Yes, I have been MIA for a couple of weeks now, primarily due to the demands of motherhood .. oh and life in general. I truly desired and attempted a few times, to write a blog entry or two last week as ideas came into my head. However, I was excruciatingly exhausted, which left me partially brain dead. Thus, the lack of ability to write a word let alone an entire blog entry. Last week was positively the most difficult week I've had since motherhood began for me. Possibly the only difficult week so far. The hardest part for me was trying to get my sweet little baby to finally sleep through the night so that I can transition him into his crib soon. No, my husband and I are not the type of parents who can do this thing cold turkey and let him cry himself to sleep every night for 2 weeks.
My son just turned 4 months on February 3rd but has been teething for a solid month and a half. He already has 2 white specks poking their way through his bottom gum. Therefore, he is excessively drooling and endlessly cranky. Much to be expected, of course. Back in early December, before his teething began, he was sleeping well and only getting up once a night to nurse. However, when the teething began, then the fussiness followed and the nursing increased, which left me with an uphill battle in the sleeping department. Which leads me to last week. After the checkup with the pediatrician, I was assured that my hungry little guy could last through the night without starving, so we came up with a "baby step" plan to get him sleeping through the night and then transition Little Man to the crib. These baby steps are more for the benefit of my husband and I. We're tough, just not that tough. Basically, the end result was that I was the one up all night every night, to the point that I don't believe I ever achieved REM sleep. During the day, I was a walking zombie, with bags under my eyes, tired looking skin, nappy hair, not able to speak complete sentences - the whole bit. The exhuastion started a snowball effect of not having the energy to excersize, which then led to bad eating habits of taking in too much junk food. Hence, the weight gain. Mentally, that was the worst part for me because I have been on a steady decline every week since delivery. Granted I have already lost the pregnancy pounds and fit well into most of my jeans, but my goal is to get back to my "dating" body. The body I had when I actually had the ability to lure in men like my husband. I even prayed Friday evening that I would be able to get ample rest Friday night so I could muster the energy to go for a 2 mile walk.
Lo and behold, somehow the miracle happened. The baby suddenly switched gears from his nightly multiple feeding pattern to once a night between 4 -5 am. (I really tried cutting this one out as well but came to accept the fact that he is just ravenous by this time and far more stubborn than I am). I woke up Saturday morning with a renewed sense of energy and then thanked God for his help, because without it, I'd be a walking vegetable by now, or worse, a couch potato.
As for our next baby step, we realized that Little Man could use some extra calories in his diet, which may help to getting him to cut back on his nightly nursing. So far, not so good. He is not a lover of organic rice cereal or eating from a spoon. He much prefers the breast. His daddy can't blame him on that one. Compared to "Hell Week" though, these next baby steps will be a piece of cake.... and they say Navy Seals have it tough with sleep deprivation. Ha! Try motherhood.
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