O Frabjous Day!
Two nights ago, Ian woke up around midnight. This is unusual for either of the boys; usually when I put them down for the night, they stay down until at least 3am. When they wake up, they spend several minutes screaming desperately for food until about three seconds before I arrive at cribside with prepared bottles in hand, at which point they fall back asleep. I knew he wasn’t hungry, or at least I was going to do everything in my power to avoid giving him the idea that it’s okay to eat at midnight, so I gave him his pacifier, helped him calm down, and sent him back to sleep.
20 minutes later, just as I dozed off, he woke up crying again. I grumbled my way out of bed, gave him his pacifier again, and watched him drift off again. Skittish about the kind of night ahead of me, I returned to bed unsure of what to do. On one hand, I knew they’d been fussy the last couple of days, and they might end up waking several times just as I doze off before the night is over. On the other hand, it’s now 12:30 and I was too tired to fight sleep. I quickly fell back to asleep, and this time everyone stayed asleep for another four hours.
Last night began much the same way, but with a different kid. Abbie woke up screaming soon after I climbed into bed around 11:30pm. This was unusual because she rarely wakes up until probably an hour before I awake, and she spends that time quietly banging around her room, finding things she’d like to put in her mouth after I clear her changing table in the morning for her to climb on. Even when she does wake up, it’s usually a panicked wail that quickly degenerates into whimpering as she falls back asleep before we can even decide to roll out of bed. This was steady panicked screaming, which was odd in that we didn’t hear the telltale “thud” that usually comes right before those screams indicating she just fell out of bed. Ellie stumbled out of bed this time to check on her, and I let her. She reported upon her return that Abbie had nothing obviously wrong with her, she just woke up. We figured she must have had a nightmare,* and went back to sleep, not knowing what kind of night we were in for.
I woke up four hours later. The boys were quiet, and Abbie never woke back up, or at least I slept through it if she did. I knew the boys would probably be up within an hour, and settled into an uneasy sleep.
The next time I looked at the clock, it was 6am, and everything was still quiet except for those blasted birds outside my window chirping like they’d never seen the sun rise. This was the latest the boys had ever slept, and there was no telling when they might wake. I spent the next two hours drifting in and out of a light sleep praying that every rustle I heard wasn’t somebody waking up.
At 8am, or maybe a little later seeing as how poorly I slept last night, I finally rolled out of bed for the day. The boys never did wake up. It took five-and-a-half months, but they finally slept through the night, all the way through the night. Hopefully they’ll do it again tonight because I’m tired. It’s amazing how poorly I sleep the first time they sleep through the night as I stare at the clock knowing they’ll start crying any second. I have a feeling Abbie will sleep through the night at least; that’s what happens when she gets Benadryl before bedtime.
* When she woke up this morning with snot running down her nose, I figured her awakening might have had something to do with a cold she just contracted.
20 minutes later, just as I dozed off, he woke up crying again. I grumbled my way out of bed, gave him his pacifier again, and watched him drift off again. Skittish about the kind of night ahead of me, I returned to bed unsure of what to do. On one hand, I knew they’d been fussy the last couple of days, and they might end up waking several times just as I doze off before the night is over. On the other hand, it’s now 12:30 and I was too tired to fight sleep. I quickly fell back to asleep, and this time everyone stayed asleep for another four hours.
Last night began much the same way, but with a different kid. Abbie woke up screaming soon after I climbed into bed around 11:30pm. This was unusual because she rarely wakes up until probably an hour before I awake, and she spends that time quietly banging around her room, finding things she’d like to put in her mouth after I clear her changing table in the morning for her to climb on. Even when she does wake up, it’s usually a panicked wail that quickly degenerates into whimpering as she falls back asleep before we can even decide to roll out of bed. This was steady panicked screaming, which was odd in that we didn’t hear the telltale “thud” that usually comes right before those screams indicating she just fell out of bed. Ellie stumbled out of bed this time to check on her, and I let her. She reported upon her return that Abbie had nothing obviously wrong with her, she just woke up. We figured she must have had a nightmare,* and went back to sleep, not knowing what kind of night we were in for.
I woke up four hours later. The boys were quiet, and Abbie never woke back up, or at least I slept through it if she did. I knew the boys would probably be up within an hour, and settled into an uneasy sleep.
The next time I looked at the clock, it was 6am, and everything was still quiet except for those blasted birds outside my window chirping like they’d never seen the sun rise. This was the latest the boys had ever slept, and there was no telling when they might wake. I spent the next two hours drifting in and out of a light sleep praying that every rustle I heard wasn’t somebody waking up.
At 8am, or maybe a little later seeing as how poorly I slept last night, I finally rolled out of bed for the day. The boys never did wake up. It took five-and-a-half months, but they finally slept through the night, all the way through the night. Hopefully they’ll do it again tonight because I’m tired. It’s amazing how poorly I sleep the first time they sleep through the night as I stare at the clock knowing they’ll start crying any second. I have a feeling Abbie will sleep through the night at least; that’s what happens when she gets Benadryl before bedtime.
* When she woke up this morning with snot running down her nose, I figured her awakening might have had something to do with a cold she just contracted.
posted by Matt at
11:19 PM
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