Sleep Pre and Post Children

I think I have finally figured out the difference between sleeping before you have children and after. I had my share of barely sleeping in high school, college and while I was pregnant with alex but for some reason not sleeping now when I have kids seems harder. I used to think that it was because I was younger then but really that was just a few years ago and I don't think it would make this big of a difference. On Saturday night I think I figured out the real reason it's so difficult: it's the lack of sleep combined with the uncertainty of when you actually are going to sleep again. In college you would eventually get a day off work when you didn't have something you procrastinated due the next day and you could turn your phone off and sleep uninterrupted for a couple of hours; these could also usually be planed so you could get yourself through with "I'll be able to sleep ______" (and it's not the ambiguous "next decade .... when I have teenagers? ..... maybe not ..... maybe after they move out?"). Now there's no telling when the next time I'll be able to sleep is. Alex could come home from work with the same amount of sleep as me and that would mean I would be way more functional than him (the Nield's know what I'm talking about) so he would have to sleep and that would push back any significant amount of guaranteed sleep for me back another three days and even that would be uncertain. The uncertainty is the killer. It makes it more understandable why someone without the gospel would have trouble living the commandments and why birth is easier when you think "after this baby is born the pain will stop and I can hold her". This may not have made since because, as you may have guessed, I'm running a little low on sleep. Here's an account of my Saturday night, the night that inspired these reflection.

Saturday night I had to be at the church for a couple of hours and because Alex was working I asked my friend to watch alex. I gave alex a later nap so he would be more agreeable and left him with the hope that it would work better this way than if I had taken him with me as I usually do. Rocio slept for the whole time I was at the church and I started thinking how thankful I was to have such wonderful friends so that I could take an evening off. When I got back to my friend's house, however, I regretted my decision. Much to my mortification I discovered that alex had pooped his pants. alex is at the point where we don't used diapers anymore so I let my friend know that he wasn't in a diaper and as I was going in to take him to and show him the bathroom she said that I should get going so I wouldn't be late; against my better judgment I left to her assurances that everything would be fine and I shouldn't worry. Apparently in new environments he doesn't ask to be taken to the toilet-now I know (note to potty training moms: even if it has been over a year since your child has pooped his or her pants you're still not in the clear and always bring a change of clothes). My friend is wonderful and just washed his clothes and gave him a bath like nothing was out of the ordinary but I'm still too embarrassed to think about it. When we got home it was around 9:45 and I let alex watch blue clues as I fed the baby and put her to sleep again. At about 10:15 I finally put alex in his bed and sat in his chair at his request until around 10:30 when Rocio woke up and I left him to fall asleep by himself. She was wide awake since she had just spent the last 4 hours sleeping so I let her play in the living room as I cleaned up and got the Sunday clothes set out. Around midnight Rocio started giving off signs that she was ready to go to sleep but when I laid her down she would start screaming, I didn't want her to wake alex so I started bouncing her on the Yoga ball. At about 12:15 she was asleep and I laid her down in my bed next to me and went to sleep. At 12:45, before I had fallen asleep, alex woke up crying. As I waked into his room I could hear people fighting at a party that they were having down stairs and it sounded like they were in the next room. I tried taking him in to sleep with me but he wasn't being quiet and I was afraid he would wake up the baby so I went in to sleep in his room with him. Around 2:00 they were still fighting to music playing loudly so I called the police, I couldn't take it anymore, they said that they had already received complaints and they were coming to check it out. At 2:45 -our police are so prompt-they finally got finished talking to (read: fighting with) the police and shut up. alex went to sleep around 3:00 and I went back to my bed. Around 3:15 I was pulled out of sleep by Chio crying to be fed. After she ate every time I would put her down she would yell and wake up again and after a couple of tries I let her cry for about 20 minuets (our usual crying limit) and when that didn't work I decided I would try to sleep in the recliner with her. From around 5:00 to 6:00 both kids were asleep but I couldn't fall asleep and around 6:00 alex woke up. I watched him put some puzzles together and then got his some breakfast as I went to feed the waking baby in my bed. She fell asleep nursing and I was able to slip away with her still asleep and 7:00 I convinced alex to come and lay down quietly with us and I would rub his back. At 7:45 Alex came home but I had locked him out so I had to get up and let him in. By this time I just gave up and got ready for church. The good thing is that usually sleepless night are associated with sick kids but they are much more bearable when everyone is well.