I think Michael Jackson may have been on to something. I have had one decent night sleep since I was about 5 months pregnant with Sara, and even that night wasn't that decent. We went away overnight for our 5th wedding anniversary and though it was great to be away from the kids the silence was a bit unnerving and strangely it was difficult to fall asleep.
So other than that one kind of good night sleep I have averaged about 2.5 hours of sleep a night for 5 years now. I am not a doctor but I would imagine that is not really compatible with life.
As previously discussed I was as big as a VW bug when pregnant...not good sleeping mechanics. Then Sara came....EXTREMELY colicky baby so no sleep was had the first 3 months of her life. At twelve weeks I went back to work full time so that added another layer of stress. Got pregnant about 9 months later so in addition to already not getting a ton of sleep add in the peeing every 5 minutes....
Sara ever the challenging child began having night terrors at around 15 months old. Have you ever seen one of these in person? I thought she was having a seizure the first time I saw it. These lasted until she was just over 3...so up until a year and a half ago. We added Anna into the mix and the whole newborn up every few hours thing so at that point I would say on a good night we were getting about 17 minutes of sleep a night.
Poor Chuck is addicted to coffee now, the man never had it until we had kids...now he has a 4 cup a day habit. I drink it occasionally but when I need it..I need it. A while back I went to make a cup and the Keurig was not working!!! This had happened before and I was able to fix it. Not this time! I dialed customer service so fast...the guy was great, I was on the phone with him for 45 minutes while he talked me through the problem. Got it working...disaster averted. The next day though it died for good. Keurig was very nice and sent us a replacement coffee maker a few days later. That is one of the decades greatest inventions...
So starting a few months ago the kids were FINALLY sleeping through the night 99% of the time. YAY!!! They always go to bed right away without fighting and generally are asleep by 8:15 every night....it is just staying asleep that is the issue, night terrors, nightmares, walking in their sleep...etc. But we FINALLY were on the right track. Chuck and I couldn't take full advantage just yet...still a bit of PTSD (Post Traumatic Sleep Disorder) left over from the years of battle. But we were up to about 5 hours of sleep a night, not a solid block of 5 hours, but in short segments combined together we were getting 5 hours a sleep. It was heading in the right direction.
In an effort to continue this nice trend we were experiencing we (me) decided to add a new cat to the family. Gracie, our old cat was really lonely at night since her best buddy died a few months earlier. She would bug me all night long ...we can't close our door at night because the girls are now in bunk beds and we need to hear them. So we get the new cat and it has been a disaster from day one. They hate each other and they literally try to kill each other every chance they get. My hands are kind of tied because the cat is great with the girls, they love her and at the shelter we went on and on how Lucy really needed a family, that since she was older it would be hard for her to find a home and how the kitten would find a home right a way. Plus, in an effort to teach the girls a valuable life lesson about responsibility, commitment and not turning your back on someone or something when the going gets tough we are stuck with this cat. But the quality of MY life is suffering. The cat sleeps with Sara on the top bunk every night and in an effort to survive the night Gracie sleeps on my head every night. So the kids are learning all these great life lessons and I am significantly shortening my life expectancy from lack of sleep.
Like the old saying goes, All good things must come to an end. The sleeping through the night was just a passing phase. It lasted one glorious month. I will forever look back on those carefree days fondly. Sara's night terrors have started back up and for good measure Anna decided to join in the fun and start with them too. Sara starts up around 12:30 every night and Anna usually chimes in around 4 a.m. So we have from 8:15-12:30 to ourselves to talk, watch T.V. and catch up with each other but their is this underlying stress to try and hurry up and fall asleep so we can get a few hours in before the shit hits the fan. The pressure is unreal. It is like you don't want to start a movie or a deep conversation because you are always looking at the clock out of the corner of your eye. It is no way to live.
So to summarize my rant....I now empathize with Michael Jackson. I did see him as just a run of the mill drug addict but now I see him as just another parent of three kids desperately seeking sleep. If someone offered me anesthesia assisted sleep at 3 am this morning I would have gladly accepted their offer and probably paid them good money for it. So I am starting a campaign to free Conrad Murray so he can help all the sleep deprived parents of the world.
FREE DR. MURRAY!!!
FREE DR. MURRAY!!!
FREE DR. MURRAY!!!
*** To my pregnant friends....I am sure this won't happen to you....your babies will sleep through the night at 5 weeks, never sleep in your beds with you or wake you up at 4 am ready to start the day...you will be fine***
Add to that your 3 year old wetting the bed and then things get really fun!
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