Sweet Slumber

It's no secret that I can't sleep anymore.  In retrospect, aside from a few uncomfortable nights here and there due normal wear and tear, the first six months were quite blissful in the sleep department.  After Baby O adjusted to the time difference, solid foods and by us employing the cry it out method (our agreed bottom line was 20 minutes max of crying), we were sleeping through the night within three weeks.

It started in early December when Baby O's molars started coming in.  For an entire week, I couldn't figure out why this child who had always been such a great little sleeper was waking up.  Then it hit me when I saw those pearly whites peeking through his gum line-poor little guy-who wouldn't be in pain with four big old molars coming in?  The Tylenol I had didn't seem to cut it, and as the graph indicates (p < 0.01), there was a positive relationship between lack of sleep and general discontent in the Family O household.

We never really explored what would happen after the 20 minute limit.  I had always fanatically timed the crying on my bedside alarm clock.  There were a few times where we would anxiously reach towards his door knob at 19 minutes, only to hear immediate silence and snoring.  As soon as the molars made their appearance, the 20 minute boundary was promptly broken to smithereens.  There were nights when Baby O would not go back to sleep.  Rocking and singing would not suffice.  My ears were ringing even in the shower. Daddy O admitted to spending significant time on the Internet searching for a better infant painkiller.  Some days my patience diminished and the frustration with my boys and husband were as large as the circles underneath my eyes.  I have never been one to encourage prolonged use of medication, but administering Ibuprofen did last longer and got us to at least 4 to 5 A.M.  When you experience a week of being up from midnight on, four in the morning seems like a blessing. Being sick only prolonged the sleepless nights for us and it left me wondering if I would ever get some shuteye.

This week was mixed bag of sleeping, but I think we are recovering from our colds, no new teeth in sight and getting back on track.  I liked the advice Daddy O's coworker gave him when asked about teething, sickness and sleepless nights.  His eyes glazed over as he said you just get through it and hope you aren't too mean to each other. 

That just about sums it up for me. Yawn. Here's to hoping you are sleeping through the night...