life with a new baby
Posts tagged sleep
Mommy Brain
Feb 25th
They call it Mommy Brain.
It happens once you have a baby. Something happens to your brain. I don’t know if the lack of sleep mixed with raging hormones causes the brain to… oh I don’t know, EAT ITSELF… or what, but something happens and you start to do things.
Weird things.
Nonsensical things.
BIZARRE things.
Like leaving the house with mascara on only one eye. (ONE EYE!) Or losing your keys and later discovering them in the freezer. Or putting the milk in the cabinet instead of the refrigerator.
Yes, I have done all of those.
Well, I totally have a case of Mommy Brain since Nathan was born. Have you ever heard the saying so-and-so would forget her head if it wasn’t attached?
Well, guys. I AM SO-AND-SO.
I am THAT person who would totally forget her head. Thank GOD they aren’t detachable, right?
I mentioned before that my OCD has malfunctioned. Yes, I used to be that person who always had everything all nice and neat and perfect. Everything was exactly where it should be. Things didn’t get misplaced all too often.
But now, Mommy Brain has taken over. Ever since Nathan was born, I’ve been so very forgetful and… I think you could even say SCATTERBRAINED.
Just the other day, my husband made a pot of coffee. Now, I love coffee even though I rarely drink it. Paul makes a his own blend at the store, and let me tell you, it is FABULOUS with some whipped cream and chocolate syrup. WATCH OUT, STARBUCKS.
So anyway, Paul made coffee the other day and it smelled so good that I could have eaten the AIR. I raced to the kitchen and poured myself a generous cup of coffee, complete with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. I retreated into the living room to enjoy my treat when Paul was all like, baby, what’d you do with the pot of coffee? And I was like, it’s right there in the COFFEE MAKER, duh (complete with a know-it-all lilt.) He was like, no it’s not- oh wait. There it is, on the stove eye. THE STOVE EYE. You put the coffee on the STOVE EYE.
I’m sure, my friends, I will have many more of these stories to come.
Sleep, You Have Been Missed
Feb 19th
Ever since Nathan was a little bitty guy, he’s fought nap time. When I would lay him down for a nap, he would either play in his crib or have a total meltdown, neither of which resulted in any sleep. And on the rare occasions when he would fall asleep, he’d only nap for 20-45 minutes.
Once a day.
Only getting one nap for such a short period of time wasn’t doing Nathan (or me) any good. Nathan would be so tired and grumpy the entire day. Which made me tired and grumpy. And it’s not fun taking care of a tired and grumpy infant when you’re tired and grumpy yourself.
So I started cosleeping with him during nap time, and it has worked like a charm.
Now, he always falls asleep. He sleeps 2-3 hours in such a deep, comfortable sleep that he doesn’t even move or roll over. Plus, I get to nap as well. Even though sometimes I don’t feel like sleeping so I just lay there and listen to him breathe. The only complaint I have about taking a nap with him is that I lose a big chunk of time in the middle of the day to get stuff done. So yeah, laundry’s a bit behind.
And I have an eternally stiff neck and a crick in my shoulder from laying in one single position the whole time we nap. Every day. See, Nathan will only sleep if we are facing each other. So if I roll over and face the other direction, he wakes up and whimpers until I roll back over and face him again. Then, it’s back to sleep. Which is really freaking cute and all, but sometimes it kinda sucks when you’re DYING to roll over but you can’t.
But who cares, right?
Because there are finally people getting some sleep in this house!
That’s a pretty big deal.
I’m happy. Nathan’s happy. In fact, Nathan is so happy during naps now that he even he snuggles into the crook of my arm and wiggles his toes lazily with contentment, which is a stark contrast to how Nathan used to react to naps… with meltdowns and huge, heartbreaking tears.
Now, I totally understand why so many moms cosleep with their infants.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Feb 14th
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!
