It's no secret that sleep has been a scarcity around here for….well, quite some time! As a breastfeeding mama, I'm "on call" every night - and that usually ends up being at least 5 or 10 night-time wakings (and feedings). :-O Yup, that wasn't a typo.
My daughter was the same way, so I'm sort of immune to how ridiculous this actually sounds. It's a path I'm more than happy to continue on until things happen to change organically. I'm not looking to sleep-train, cut him off from night feedings, ask my husband to give him a bottle in the middle of the night, or anything else really. No judgement to anyone else - this is just our choice. It's actually quite a sweet set-up - Jagger sleeps in our room and he has this adorable way of simultaneously kicking and punching me when he's ready to nurse. I swear it's much cuter than it sounds! There's usually no crying involved, just a gentle "Mom, I need you now please" type of nudge. At 9 months in, we've definitely gotten into a groove.
Magnolia is now almost 3 years old and those early co-sleeping and breastfeeding days with her are just beautiful memories now. I know all-too-well how quickly the weeks slip by, even as each night may seem to last forever.
With our days totally filled with Magnolia's stories, songs, activities, and boisterousness, I'm a-okay letting the wee hours of the night be reserved for one-on-one time with Jagger. The snuggles and sweet baby breath will be gone before I can say, "Sleep, child!". ;-)
So where does that leave me with my health and productivity? There's this whole work thing, house thing, wife thing….Well, I have my moments of dragging and clawing my way through each hour, for sure! However, I do like to think that a few of my good habits are responsible for keeping me as healthy and energetic as possible during this extended period of barely-any-sleep (and REM? Do I ever get into REM?!). I am typically rather fast-moving (that type A curse), happy, and feeling good and strong.
I started to record this video, as usual, without Jagger at first. But, my storage space ran out on my phone about 30 seconds in and after taking time to make more space on this device, Little Man was ready to join me. Perfecto! After all, the lack of sleep is just a liiiiiiiittle bit about him anyway.
'Til next time...
In health,
Tara