Thanksgiving success and growth spurt?

Thanksgiving was great! We spent Wednesday and Thursday night at my parents' house. The first night was kind of rough. Regan woke up a lot, but she was still easy to put back to sleep. The second night was great though. She only woke up a couple of times and went right back to sleep. It's nice to know that it's possible to have a decent night's sleep somewhere other than at home. Regan was still pretty fussy, but not too bad, during both days. The meal was great and everyone really enjoyed the family time.

Today, however, has been a rough day. Regan woke up at about 6:30, which is pretty typical. I brought her out into the living room to feed her instead of staying in her room. When we stay in her room, we both usually end up falling asleep for another hour or so in the glider. I figured that probably isn't real safe, and also thought that if we started her day a little earlier, maybe she'd nap better and go to bed earlier. I don't know if that has anything to do with how the day went, but she cried from about 7 a.m. until about 3 p.m. She'd stop to eat every hour to two hours, and sometimes to take a short nap of maybe 20 minutes. But if she wasn't eating or sleeping, she was crying. It was a stressful day for mommy and daddy.

I was worried she was eating too much because when she has done that in the past, she has spit it all up and didn't seem to feel well. I also read that it's possible to over-feed a baby, making them more uncomfortable and making the crying worse. So I was trying to hold her off for two hours between feedings. However, I finally called the lactation nurse at the hospital this afternoon and told her what was happening. She suggested that Regan was in a growth spurt and possibly just wanted to eat and eat and eat. She said it was okay to feed her more than every two hours, if that's what she wanted. So I relaxed and resolved to camp out in front of the TV with her for the rest of the afternoon, letting her nurse whenever she wanted to. Funny thing: almost as soon as I gave in and let her eat all she wanted, she fell asleep and has been quietly napping for the last hour.

Once again, I'm reminded that I need to try to relax and follow her cues. I know I should trust myself, but I just don't seem to have the instincts to trust. I don't know whether feeding her more is helping or hurting, or whether she's really hungry or just tired. I don't know if she wants to be held or left alone to play or sleep. I'm trying, really trying, to relax and trust my instincts. But there isn't a little voice my my head that magically started giving me the right answers when I give birth. I just have to wing it, and hope that voice develops more over time.