No 5K Race for me today. Someone (a small little mini-hubby) decided that they would roll around last night. He has been a little grumpy lately and we think maybe he is teething (no teeth visible, but lots of drool and chewing). When the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. to throw everyone in the car and drive 45 minutes to the start of the race my body screamed and said, “It ain’t happening lady.” Luckily, after we all went back to bed the little duffer slept until 7:45. Now, we are all refreshed and ready for the grandparents and aunt to arrive. Now, I just need to squeeze in a 30 minute run before the heavens open up and it is time to prune the apple trees.
Tag Archives: Sleep
Alex Ovechkin is the Man
At least that is what my almost eleven week old son thinks. Of course, I can’t seem to get his age right. For the last two weeks, he has been nine weeks old. Took going to yoga class and having a woman whose daughter was born four days after Duffer telling me my math might be wrong. Go figure. If you haven’t seen the stylish outfit that Ovechkin wore during the All Star Skills Challenge I do recommend checking it out. I love a guy who has a little fun with life, as does Duffer. Last night, Duffer hung with the guys watching the Skills Challenge. We have a great picture of him lounging on the couch in a pose that echoes a picture of me as a baby (yes mom we had to take a picture of him even though you told us not to). However, the big news is we have started a bedtime schedule for Duffer and it is working. My friend started telling me how she had a whole nighttime ritual for getting her daughter to bed and I thought maybe I should start Duffer on that since I am heading back to work tomorrow. Last night, I gave him a bath, read him some stories, and put his mobile on. I walked away and came back about ten or so minutes later. He was asleep. Tonight, I did the same thing and he is asleep! What is most interesting is I bought a book about getting him on a sleep schedule over a month ago because someone recommended it and I have not read it yet. Goes to show you that sometimes things just happen.
My Lovely Sleeping Little Man
For weeks now, my husband and I have survived on pockets of sleep. He usually gets a solid three hours a night uninterrupted and I get about two. The rest are twenty minute stretches here and there where we hope that our baby will sleep. However, tonight was different. Of course, now that I write about it I’m sure it will never happen again, but I will remember December tenth. Our son has a little stuffy nose and some feeding fussies going on (a.k.a gas) so our doctor suggested he sleep for the next couple days sitting in either his vibrating chair or his jungle swing. My husband put him in the jungle swing after a 7:30 feeding and he slept until almost 11. I then took over and put him in about midnight and he slept until almost three. Now, I am awake briefly to see if he will go back down again, but I realize he will need a diaper change prior to that occurring. The swing also lets him relax. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a baby to change and wait…more sleep to get!
Paradise By Radio Tower Lights
I love sleep. I feel compelled to let you all know that I enjoy naps, going to bed early, falling asleep on long car rides (when someone else is driving), and dozing off on the couch in the middle of a television show with no worries that I won’t know what happened at the end. In fact, earlier this evening, my husband who had the shift with my son last night that involved much fussiness said I should take the two of you for a four hour car ride so you both can sleep. However, at 1:12 a.m., I feel I also need to tell you that although I miss sleep, I am enjoying a new piece of my life that involves anything but. As I type this post with my computer’s brightness turned up just enough that I can navigate the screen, next to me my little man is sleeping with a small smile on his face. I put him down in the pack-in-play earlier to attempt to get him to sleep while I could possibly curl up on my couch, but he would have none of that. Now I know that soon I will probably feel grouchy that he is fussy about sleep and all of that, but now I actually enjoy watching him sleep with his hands up looking like he might get in a fight. Outside my window, the three red flashing lights of the radio towers over on Blush Hill flicker on and off in a rhythm warning planes that towers are in their way. These lights are my nighttime comfort. I watch them like I watch my son calmed by their presence. It is the simple things I think that make me smile. My son’s eyes half open as I pick him up and soothe him back to sleep. My dog Sammy’s ability to curl himself underneath your covers so that he is spooning you. My other dog Maggie’s ability to never get sick of playing her ball games out on the porch. Or my husband’s smile in his eye as he changes his son for the upteenth time after a blowout. In the wee hours of the morning, as my son’s stuffy nose makes it seem like he is snoring, I am content knowing that I’ll clock less than eight hours heading into tomorrow, but I’ll have all these little moments to hold on to.
Moby Rocks…Not the Singer
My baby doesn’t like to sleep during the normal times and he hates hard mattresses, but really who can blame him. Unfortunately, in the world of baby sleep, babies need to sleep on hard surfaces on their backs (Back to Sleep Campaign) to reduce the risk of SIDS. He will lie down in the co-sleeper or pack-n-play mid-day, but during the night he would rather be snuggled next to you or lie on the couch cushion next to you. Both of these are unsafe alternatives to him sleeping in one of his beds hopefully for a couple hours at least. We are still working on getting him to notice the difference between morning and evening, but we know that will take us another couple weeks to get right. So in the meantime, what allows me to eat breakfast and type right now at my computer using two hand and not one, the Moby Wrap. I’m not usually a product placer, but I did try and use another wrap about a week ago and I couldn’t figure out how to get him in the pocket without squashing his uber-sensitive head. Now my son is up close and personal with me while asleep. This makes me happy because if I am just holding him it does not allow me to get snacks. Snacks, I’ve learned, are extremely important in the world of breastfeeding. I find myself ravenous at the strangest hours, but before unable to get anything to eat because both my hands contained baby and putting him down would cause havoc which would wake up my husband during his non-shift time. Now, I can enjoy that bowl of cereal, watch the sun come up over the woods in my front yard, and type this random entry to tell you about my new love affair with the Moby. Now, if only, I could get my son to share his love with the co-sleeper or pack-n-play so that my husband and I could actually close our eyes at the same time.
