What's the value of a full night's sleep? Can you put a price tag on sanity, you ask? Well, I'm here to tell you- YES- yes, you can put a price tag on it. I'm happy to announce that for me, the cost was a mere $28.95 (plus shipping and handling). Don't be fooled by appearance. Your sweet little baby might look as though they are imitating a Jimmy Dean sausage roll, but it will guarantee you at least one REM cycle, heck maybe even two. I had pretty much decided that I would be willing to dress Ella up as Hannah Montana if it meant that I could sleep longer than 3 hours at a time. Luckily, I was able to put away the blonde wig and sequins for another time....and instead, found this cocoon of cotton, polyester and lycra. It's designed to keep baby snug and secure while still giving them the ability to move their arms and legs inside the sack, much like the way they are in Mommy's belly (hence, the name "Woombie.") The typical swaddle blanket, when used correctly, can work pretty well and will help to pin their arms down, but inevitably, they will get big enough and strong enough to break out of their swaddle and startle themselves awake. So, as fun as it was for me to hop in and out of bed ever 25 minutes to re-swaddle Ella and shush her back to sleep, I knew there had to be a better way. I'm *overjoyed* to report that the first night she slept in her Woombie, she went for 7 hours straight. Seven hours! I woke up that morning and looked over to see my clock say 5:33 am and I almost wet my bed in excitement. The next night, she went for 8 hours. The night after that- and every consecutive night since- she has gone at least a 9 hour stretch. Last night, we put her down to bed at 9:45 and she slept until 8:30 this morning. *Nirvana, I tell you.*
I'm sold. I will buy this for every friend of mine who gets pregnant from here on out. If the $650 I paid for my epidural was the best money I ever spent pre-baby (and it was), the $32-odd dollars that I paid for this sweet sack of sanity is the best money I've ever spent post-baby. Such a small, seemingly insignificant article of clothing that I credit with restoring some normalcy into my crazy, overtired, hormonal life as a new mommy...
