Sleep

For a (horrible) while in college, I worked on paint crew from 6am-7:30am before my first class.  I was trying to squeeze in extra hours, I guess so I could have more fun money.  This sounds like supreme foolishness to me now. 

If I was lucky, I’d get to bed around midnight and “only” get 6 hours of sleep.  It really wasn’t enough, as my falling asleep in my first class attested to.  But I could always take a nap whenever I felt like it. 

Now, getting 6 hours of straight sleep sounds like an amazing indulgent luxurious blissful wonderful beyond-all-expectations gift. 

Isaac hasn’t been sleeping well lately.  For about the last 3 years and 4 ½ months.

Well, not really.  He actually slept fine for the 1^st 2 years of his life, but then things went downhill. 

We’re working on it.  Trying things.  Giving up and doing what’s easiest, which still doesn’t mean good sleep.  Then trying things again. 

Part of me says this is a small, insignificant challenge in the broader scheme of life.  Part of me says that this is a travesty and that sleep-deprivation is torturous. 

Sleep is one of those things, like health, that you don’t even think about when you have it.  But when it’s gone, it becomes the number one, can’t be ignored, problem of supreme importance.  Our bodies are strong until they are frail, and then we realize how vulnerable we are. 

When I went away last weekend, I slept for 7 hours straight that night.  I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in and checked my phone.  Yup, 7 hours.  I had that crusty stuff on my eyes because I didn’t open my eyes for 7 hours.  I forgot about that crusty stuff.  You don’t get that crusty stuff when your eyes are open off and on all night long. 

I’m just complaining.  I have no answers.  I am not learning any great lessons from this.  I don't overflow with grace and peace when I am woken up in the middle of the night, grateful for the chance to interact with my cherubs.  I try as hard as I can to keep my @#!*% together and be as kind as I can, while my body screams at me to lay down and go to sleep.

I empathize with all parents of small children out there who aren’t sleeping well, with the insomniacs, with those working 3^rd shift, with anyone sleep-deprived anywhere.  May we all sleep again someday.  

The Dryer Sheet

About a week ago, we had a strange, partially sleepless night with Eden.

A typical night looks something like this: Eden goes to sleep in her crib around 8, then wakes around midnight to be fed again. She joins us in bed for the night at that point. (We did not set out to be cosleepers. After two and a half months of the up and down all night routine, patting, shushing, falling asleep while nursing sitting upright, we realized that we had a girl who did not fall asleep or stay asleep easily. We brought her to bed out of desperation and have all gotten more sleep since.)

So, on this particular night, when Eden woke at midnight, she would not settle down and go back to sleep while nursing. She just seemed restless. She squirmed, rolled over, sat up, kicked her legs, said "at" with great enthusiasm, crawled. We tried nursing, patting, helping her find a comfortable position in bed, but nothing worked. So we moved to her room.

We tried rocking, laying her in her crib, changing her diaper, patting her, shushing her, nursing in the rocking chair, but nothing worked. We thought maybe teething was making her just uncomfortable enough to keep her awake, so we gave her Tylenol, which we rarely do. Didn't work. Back to our bed.

After two and a half hours of our best efforts, Eden sat up beside me, leaning back against my legs. She was so tired she was bobbing her head and listing around, almost falling over in her sleep-deprived stupor. She leaned farther and farther back, kicked her legs, but just couldn't fall asleep. Finally, nestled in the crook of my arm with her head on my pillow, she fell asleep. At 3am. After three hours of being awake.

I hate mysteries like this. If Eden is waking at night, or upset during the day, or cranky or whiny, I like to know why. I like to know why so I can fix it, or at least understand it.

Eden woke at seven, and we went to her changing table for her usual morning diaper change. And then I found it - The Cause of The Sleepless Night: in the toe of her footed pjs was a dryer sheet, balled up, but still big enough to make an incredibly sensitive little girl like Eden annoyed enough to stay awake for three hours. A dryer sheet. Poor girl. She was trying to kick it out, crawl away from it, but it stayed with her.

This week as I folded her laundry, you better believe I checked for dryer sheets.