Please Stand By
This ain't no princess... there be a whole cup o' peas under that bottom.
(Dictators don't need mattresses.)
Ssshhhhh...
Well, that and Mommy's fucking insomnia.
There's nothing more soul-straining than being wide awake, as night stretches open to dawn, while your baby snoozes deeply. Wide awake, and knowing, in your tired, tired bones, that at the precise moment that your eyelids get droopy, hers will snap open and Happy! Busy! Daytime! will commence.
Real blogging will resume after I have caught up on some rest by knocking myself unconscious by smacking my head against the wall.
posted by Her Bad Mother @ Tuesday, August 08, 2006
46 Comments:
Fellow insomniac here. I hope you get a good four hour stretch.
This probably won't happen to you (cause it hasn't happened to anyone I've ever spoken to) but I felt WAY more tired when Annabel started sleeping through the night than I did when she was up ever two hours. I know, it was probably a medical something, but it freaked me out.
God, I had the SAME thing happen. I realized that after thirteen months of being up every two hours I had trained my body to keep doing that schedule even when I didn't have to...
It takes a little effort, but I found something that has worked EVERY single time: I review my day (without judgement or opinion) in reverse order. I put Annabelle down to sleep, then I nursed her, then I got out of the shower, then we ate dinner, then I cooked dinner, then I spent some time online, then we went grocery shopping, etc... I usually do it in more detail. But I have never once made it all the way to waking up the morning prior!!
I have a nice, long technical document that needs to be reviewed. I could loan it to you - puts me to sleep in two minutes flat, guaranteed. The tough thing is when it happens at work. ;0
Insomnia SUCKS. I've always had insomnia, but I think that having children completely ruined my ability to sleep like a normal person. My youngest child had reflux and did not sleep at all until he was diagnosed and got meds.
Now that my children are older, and I don't need to worry about them during the might much, I turn to pharmaceuticals. Ambien rocks my world. You could try Bach's Rescue Rememdy. It's a natural herbal supplement that helps you relaxe, but doesn't zonk you out. If you Google it, you'll find plenty of information. I used it when nursing if that's a concern for you.
I laid awake all night last night too. Not one Z the whole night. I thought I took an Ambien, but I still didn't feel sleepy. Then I couldn't remember if I had actually taken it, or if I had just thought about taking it. Of course, I didn't want to take any more and overdose. So I watched the sun come up. SIGH.
Sorry to write a book. In short, I can relate.
I have found it's the same shit as breasfeeding....Your body catches up with the baby..and then they have moved on to a new schedule.
We have given birth to our own demise HBM.
omg i LOVE that pic. LOVE IT. WANT IT! but only while it's sleeping. lol
She's getting hair! Pretty blonde hair!
(focusing on the hair to keep my body from resuming its insomniac ways in sympathy)
I had a hard time sleeping when Ada first started sleeping through the night. I hope your own sleeping through the night comes soon, so you too can be happy! busy! active! with wonderbaby.
Oh...I moan for your tired bones! I am also an insomniac and have whittled away many a night putting pictures in albums, cleaning toilets, watching old movies, blogging, reading blogs, etc... Only to have my body surrender to sleep 10 minutes before the first child comes bounding into my room!
Eeeekkkkk! I'm sending sleep vibes your way! For you AND the adorable little dictator!
When I read about babies sleeping through the night, I really feel like a jerk for not appreciating how easy Leah was. Was. LOL. She's really got some PERSONALITY now, lol. Payback is a beyotch I guess. LOL.
Unisom all the way, baby. (not sure if it's called that in Canada)I've also been suffering insomnia, and I'm planning on getting some unisom tonight.
Bonus - if you decide for #2, Unisom is safe for all three trimesters.
I went through some temporary insomnia both times once my babies finally started sleeping through the night. I usually didn't have trouble falling asleep, but I woke up frequently throughout the night. I had really programmed myself to wake up at 5 am each morning, no matter what. It was temporary, though. For awhile I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to sleep a solid 7-hour block, but my body's picked up the trick again. Hope yours does too!
Sweet dreams, mama.
(I hate that...lying awake listening to Oliver snore over the monitor knowing that AS SOON AS I fall asleep, he'll wake up and poo.)
but she's sooooooooooooooooo pretty!!!
I take trazadone on the nights when I can't sleep. It's prescription but it sure does the trick.
Ummmm...I have a wee problem with insomnia as well...and sometimes Mommy needs a Mommys little helper to break the cycle. White noise is always good...as is a shitload of excercise.....alcohol messes it up even more, but that does not stop me.
Bon Chance! Anne
What pretty hair she has!
Ah, bleary-eyed here as well. And bleary-brained, if truth be known. But it has NOTHING to do with ANYONE in this house sleeping all night. Gah.
Maybe, and I say maybe, becuase i wouldn't want to jink it...but just maybe Wonder Baby has decided that sleeping is a good thing. I hope for your sake it is so and then you can remind yourself how to sleep too.
Insomnia is horrible, usually because once you fall asleep it's time to wake up. My problem is that I need more sleep than what I get. I think that's every mom's problem.
