Sleep Deprivation

When I was pregnant with Belle, people warned me about the sleep deprivation I'd experience as a first time mom. That was nothing compared to the sleep deprivation I am experiencing now as a mother of two.

In fact, I did OK in the sleep department with Belle. When she was first born, everyone advised me to sleep when the baby slept. I took that to heart and napped once a day with Belle. And when I say "with Belle," I mean we snuggled and napped on Craig and my bed. This was only for her morning nap, and only while I was on maternity leave, but it was the highlight of my day. I caught up on the sleep I'd lost waking with Belle the previous night and it was special cuddle time with baby Belle.

Those days are over. Now that there is a house to maintain and a toddler to care for, I rarely nap when Emily sleeps. There is simply too much to do. Even more damaging to my functionality is that I often wake at night for both little girls. Last night, for example, Belle called for me in between Emily's nighttime feelings. Belle and her bed we wet so she needed a diaper and sheet change at 3:30am. Then she struggled to fall back to sleep because she was coughing and had a runny nose. Between Belle and Emily, I was awake at some point during every hour of the night except the 1am hour.

Craig is helpful, and it was he who eventually got Belle to fall back to sleep last night at 5am, but I always hear the girls first and am quicker to jump and go to them. It must be an aspect of my maternal instinct. When we had just Belle, I always woke with her and allowed Craig to sleep. Now Craig is up much more helping with Belle when necessary while I care for Emily. He, too, must be far more sleep deprived now than in our TriCep days.

Anyway, I am way more sleep deprived as a homeowner and mother of an infant and a toddler. I am just exceedingly grateful to be on maternity-leave as I struggle to function on a significantly disjointed minuscule amount of sleep.