Let me run my disclaimer here: I honestly can't say I'm sleep deprived, or have suffered from much sleep deprivation during my 7-year career as a mother. My girls have been (mostly) awesome sleepers as infants, toddlers, preschoolers. Also, don't take that as bragging either. Because some nights are better than others...
Like last night, for instance.
Jake is ready to be rid of the baby monitor in our room. However, I am hesitant to let it go (even though I can't remember the last time I got up to comfort Jacey in the middle of the night) simply because her room is at the front of our house, and I fear that if she does need me during the night, I won't hear her. I'm not sure that she needed me last night, but oh, did I hear her. Between the babbling and fussing, she was making her presence known on the monitor.
Sandwich that between my cracked-out vivid dreams (I thought those were supposed to end with pregnancy, and NO I am NOT pregnant!), finding myself in a position with my arms above my head (and one arm falling asleep) and Kelsey yelling out because of a bad dream, I don't know if I caught any ZZZs between 3 and 5:15.
Kelsey needed some comforting (thankfully in her own bed), her blankets, her lovey and her sleep mask. I fumbled around for these items in the dark until she remarked, "Turn on the night light mommy." Even a night light was going to blind me, but I had to make sure I could find that darn lovey. Averey awakens to say, "It's another lovey mystery!" We seem to go on a mad witch hunt for lovey on a daily basis, which baffles me because it's her thumb-sucking companion. You think she wouldn't let it out of her sight!
The desired sleep articles were found, and I crawled back in bed. I'm not sure how much time elapsed, but probably not enough since I sat straight up when the girls' door cracked open. This time it was Averey. "I can't fall back asleep." Instead of guiding her back to bed and comforting her, I snapped, "Well, I can't fall back asleep either because you girls keep waking me up!" My curtness must have done the trick though, because I had to wake her up at 7:15.
I realize that as a mother (and father, as Jake has had his fair share of nights awake when the girls come to his side of the bed) that I won't sleep as well as I did in a former life. And as I'm sleepy again and haven't even started my work day yet, I try to maintain a sense of thankfulness that this is not a nightly occurrence. I sympathize for those moms out there who truly are sleep-deprived zombies.
When I do catch the girls sleeping, they do look absolutely angelic: thumbs hanging on Kelsey's and Jacey's lips for dear life, a lump of Averey underneath her blanket somewhere, and Jacey arched into a frog position (how is that even comfortable?). Through their contorted positions, tossing and turning, they still sleep better than me.
If we get a new mattress here soon, maybe I'll be sleeping just as well... just in time for them to have a nightmare and want to sleep in our bed.
