When I was pregnant, a family friend and neighbor to my in-laws, Sheri Bird, told me that I must purchase a baby monitor that detects movement and will alarm if it doesn't detect movement for 20 seconds (it gives a warning beep after 15 seconds of no movement). She said that her daughter, Jennifer has one and that it actually has gone off a couple of times, possibly saving her young baby's life. I thought it was a good idea and actually looked into it (very expensive) but set it aside and went through the rest of my pregnancy. When we brought Ella home from the hospital we were constantly paranoid that Ella would stop breathing. We were constantly checking to make sure that she still was. Now as a new mom, this just wasn't working. I couldn't sleep because I was afraid that my baby would stop breathing while I was sleeping and that I wouldn't know until it was too late. With this in mind, I started shopping around and purchased a BebeSounds Angelcare Movement Sensor with two parental units from Walmart for about $90. I shipped site to store and received it about two weeks later. We started using it immediately. It was hard to remember to shut it off every time we took our daughter out of her cradle, but before we knew it, it was second nature. Right before we moved the stinkin' thing started going off while Ella was wide awake! I contacted the company and a month later got a new monitor in the mail (they sent the one with just one parental unit so I had to have them ship the correct one and send that one back to them). Anyway, I refused to put Ella in her own room until we got the monitor so when we did, that's when we moved her in to her own room.
Now for the purpose of this post. I was up late last night, dilly dallying around the house, taking forever to get ready for bed, etc. When I finally went to bed it was around 11:15 pm. I always go in and check on Ella and give her a kiss and tell her I love her and then I go to bed. Well, last night I was laying in bed getting used to the fuzzy darkness when I heard a beep. I lay there barely breathing, listening intently when I heard another beep. Then...I heard the alarm going off. At this point I am shaking my husband awake (he has NO IDEA what is going on) while the alarm is still going off. I quickly go to Ella's room and start touching her to see if she is okay, and Jared shuts the alarm off. Ella was in such a deep sleep that the alarm didn't even wake her. It actually took me touching and finally moving her to wake her up. Ella opens her eyes to her two crazy parents kneeling over her cradle in the dark (me with my face right in hers because in the rush I didn't put my glasses on and could only see her face at a close proximity). She thinks it is time to get up and starts to cry when we don't pick her up. I shushed her and turned her music back on and got her to go back to sleep. I moved the sensor so that it was right underneath her because it had shifted completely to one side of the cradle, in hopes that it was just a false alarm. I am literally in tears right now as I wonder if it was only a false alarm. I would hate to know that it wasn't and that my darling daughter actually stopped breathing in her sleep. I told my husband that I think that technology has made us more paranoid. I don't know if this monitor is a blessing or not. I depend on it, I know that. I am constantly checking to make sure the lights are beeping indicating her breathing. I just would hate to wonder what if we didn't have the monitor. Would everything still be okay?
Side note, Ella is just fine. She slept through the rest of the night and has just laid down for her morning nap. She woke up happy and healthy this morning.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 22, 2008.
As Jared and I were talking last night, I think we figured out why the alarm went off. It is meant to go under the mattress on a crib, but since we do not yet have Ella's crib, it is under the blankets that Ella sleeps on in her cradle. If it were under the mattress it would detect any movement that the mattress makes, but because it is under blankets, it does not. Blankets are not a solid thing...you can move one part of a blanket without moving the rest of it. Ella was not directly on top of the sensor when I went in with the alarm going off because she moves a lot while she sleeps. So, in conclusion, I believe that it was a false alarm and only went off because Ella was not laying on any part of the sensor at that particular time.
Friday night, November 28, we went to Temple Square to see the lighting of the lights. We invited some friends of ours: Parker, Crystal, and Cambria Thomas and Pat to go with us. Pat and our family traveled via the trax! it was kind of fun! When we got to Temple Square they had just lit the lights. We were able to walk around and look at the beauty. The Temple at night is just amazing (it is during the day too, but at night it is extra amazing). We went and saw the Christus and the Tabernacle where Crystal shared her vast knowledge about the building of the Tabernacle. We learned that the Pioneers loved the look of oak wood, but when they came to Utah all they could find was white pine. That wasn't acceptable to them so they hand painted, with feathers, all of the wood to make it look like it was oak. They also hand painted the "marble" pillars to look like marble and the "golden" pipes of the organ to look like they were made of gold. Pat also shared with us that the pioneers made the benches that are still in the Tabernacle. Amazing information! Below are some pictures of our lovely night:
