Friday, September 3, 2010

Nocturnal Vampire Baby.. and A Beer Gut

I'm not going to be a hip, cool Twi-hard and liken my son to Renesmee, but I am going to throw out there that I may or may not have given birth to a nocturnal vampire baby. Okay, I make it sound worse than it truly is. For one, there is no blood sucking. And by "nocturnal," I am only referring to the hours between two and six in the morning.

Carter has fallen into a pattern of nodding off to sleep around 6:30pm. He proceeds to sleep dreamily until 12:30am when he wakes for a midnight snack. Now, I'm sure you're thinking, "Wow, AP! But that's six whole hours of glorious sleep!" And you're right. For him, anyways. When was the last time you tried going to bed at 6:30pm? Yeah, just like I thought. When you were 3. 


"Sleep is for sissies."

After gnoshing at the boobie buffet, C goes back down to sleep around 2 and will snooze away until roughly 4am. And when I say "roughly," let me tell you. Being startled awake at 4am by a five week old's hungry cry is pretty much like someone shaking you awake after one too many margaritas at last year's Jimmy Buffett concert. It is rough and it is painful.

And then it's awake time. Apparently, as per our pediatrician, sleep (or how much is required to function) is genetic. Therefore, it is not the same for everyone, however, it can be likened to how much sleep either you or your husband require on a typical nightly basis.

Well, in my much younger, much cooler days, it's true. I could easily subsist on 4 or 5 hours of sleep. It's called college. However, throw five or six years in there, along with a stressful full-time job and one's sleep requirement is bound to change. Throw an INFANT in there and my goodness, I could sleep until next Sunday if somebody let me.

Well, last night the gods of sleep parted the dreamy heavens and rained down some sleepy goodness on the M household. We managed to keep C up until 9:30pm. It was scrumdiddilyumptious. Why? Because he proceeded to sleep until 2:30am. And when it came time to put him back down at 3am? And he was a bit fussy and all, "No, you crazies. I want to stay up and watch infomercials," my wonderful, amazing, perfect and darling Hubs took the reigns and bounced him around the house while I slumbered.

And this morning? I feel like a happier, well-rested version of my former self. Except now? I'm rockin' the five week postpartum beer gut. Awesome.

16 comments :

  1. Sometimes, I feel like I wrote your posts. This is our LIFE. Things are getting much better lately, but seriously, I feel you on the whole "he wants to go to bed early but we cannot" deal. We no sooner crawl into bed and he's fussing to be fed. As I said, we *will* miss this :)

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  2. Oh things to look forward to...but one look at those big, beautiful eyes and I know its all worth it, right?

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  3. All the new blogger mommies should forma chat room to entertain each other in the middle of the night when are darling children are wide awake! I'm so excited for the weekend cause it means the hubs will help out with the night shift!! It's the little things these days.

    PS When can we expect the beer gut to vacate the premises?? Cause I for one am sick of it!

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  4. But that face is worth it!

    6:30pm to 12:30am is amazing...if you happened to go to bed while it was still light out! Maybe baby boy can adjust that to 10-4. Carter, be a good little one and stay up a little later, ok?

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  5. I would have to say after reading this I am thankful Connor loved his sleep as much as his mother. And father. He eats and goes right back to bed. Heck, sometimes his eyes never open during feeding time! We learned it the hard way earlier this week. I tried getting him to bed earlier so I could get to bed earlier. this resulted in three nights of waking up at 3 or 4 to eat, when he would usually go to bed at 8:30 and wake at 6:30. After a little cluster feeding last night and a later bed time, I am a well-rested woman ready for the weekend. Just wait for the day when he does drop a feeding. You will wake in a panic thinking you slept through a crying fit and feel like the worst mother, only to go check on him and he is sound asleep.

    Oh, and thanks for the flashback. Connor rocked that onsie as a newborn! Have a great weekend!

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  6. He is so.freaking.precious. This post totally cracked me up! And I'm pretty sure you're not rocking a beer gut, but even so...you're still fabulous! Happy weekend :)

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  7. He's sso stinkin cute!!! And our boys are on the same schedule... why wouldn't they be? They're twins from other mothers you see... :) Here's hoping we have some rest coming our way soon.

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  8. We are trying to adjust Sawyer's schedule too. Right now he goes to sleep from about 11:30-5 (on a good night) and then eats and then it takes me awhile to rock him back to sleep and he will sleep from about 6-8. I want to start getting him to sleep earlier!

    Your baby is so adorable though!

    And I have that beer gut too! I dropped most of the weight quickly b/c of breastfeeding but I still have 10 pounds and some pesky pudge!

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  9. When the lactation consultant called to check in with us a week after Vivienne was born, she suggested that we give her a bath between 8 and 9pm. She said that should prompt a "cluster feed" and that afterwards V should sleep for a nice long stretch. She was already getting about 6 hours but that didn't start until about 2am. So we added the new bathtime to our routine and it has worked wonders. She baths at 9, we keep her awake until about 11, then I let her eat until she passes out. She easily sleeps a good 7-8 hours for us. Maybe something to try.

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  10. Oh my little love muffin is the same way. She will sleep soundly till her first feeding {usually around midnight} and then it's PARTY time for Miss KP. She usually takes about 1-2 hours to fall back asleep too. Oh I guess I should have listened to all those people that told me sleep was OVER once baby came.

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  11. Just found your blog and love it! And your son is absolutely adorable! My son is 3 now but I went through the exact same thing as your describing. Up for long periods throughout the middle of the night or waking up every 1-2 hours all night long. We dealt with this for so long. He didn't start sleeping through the night until he was close to 12 months. Hopefully that isn't the case for you! But time has flown by so fast and those days seem like a decade ago. Nobody was kidding when they said to cherish every little moment, even when they aren't so lovely moments!

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  12. thanks for the comment, LOVE your little man. Ah, a 5 weeker. The memories. Hang in there, mama!

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  13. Hi! I have been following your blog for sometime now and instead of being a creepy stalker, I thought I would say hello and share my blog with you! I am currently 4 days overdue with my first baby girl and I am looking to connect with some mamas! I look forward to reading more on your lovely blog!

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  14. omg, i'm in love with him!!!

    i seriously require at least 7 hours of sleep or i will die and be useless, so my future hubs will definitely have to pull the all nighters :/

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