Sleepernaught

Our whole life right now seems to revolve around sleep. Perhaps it is better said the lack of sleep thereof.

The Girl, we finally, finally have her starting the night in her own bed if one of us lays down with her and reads two stories of her choosing. She usually appears back in our bed before morning, but occasionally she has made it from bedtime until The Husband leaves for work. For her, this is a HUGE deal. We are talking about the baby whom you could not lay down, period. We were thankful when she was finally able to sleep without constant full body contact, though she wanted to have her food supply within easy access. She didn’t sleep through the night until she was 2 years old. (neither did I as a child)

The Boy, well his sleep pattern is different. He actually would fall asleep without nursing on occasion, even as an infant. His teething has nearly undone us all though. While he has yet to grace us with the benefit of 5 hours straight sleep (the technical definition of sleeping through the night), his sleep habits are completely different than The Girl’s. All that changed when his first four molars came in all at once. He didn’t sleep for more than 40 minutes to an hour at a time for weeks. Just when I thought we were past that 2 more teeth (canines) with another very close to arriving. We’re back to square one.  Some nights it has been hours of upset because cold chewies/pops, motrin, and teething gel combined have done nothing. He’s also sore enough that nursing is difficult. He’s not at all shy about communicating his displeasure. It’s exhausting.

The Husband who has snored like a bear for as long as I’ve known him (and it’s been a “long time”) isn’t sleeping well. For some lovely male reason, the kids waking up don’t phase him. He can sleep through some of the most raucous baby upset for quite sometime. He can also fall asleep while you are talking to him, if he gets still, and more fun. He’s getting a sleep study done because he’s not ever rested. He’s always so tired. I’ll be honest this was a contention point between us for a good while as I get up all night, etc. and he’s the tired one. I think he may have sleep apnea. We’ll get his results in two weeks.

Well me, I sleep pretty ok, but I haven’t slept through the night (by above definition) since late 2005 when I became pregnant with The Girl. Surprisingly we can adapt fairly well except on the really bad nights. My only big thing is the parents who use sleeping through the night as evidence of their parenting prowess.

Tonight, I just hope the kids go to sleep easier than last night. Last night and today have been brutal so far.

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