God, that is an awful feeling. AWFUL. Hope your sleepy times and WonderBaby's sleepy times converge soon.
Good luck sorting it all out. Insomnia is exceedingly frustrating, which of course makes it doubly hard to go back to sleep. I wish you well.
Remember when they said to sleep with your baby? That anytime baby sleeps, you should sleep? I did that.
She's 20 now - I'm so glad I did that. Because I'm a damn fine napper.
I know, it makes me feel INSANE! It comes and it goes. I use OTC sleep aids when I need to, sometimes just some valerian root pills, but I take two or three of them. My insomnia seems to be a form of anxiety that gets worse when "my issues" flair-up. Better that than depression, I guess.
Oh, insomnia sucks. I get it from time to time.
Can hubby take over for a night and you take a sleeping pill?
And just when you take a break from blogging, you have to spend an hour reading all the comments on your post about not having time to blog.
heh.
Good luck with the crib napping. Changed my world.
That picture is gorgeous - mini-dictator or not .... adorable, yes!
Once again congrats on the non-carseat napping, I strive for the same (well, non-lap napping but you know what I mean).
Take your time, smack your head hard and get that sleep.
If that doesn't work, I can read you some of my tenth grade diary where I agonized over some guy named Roger for three months and let me tell you it is the most boring crap I've ever read, so it will put you to sleep for sure baby.
Ugh, that is the worst, lying there waiting for a cry and being certain that it's not worth closing your eyelids because, as you say, the minute you do, the cry will come and it will feel so much more painful for the thwared hope that attends it... But you know, after a couple of weeks of this? You will start to trust the sleep. And it is sooooo good! (At least, until she gets sick or decides to change things up again, that is...)
And is that more hair I see? Go, WonderBaby! Like you need to be more beautiful...
Oh, I hear you! ...about the sleep and the darn peas in the seat. I can't believe Wonderbaby fell asleep in the high chair like that! The monkey would never...any excuse to be awake...!
Here is my stupid getting to sleep trick: I am memorizing all the AKC dog breeds in alphabetical order. When I want to fall asleep, I recite them. I rarely get past the letter D. Weird but effective.
Affenpinscher, afghan hound, airedale terrier, akita, alaskan malamute, american eskimo, american foxhound, american staffordshire, american water spaniel, anatolian shepherd dog...god I am a freak.
clicked back here...is she sleepung in that chair? My big girl did that at 6 months while we were feeding her rice cereal...cute as can be I swear......
Oh man, having insomnia while baby sleeps through the night is like a cruel, cruel joke. Why does God mess with us like that? It's so mean.
I should note that WonderBaby never does this sort of thing. NEVER. Will usually only go to sleep under coercive circumstances. This day, however, she boycotted napping entirely and just couldn't hold out through dinner to bedtime. She was - after pics were snapped - plucked out of chair and put to bed. Then she woke up 30 minutes later, refreshed, and stayed up 3 hours past her bedtime.
SO it goes.
And, yes! More hair! Not much, but some! Some is good!
Tylenol pm
oh god, i do it too. it's because i'm an idiot. has to be. who, but an idiot, would lay in bed agonizing over not sleeping while their majorly high-maintenance-sleeper baby finally FINALLY is?
Beautiful Wonderbaby at rest! I love the blonde hair.
I have so much going on in my mind lately that I have insomnia too..
That's such a cute pic of wonderbaby...
Visiting via CHBM...
I've got insomnia too. Last year, I finally asked my doctor for some help. Ambien is my savior!
That just sucks in so many ways. I too, am part of the zombie brigade.
Sometimes I try deep breathing, but many times the only thing that helps is to give up trying to sleep and do something else, even if it's staring at same paragraph in the New Yorker for half an hour because I'm too brain dead to go any further.
Good luck. I hope you get some z's soon.
Aw, what a cutie. I have enough insomnia troubles without introducing an infant into the equation. Thank God I had youth on my side when I had the infants in my life. New parenthood would probably kill me at this stage.
I remember those days. I was so tired one night I fell asleep on the floor in front of my son's crib. You might get some help from the (literally) best parenting tip my wife and I ever received. You can read about it in The Five-Minute Drill. It might save you hours of sleep some night - it certainly did for us.
I have totally had insomnia for the past 2 weeks...s l o w l y going crazy
I'm sure everyone who commented previous to me will have said the same, but I don't care. I thumb my nose at repetition. I won't be its bitch. okay, well, maybe that means I *will* be.
argh.
anyway. SAYING - that you will get that clock reset soon. it only takes a few days, give or take a month. or two.
but it will happen.
or so I've heard.
*huggggs for all that daytime surviving you're trying to do*
I love that you don't have the highchair cover on. Me either... muaaahhhhh!
Oh how I love that photo!!!!!!
Sleep soon. Sleep well.
I'm with you on the insomnia. No matter how tired I am, it sucks!
The only thing I've found that actually helps (aside from some good sleeping pills!) Is a ton of exercise. But really, who wants to do a ton of exercise every day?
I don't think I've slept a good nights sleep in twenty years! Which could very well account for my constant moodiness...you think?
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