January 3rd, 2010

Sleep

I never thought much about sleep. I’ve always been a pretty easy and sound sleeper with some bouts of insomnia in times of stress. During my pregnancy, I had a more diffecult time of it when I was unable to sleep in my bed during the eighth month and I began to have some problems staying asleep.  All of these are normal things for the late stages of pregnancy. I’ve been pretty lucky so far with Spencer, as far as sleep goes. He’s slept in a 5 hour block at night almost since birth. This may have contributed to some of my milk supply issues, but it was great as a new parent.

This week, however, because of either his cold, teething or some sort of 5 month growth spurt things have changed. I now have a better idea about sleepless nights and getting up every two hours to nurse. It is a rude shock to have it happen at 5 months.  I am tired all of the time and I look like I’ve been hit by a truck This combined with only being back at work for 3 weeks has really worked me over. Spencer fell asleep a little earlier than normal tonight and the 45 minutes between the time he fell asleep and when I should go to bed have been awesome.  They are over now, but it was great while it lasted. Hopefully, he will go back to his old sleeping patterns soon.

October 31st, 2009

Good Baby

I paid a visit to work to watch a presentation by my former team.  The visit was great- it was good to see everyone, the baby was admired and I gave my support to the team.  However, I did notice something annoying.  Just about every other person asked me one of two things: is he a good baby or does he sleep through the night.  I am not really sure how to answer either of these questions.

Is he a good baby? Of course he is a good baby.  Well, he is my only baby so I don’t really know any different, but what are they expecting me to say? No, actually he is evil and I regret everything that led to this point.  This may just be a work platitude like when you ask how someone is and she always just answers fine.  I have had cashiers and relatives ask me this question too, but not as often as the next.

Does he sleep through the night? There are several answers to this: sometimes, he sleeps enough and he sleeps in some good blocks.  What I never really answer is that as a breastfeed baby it is unusual for him to sleep through the night.  I’ve noticed that the nurses at work actually ask me if I am getting enough sleep.  This is much better; there is no stigma or expectation attached.  People have this expectation that “sleeping through the night” is an imperative.  It isn’t.  I am more than happy to get up and nurse my baby all night.