Webbisodes: Sleepless in Mobile

No, the title of this post isn't referring to a new Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romantic comedy, but rather it aptly describes our current predicament---sleep deprivation! Now, I like to think of myself as a relatively intelligent person with good common sense, so it should've come as no surprise to me (especially after all the advice to rest up from family and friends) that the first few months of Gillian's life would be rough and full of sleepless nights. However, no amount of advice adequately prepared me for what I'm currently experiencing. Let me begin by saying that Gillian Grace is a sweetheart and a great baby, she just doesn't sleep all that well...at night! During the day the child can saw logs like a lumberjack, but when it comes to consecutive zzzzs at night, it's a whole other story.

Throughout the day, Gillian will catch little cat naps lasting anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes; and on most days she'll take one long nap lasting between one and three hours. As we speak the lil' misses is sacked out in her swing and has been for the past two hours. Usually preferring a late afternoon nap over a mid-morning snooze, I was surprised to find that she fell asleep while I fixed my morning toast around ten thirty this morning. It wasn't that long ago that I would wake Gillian up to eat or to play for fear that she would sleep too long during the day causing her to be wide awake at night. I ceased that madness after coming to the realization that despite whether spending her days awake or resting, she sleeps about the same amount at night. Mom also reminded me that they had the saying, never wake a sleeping baby---let sleeping babies lie for a reason. Depending on what type of nap Gillian decides to take during the day, I am able to get things accomplished. During her short naps I can do a little blogging, throw a load in the washer, pick up around the house, or grab a shower (something that has become quite a luxury these days). On days when she goes down for longer, I usually have enough time to clean and vacuum, catch up on emails, bake a little something, or, my favorite, take a nap myself. Now there are days when she doesn't nap at all. Although completely napless days are rare they do take their toll on me, especially when coupled with the lack of sleep from the night before.

Gillian was doing well at night until this week. She had been averaging six hours of sleep a night with a feeding somewhere between two and four in the morning. Realizing now that I was a bit premature in thinking that she was well on her way to a full night's sleep, this week Gillian has thrown a kink in things and is waking up several times a night. Lately it's the 3 Fs that are keeping her from sleeping soundly---feeding, fussing, and farting. (Pardon the last one, although I've never much cared for that word the force and potency of the gas that is expelled from my little girl's tushy cannot be adequately described by dainty words like poot or toot.) Gillian also likes to cheer during her sleep and unknowingly whacks herself in the face or kicks herself awake. And with grunting that rivals that of Martina Navratilova, she can't get herself back to sleep after waking. Then there's the BIG oops, she's still sleeping in her Moses' basket in our master bedroom. I know, I know...it's time! This weekend Gillian will be making the long overdue move to her big girl bed, the crib in her nursery. I'm sure this transition will be tougher for me than it will be for her and I am prepared to allow her to cry, at least for a little while. Thanks to the sage advice of friends and family (Mom, Tracey, and Les) I feel comfortable that as long as she's not wet, hungry, or hurt she will eventually calm down and soothe herself back to sleep when she awakens during the night.

We'll give this new routine a shot and hope for the best. A full night's sleep may not be in our immediate future, but a few minutes here and there will definitely be a step in the right direction. Keep your fingers crossed for us and wish me luck!