes me so happy!!