Tuesday, February 3, 2009

MOTHERHOOD IS NOT FOR SISSIES!!!!!

No one told me having a sick kiddo would be so hard. Thank goodness we are in the home stretch and all I am dealing with now is a little bit of snot. Last week (after all of the ice) Daley came down with a cold. On Tuesday night she woke up crying for no reason. Soooo unlike her.....she takes after her mommy in the sleeping department (i.e. she does it well) So needless to say I was worried, perplexed even. Check for fever - negative, Check for poopy/leaky diaper - negative. Hmm wonder what the problem is???Well I laid her back down and all hell broke loose. She was having none of that. So I just took her into the spare bedroom and we snuggled until she fell back asleep. No harm no foul right?!?! WRONG ( I will get to that in a minute) well the next morning she was really stopped up. I felt so bad for being aggravated with her the night before. I had no idea she didnt feel well. So mommy called in to work and stayed home with her to give her some TLC. During the day she was acting pretty normal. Well that night we did our nighttime routine like always laid her in bed, turned on the humidifier (with Vicks) and off to nite nite land she went. UNTIL 10:30 DING DING DING Round 2. She was pissed. She was crying, kicking her feet, arching her back.....the whole nine yards. Still no fever. Hmm well that is weird. Is she teething??? Who knows??? I cant feel anything. So I rock her and love her till she falls back asleep (or so I think). As soon as I laid that snoring little angel back in bed the screaming began all over again. What the heck am I gonna do???? So I went to get a little Daddy advice. He was like "Well I cant sleep with all that screaming just bring her to bed with us." I explained to him that even though I felt sorry for her the last thing I wanted to do was create a monster (the monster being a child forever in our bed). Sorry as not to offend those of you who co-sleep but it is not for me. Anyhoodle....I gave in and took daddys advice (by this time it is 11:45 and I am desperate). So we were ALL snug (and by snug I mean really snug considering we have a Queen size bed) in bed and she was asleep in no time. So here was Daley right in the middle of us where she probably felt very safe and warm and she and daddy were snoring like little pigs. Mom on the other hand. NOT SO MUCH!!!! I was worried that at any moment Jabin was going to roll over and squash the baby. I know I may sound a bit obsessive but if you have ever slept with my husband you would understand. So after about an hour of this worrying and no sleep I told Jabin to please move to the other room. He did and I did get a little sleep. On to Thursday.....Jabin had the morning off so I went to work. Till noon...I came home and spent the rest of the day with Daley. Once again Normal Daytime Child....Crazy Nightime Child. DING DING DING Round 3.....What the HELL!?!?! I am at my witts end not knowing what to do. I am still worried she is gonna get used to sleeping with me and have visions of a kindergartner in my bed. Not ideal in my book....but dang even mommies need sleep, well at least this mommy does. I tried everything. She was only happy when I put her in bed with me. So I gave in once again. 4am she wakes up in a fit of rage. No fever....no snot even. She isnt pulling on her ears......just mad! Ok maybe she is teething. Give her something to chew on.......Nope dont want that. Change her diaper......Oh NOOOOO doesnt want that either. Hold her and cuddle her........NOPE once again she is in full meltdown mode. All the while my lovely/half enibriated husband is sound asleep in the spare bedroom. If I smack him upside the head (like I want to) I will have to deal with a crying/whining husband AND baby. So I refocus on her. What to do???? Seriously I was almost on the verge of tears and I am having flashbacks to her days as a newborn when she (and I) were plagued with colic and she was inconsolable. I thought to myself...."Get yourself together Kim. You will survive this" So I layed her down in bed next to me and let her cry. I wiped her tears and rubbed her tummy and she eventually calmed herself down and went back to sleep. Friday morning I had the morning off to stay home with her and my mom was coming at 1pm. Bless that woman!!!!!! I needed to go to work so I could have a break! The morning went great & other than some coughing she was normal. As I sat at work I thought to myself - "Self you have to make that baby sleep in her own bed! I think she is getting used to the fact that she can cry and you put her in bed with you" - I was on a mission!!!! She may not feel 100% but since this started she hasnt run any fever and other than a little snot and a dry cough she has been ok. Tonight I was bound and determinded to make her sleep all night in her bed. Even if that meant I got NO sleep. Friday night DING DING DING Round 4....she cried every two hours on the dot. Seriously you could set a clock to it. But I was strong....it was hard but I did it. Each time she started crying I would give her a drink of water, stroke her hair and tell her that I loved her. BUT I never picked her up out of her bed. I never knew it could be so hard to stand there and watch your baby cry for you.....but not pick her up. You see I never went through that when we moved her to her bed at 6weeks. She made the transformation like a dream. I knew it was best for the both of us if I stood my ground. Saturday night she only woke up twice. Once cause she was coughing. I gave her a drink and she went right back to sleep. The second time I gave her the paci and she was right back to sleep. Hey this is getting better. Sunday night AAAAHHHHH! Back to normal. Thank you lord for giving me the strength to survive this week! It is at times like these when I wish they could just open their mouths and tell us what is wrong. But they cant. Whoever said "Parenting is trial and error" was right.

1 comment:

Crystal and Jeremy Johnson said...

Girl...I have had those weeks! I feel for you!!!! It is nice to hear a mom tell stories of the drama that goes on at night time! Sometimes, I feel like all moms are saying to me is "nothing ever goes wrong". hahahaha!