patterns of sleep

i hate to admit it, but bela is still not sleeping through the night. i know all babies are different. i have a friend whose baby started sleeping through the night at about 8 weeks, but i also know someone whose baby is almost 2 years old and still waking up at night. of course i hope bela starts sooner than later, but of course i have no control over this. i have read numerous articles and books, it seems there is nothing i can do short of letting her scream rather than feeding her. i am not going to do that.
before we left for vacation she was only waking up once around 4am. not too bad, but being away somehow messed up her schedule completely. she was waking up 3-4 times during that week away! it was terrible. once we returned home she was back to 1-2 times and i sure wasnt complaining.
so on monday when i took her to the doctor for the eye goop, the doctor casually asked "she sleeps through the night, right?". i was tempted to lie, i dont know why, it just came over me that maybe i was somehow a bad parent because my baby wants to eat at night. i didnt lie though, i told her that she is still waking up 1-2 times a night. she eats and passes back out, no fuss. the doctor assured me that this is totally normal, but at the same time she gave bela a pep talk that she should let mama get some sleep. cute.
thanks doc! the last 2 nights we have been back to only waking up once. i am hoping that this whole thing will be a blur very soon. i will be one of those moms who can say, "of course my baby sleeps through the night!" a big smile going across my very rested and fresh looking face.
until then, i am tired and have baggies under my eyes. but ya know what, i have a good baby. so what if she doesnt sleep through the night? i keep telling myself this as i drag my sleeping body out of bed at 3am.