Diary of a Sleepless Mother

Nights have been a little crazy around here, and I have concluded that I will forever suffer from sleep issues due to my present sleep patterns. Here is an outline of an average night a the Nelson home since our new baby arrived...

10:00pm- Lyric, our newborn is freshly fed, changed and fast asleep. I lay her in her bassinet, and proceed with my nightly bedtime routine (brush teeth, remove contacts, etc). As I am pulling down my comforter to get into bed I hear "squirt!!" (Which means I have exactly 15 seconds to change Lyric's diaper before, we have leakage issues.)

10:20pm- I change Lyric's diaper and lay her back down. She is suddenly starving, of course.

10:45pm- After feeding Lyric for the second time, I lay her back down again and attempt to climb into bed for the second time.

11:30pm-12:30am- We lay in bed and listen to Tatum's belligerent sleep talking. Her rantings go on and on... "I don't like crusts on my sandwich!!" and "Davis is being mean on purpose, he is breaking all the sidewalk chalk!!" We have learned not to interfere, as there is no calming or waking her and we might end up with a sidekick to the jaw.

1:00am- I wake up and find my two-year-old, Davis, by my side, saying that he is scared. I bring him back to bed, give him a hug, give him his blanket, turn the hall light on, and go back to bed.

1:15am- Listen, awake in bed as my baby is making animal like grunts and squeaks in her sleep, knowing that she will soon be up and hungry.

1:45am- After drifting asleep, I awaken to Lyric's full on cry, and proceed to pick her up, feed her, change her, and feed her some more.

2:30am- I bring Lyric to bed to snuggle her into a deep sleep. Probably, not the best habit, but I feel like this is the only way to insure that she won't wake up in 20 minutes crying. This is actually one of my favorite times, to just hold her and smell her sweet smell and listen to her little baby coo's knowing that all too soon she won't be so tiny and innocent.

2:45am- Put Lyric back in her bassinet.

2:50am- My mind starts wondering and I start contemplating whether or not I locked the side entry door in the garage. Finally, I resolve to get up and check. I trip on a baby bouncer on the way there and a basket of laundry on the way back.

3:15am- Slightly injured, I am back in bed and eventually sleeping.

4:00am- We awaken to Davis crying in bed. My husband goes to take care of him.

4:30am- I hear frantic footsteps run though my bedroom, the bathroom light goes on and then the toilet flushes. I am not sure why Tatum insists on using our bathroom, considering hers is about four times closer. But, I am not required to get out of bed, so no big deal.

5:45am- Davis runs in our room, bright-eyed and cheery. He exclaims, "breakfast, breakfast, waffles and syr-e-up, please!" I am able to quiet him and convince him to climb in bed with us and try to go back to sleep.

5:55am- Davis is laying almost nose to nose with me. He points to my eyes and says, "Mommy, your eyes beautiful." He touches my lips and says, "Mommy, your lips beautiful." He then points to my nose and starts, "Mommy your nose... (pauses, then exclaims,) "why you have so many polka-dots?!" (referring to my freckles).

6:00am- My husband gets up and gets ready for work. Lyric is hungry again, so I feed her, then we both get back into bed with Davis.

6:45am Tatum joins us in bed as well, and I this point I finally give up on getting anymore sleep. We get up.

Now, when you see me walking around with bags under my eyes the size of Massachusetts, you will know the colorful history behind them. All I have left to say is good night and good luck.