Love...Moby Style
Sleep Perchance to…Sleep?
After bringing home our newborn son on Monday, I was in a mixed state of anxiety and excitement. I was so happy to have him home, but also nervous about being trusted to leave the hospital with him. On the first night, we had a pretty good run of it with Duffer sleeping every two hours or so and then getting up to feed or change diapers. I was awake a little more making sure he was breathing, etc. Two nights ago, he had some major feeding frenzies that went every hour on the hour until 2:30 a.m. I had a little less sleep, but the lactation consultant from the hospital said that 7-10 days is the normal time for the baby’s first growth spurt. Last night was a whole new ball game. I think it might have come from my mother’s comment last night of “oh, he is such a beautiful baby, but nothing like you.” Now, I know you are thinking that might sound a little harsh, but that is not the case. Unfortunately, I know exactly what my mom means. As a baby, I didn’t want to sleep at all so they took to driving me around Brentwood in the wee hours of the morning in the red Ford Fairmont wagon. I was elated when my mother said those words last night because earlier in my pregnancy she warned that I might end up with my clone. Now, less than twelve hours later I want to tell her she may have spoken too soon. Last night, Duffer spent most of the evening awake and ready to go. He looked up at me a couple times like hey, don’t we live in Vegas? Can I go hit the slots? Unfortunately, since Duffer didn’t sleep neither did we. Well, I let my husband sleep a bit more because he is due into work for a meeting morning and I want him to be able to drive there in a semi-coherent condition. I only asked for two mandatory rest periods last night each for about a half hour. During the most recent from 6:45 to 7:15, my husband became a god. When I woke up moments ago, I found our baby…asleep. At this point, we want to thank our friends M, A, and Z for letting us borrow the jungle swing because Duffer is loving it! My husband researched to make sure it wasn’t too soon to let Duffer swing a little and sure enough like everything good in life…moderation. I am letting him conk out for a little bit longer while I get myself breakfast and figure out how to solve the next big mystery, “Why does he keep peeing through his diapers?” My theory goes first to the fact that two days ago when we took him home he fit the criteria for newborn size diaper because of weight, but now that he is gaining weight pretty regularly I think that maybe the amount of liquid and fit of his body is causing it to spill over. We shall see if my theory holds up over the course of the days while hopefully Duffer gets into a schedule where he is at least sleeping half of the night. Sweet dreams…
Sleep Deprivation of a Different Sort
Just yesterday, my friend wrote about sleep deprivation because of her newborn son (Five Facts About Sleep Deprivation). Although I am sure that I will be in her same boat soon enough, I have a different type of sleep issue going on. I have always been someone who enjoys a good night’s sleep. In fact, there was a time my husband told folks it was a miracle I could stay up past 9:30. However, since being pregnant I have found myself in a couple different sleep predicaments. The first one I had was waking up at 2:30 in the morning wide awake and not being able to fall back to sleep until 5:30 or 6. I only had this sleep issue three or four times and it was usually on a Saturday night and always after eating Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz (Although I gave up coffee and any caffeine during pregnancy, I found myself drawn to this ice cream flavor whenever I was in town). Once I decided no more Buzz Buzz Buzz for me, I went back to my sleep filled nights (albeit with some of the weirdest dreams, but that is a story for another day). My new sleep issue has come on in the last week or so. It started when I discovered heartburn or acid reflux. Having not been exposed to this my entire pregnancy, I found it extremely unfortunate that I should get this in my last couple weeks, especially at night. I started not being able to fall asleep at a normal bed time. My situation is like this. I go to bed at a reasonable hour (eleven or so) and attempt to get comfortable. I listen to my dogs and husband snore and envy their ability to be out cold in less than five minutes. Then, I get up and head out to the living room to read, write, or just sit until I finally feel tired enough. This usually happens between 2:30 and 3:00. I would blame this new sleep habit on my naps during the day, but it happens even on days when I don’t get an opportunity to nap at all. My husband thinks it is my body preparing for the sleep deprivation that will occur once my son joins us on the outside, but I can’t be sure. I guess that I will find out soon enough if my practice and training for sleep deprivation pay off, but I have a sneaky suspicion that these are two completely different events. Until that time, I will continue with my trend until the next one comes along. Maybe the next one will involve being able to sleep more than two consecutive hours without getting up to use the bathroom. That would be dreamy!
