February 07, 2004: According to the book this is teething. Yikes.

Since I came back from Austria, Veronika sleeping pattern has gradually and steadily deteriorated. What used to be one or two short night-wakings (not really wakings but demands for food) turned into 3,4,5... prolonged midnight sleeping breaks. Exhausted is not enough of a word to describe what every member of the Souzek household is feeling (Even Digby is restless. Wait, he is always restless. Nevermind.). I can't find anything in the books that indicates worse sleeping patterns at 6 months except that teething might cause it. You can't see anything protruding through her gums, but that's normal too they say. It all starts WAY before teeth come out. Now, I really hope this is teething because if it's not I don't know if we'll make it to her first birthday.

This is what last night went like:
7 pm: Veronika goes to bed with no complaints.
8.30 pm: V wakes up crying, settles quickly with a little bit of nursing.
10.30 pm: V wakes up crying, screams when I pick her up, screams even louder when I offer the breast. Accepts the breast after longer screaming bout. Falls asleep.
12.00 am: V wakes up crying, settles reluctantly with nursing, cries when put down. Settles again with just rocking. Cries when put down. Settles with nursing. Asleep.
1.45 am: V wakes up with indecisive crying. I'm too tired to get up and wait until she starts crying seriously. She does 10 minutes later. I pick her up, nurse, she settles but doesn't really fall asleep. We repeat nursing and putting down about 5 times. She's asleep.
3 am: V wakes... and honestly I don't know exactly what happens. Some combination of the above. Plus she actually has her eyes wide open, babbling a little laying relaxed in my arms.
4 am: See above
5 am: See above
6 am: See above. I give up and take her to bed with me. She nurses and the whole family falls asleep until 8 am when Digby wakes us up with rattling his kennel door.

We all look forward to a wonderful energetic weekend. God help us.