This time last year, I was 39 weeks pregnant and ready to meet my little guy! Little did I know that he would actually arrive SIX DAYS after his estimated due date. (Exactly why it’s ESTIMATED, right?) An extra six days may seem like a walk in the park to some of you Mega Moms… but me? Me, I was in agony. That was six extra days of bloating, back pain, insomnia, waddling, swollen ankles, and achy bones. Even my TOENAILS were in pain.
Valentine’s Day ‘09
Seriously, I don’t see how some of you do it. You make pregnancy look so easy and… fun! But for me, during the first four months, I was so weak that it put even a bad case of the flu to shame. I didn’t have the energy to WIPE OFF THE COUNTERS.
That’s some serious fatigue.
But hey. It takes a lot of energy to GROW A LUNG, right?
And oh, the morning sickness. I couldn’t keep anything down. Nothing. I remember before I could even get out of bed in the mornings, Paul had to bring me a glass of apple juice and some saltines. And he was not allowed to jostle the bed. And yes, that included NO WIGGLING HIS TOES.
The morning sickness was so over-the-top vicious that just the SOUND of someone farting made me throw up. Seriously. Whenever I heard someone fart, even if they were in the other room, I would puke. And everything, I mean EVERY. THING. made me gag. But not just a regular old gag. No, I would gag like I was about to projectile-puke up a massive hairball. WHO DOES THAT?? Well, folks. Apparently I do when I am pregnant.
And get this. I would throw up and the very sight of it would make me throw up even more… so before you knew it, I was on this vicious cycle of throwing up, which made me throw up, which made me throw up… so yeah, I was in the bathroom constantly. It was becoming my second home.
Then there was the second trimester. It was easier than the first for me because the extreme fatigue and nausea finally subsided when I was about 18 weeks pregnant… but then the body aches started. And I had this uncontrollable urge to thoroughly clean and reorganize the entire house.
Only I had this intense back pain that only abated when I wore HEELS.
As in, HIGH HEELS.
So here I was, in my second trimester with a bulging belly and sweat pants (because you know how important comfort is to pregnant women) and high heels, cleaning the kitchen.
The third trimester?
IT FELT LIKE DEATH.
Oh, the pain. Pain, pain, pain. Every single step I took was agony. My feet were swollen. My toes cramped a lot. And my back? It felt like someone had jammed a hot poker into my lower back and left it there, jostling it every couple of minutes for some extra oomph. And constant peeing. The most sleepless night I ever had, I got up to pee nine times..
NINE TIMES. IN ONE NIGHT.
But you know what? Even though I had a painful pregnancy that was nothing like the giddyness that I had imagined, I wouldn’t give any of that up for anything, though. My little guy is so worth it! And I would go through all of that and worse just to have him here with me. And I know there are so, so many women out there who would give anything to be able to get pregnant. I am very fortunate… and all the “negatives” about pregnancy just give me something to joke about later.
A Key to Sids Found
Feb 12th
Scientists think they’ve finally found a tangible link to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)… and that link is Serotonin levels in the brain. (Click here to read the article.) Hopefully, this new lead will help doctors and scientists develop screening tests for newborns to assess who is at a higher risk of SIDS.
I worried incessantly about Nathan when he slept. I was constantly getting up and checking on him, making sure he was still breathing. I was so scared something would happen to the little guy. So we took all the precautions we could… no soft bedding or blankets, put him to sleep on his back, turned on a fan for air circulation, tried using a pacifier at night, and we kept the room between 65-70 degrees as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
But still. You never know.
Now that Nathan is approaching his one year birthday (can you believe it? A YEAR OLD!!) I feel much better now that his risk of dying from SIDS has drastically declined. But then there are always other things to worry about. Especially when I have to drive him somewhere. I’m a good driver, but it’s other people that worry me.
Especially those of you who text and drive, which I wrote about in this post. Speaking of which, have you heard about Oprah’s No Phone Zone campaign? You should check it out and sign the pledge… click here to do so.
I try to take each day as it comes and not let life’s “what if’s” burden me too much. We only live once. And I don’t want to spend my life worrying about what I cannot control.
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